The influx of thousands of gold-seekers made a huge impact on wildlife, and therefore on the region's first peoples. Isaac, Chief of the Han people at Moosehide indicated how much hunting pressure had increased, in a 1915 plea to white settlers. A story in the Dawson Daily News published on November 4, 1915, was headlined, "Chief Wants Caribou --- Says `Take My Gold.'" According to the story, Isaac dropped in at the newspaper offices. He told a reporter that his people returned that day from Glacier Trail. They shot 70 caribou, brought them to Moosehide and placed them in caches. That meat would provide for Moosehide residents all winter.
In contrast, Chief Isaac accused white Klondike residents of killing 3,000 caribou. He said he did not like white men shooting caribou. He then urged the newspaper to tell people it's all right for white men to dig up gold on the creeks. White men can keep the gold, he explained, because his people can't eat gold. He noted that in Alaska white men could not hunt game. The Chief pointed out that he does not shoot horses or white men's cattle. Isaac said the caribou belong to the First Nations, who want their hunting grounds.
