For around two thousand years, the Southern Tutchone people had seasonal hunting and fishing camps in the area of present-day Haines Junction.

The original name of the area was "Dakwakada", a Southern Tutchone word meaning "high cache".

It was common for Tutchone people to use raised log caches to store food year-round or temporarily while they hunted and fished in an area.

The current town of Haines Junction was established in 1942 and 1943 during the construction of the Alaska Highway (ALCAN).

[5] Haines Junction has a subarctic climate (Dfc / Dsc) with mild summers and long, cold and snowy winters, with annual snowfall averaging 159.8 cm (62.9 in).