[4][5] His mother, Gus'duteen, was from Tahltan country around Telegraph Creek while his father was Kaachgaawáa, chief of the Tagish Deisheetaan.

[7][5] In the mid-1880s, Keish spent the summers working as a packer, carrying supplies from the Alaska Coast over the passes to the Yukon River system.

[4] Skookum means "strong", "big", and "reliable" in the Chinook Jargon and regional English as used in the Pacific Northwest.

[7] Keish met George Washington Carmack, an American trader and prospector, while working on the Trail at Dyea.

[9] Several years later, having heard no news of the Carmack family, Keish and his nephews Koołseen (Patsy Henderson) and Káa Goox went to search for them.

[6] A few days later, in mid August 1896, they discovered gold on Rabbit (Bonanza) Creek[2] when one of them found a nugget the size of a dime.

[7] He developed a drinking problem, and as a result in 1905 he created the Daisy Mason Trust to protect his fortune from being spent on alcohol or gifts to others, because it was meant to provide for his daughter's education.

[2][9] When Carmack abandoned his wife Kate, leaving her virtually penniless, Keish built his sister a cabin in Carcross.

[2] According to Daniel Tlen, "in 1912 he gave the largest potlatch ever held in honour of his deceased nephew Khaa Ghooxh, Dawson Charlie.

[5] When his daughter died in 1938, the income from the trust was used, as directed by Keish's will, to the benefit of needy Indigenous peoples in Yukon.