August 14, 1999 – A party of sheep hunters – school teachers Bill Hanlon, Warren Ward and Mike Roche – finds artifacts and human remains at the foot of a glacier in Tatshenshini-Alsek Park in the northwest region of British Columbia, near the Yukon border.  The hunters report their find to authorities in the Yukon and turn in several artifacts they collected at the site.
 
August 17, 1999 – Champagne and Aishihik First Nations representatives travel to the site with Yukon Government archaeologists to confirm what has been found.
 
August 20, 1999 – BC Government archaeologist Al Mackie and forensic anthropologist Dr. Owen Beattie, University of Alberta, arrive in Whitehorse to recover the remains. Champagne and Aishihik First Nations agree to their removal from the glacier.

August 22-23, 1999 – The human remains and artifacts are recovered from the glacier site by a team of specialists.  Champagne and Aishihik First Nations representatives are in attendance, and offer some words of respect before remains are transferred to Whitehorse.

August 23, 24, 1999 – The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations convene an emergency meeting of elders and members, who agree that efforts should be made to learn something about this person.  They named the find Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, meaning ‘long ago person found.’  A news conference is held in Haines Junction, Yukon, officially announcing the find and the co-operative approach to be undertaken between the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the BC government.

August 31, 1999 – Agreement is reached between the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the BC Archaeology Branch about the management of Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi and the terms under which studies will proceed.  The goal is to ensure cultural concerns are respected while recognizing the important scientific considerations inherent in a find of this nature.

Sept. 1999 through October 2000 – Consultation, Planning

September 2, 1999 – The human remains and the robe are transported from Whitehorse to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.   Following Champagne and Aishihik cultural tradition, a member of the First Nation escorts the body during transfer.  At the Museum, the remains are stored under carefully controlled and monitored conditions.

September 13, 1999 – The first major news conference and technical briefing is held at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria to announce the formation of a joint management committee to oversee the research and to confirm that the human remains will be housed at the museum during the agreed-upon period of scientific study.

October-November 1999 – First radio carbon dates are received on samples from the hat and robe found with Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi.  By late November, the Terms of Reference for Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi research are released to the international scientific community seeking proposals.

Fall-Winter 1999/2000 - Champagne and Aishihik First Nations undertakes a series of consultation meetings with neighbouring Tribes and First Nations, visiting Klukwan,  Haines, Yakutat, Carcross and Carmacks.  In March 2000, a presentation is made to CAFN citizens in Haines Junction; scientific advisor Dr. Owen Beattie and B.C. Government Archaeologist Al Mackie in attendance.
 
Spring 2000 through November 2000 - Remains Studied

Spring, Summer 2000 – First research agreement for study of human remains is made March 30th. By July, the University of Victoria is assisting by conducting ethics reviews for out-of-country researchers.  Final ethics reviews completed and research agreements with out-of-country researchers finalized in September.

November 2000 - All studies on the human remains are completed.  Champagne and Aishihik First Nations decides its best to have the remains stay at the Royal BC Museum until decision has been made on their future.  A public talk on the find is given in Victoria, at the University.
 
December 2000 through September 2001 - Remains to Rest, Honouring

December 2000 – In effort to determine who should have responsibility for the remains of the Long Ago Person Found, Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Chief and Council directs Heritage Staff to proceed with Community DNA study (Search for Living Relatives), working with Dr. David Levin of the University of Victoria.  In January, a letter sent to neighbouring First Nations and Tribes advising of the planned Community DNA study.
 
May 2001 - Champagne and Aishihik First Nations hosts a meeting of representatives from neighbouring Tribes and First Nations to seek guidance on the future of the remains (i.e., whether to be buried or cremated), and the associated belongings (i.e., whether to be retained, or cremated/buried with the human remains).  Collecting of DNA samples from volunteers takes place at this meeting, and goes on through till October.

July 2001 - Remains of Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi are cremated at a Victoria crematorium and then carried north by Champagne and Aishihik First Nations staff.  July 18, CAFN facilitates the organization of a funeral service for the Long Ago Person Found, with a committee comprised of both Wolf/Eagle and Crow/Raven representatives, from both the coast and the interior.  Youth as well as Elders are involved in planning the potlatch and in the actual ceremonies, which take place at Klukshu.  That same day the ashes of the Long Ago Person Found are returned to the area where he lost his life in Tatshenshini-Alsek Park

September 2001 - Chilkat Indian Tribe hosts a traditional Forty Day Party for the Long Ago Person Found at Klukwan.
 
2000 through 2007 - Ongoing Laboratory and Field Studies, Additional Finds, Publication of Results

August 2002 – Researchers Dickson and Mudie visit the site; inspection conducted by Champagne and Aishihik First Nations representative.

August 2003 – Bill Hanlon and Mike Roche hunting in the area again, revisit site location and observe additional human remains have melted out of the ice.  On August 28, site is visited by Champagne and Aishihik First Nations representatives, archaeologists, mapper and medical personnel.  The additional skeletal remains are documented on site and reburied nearby.

August 2004 - Champagne and Aishihik First Nations conducts site inspection.  Additional skeletal remains are found, documented and reburied nearby.

August 2005 - A party consisting of researchers Dickson and Mudie along with Bill Hanlon, a professional photographer, and Champagne and Aishihik representatives Frances Oles and Greg Eikland flies to the site and then hikes out in order to collect botanical and other samples to provide environmental context to assist with reconstructing the man’s final days.
 
2007 - We learn that the age of the find has been revised from ca. 500 years ago, to ca. 160-200 years ago, within the early historic contact period.
 
2000-2007 - Various papers with research results published.

The Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi Symposium and Book
 
April 24-27, 2008 - The Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi Symposium, sponsored by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the BC Archaeology Branch and the Royal BC Museum, is held in Victoria in conjunction with the Northwest Anthropology Conference.
 
More than two dozen leading scientists from First Nations, universities and museums present findings from more than 24 groundbreaking scientific and cultural studies completed since the remarkable discovery in August 1999.

The latest scientific and forensic techniques allow researchers to determine how this ancient hunter spent the last two weeks of his life, his health, and how his clothes and tools were made. Analysis of food samples in his gut, the mineral composition of silt grains in the water he drank allow researchers to determine his diet and create a map of his last journey. The new knowledge gained from these studies adds to our collective scientific understanding of the First Nations people of northern British Columbia and Yukon and adjacent southeast Alaska.

A Community DNA Project, conducted by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, identified 17 living relatives of the ancient hunter. All of these individuals identified themselves as being from the Wolf/Eagle clan, which means Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi was most likely from the Wolf/Eagle clan, as well.

September 12, 2009 - The final Memorial Potlatch for the Long Ago Person Found is to be held.