Kusawa Lake had provided a natural pathway for the Tlingit in their trade with the interior people for centuries. The first published record of it seems to be from the early 1880’s in a report on the travels of Arthur Krause of the Bremen Geographical Society who visited the lake in June, 1882. Earlier, in 1869, the Tlingit Chief Kohklux drew a ‘long skinny lake’ he called Koo=see=wagh that emptied into the Tahk-heena River on a map he and his wives sketched for George Davidson from California.

In the 1890’s, Jack Dalton used the existing trails to establish his pack trail from Dezadeash Lake, up Kusawa Lake to the Takhini river.

Kusawa Lake is now one of the most favoured recreational spots in the Southwest Yukon.