CAFN was named after two of its historic settlements, both located in the Alsek basin in the southern Yukon. Prior to the construction of the Alaska and Haines highways in 1942–43, the CAFN people lived in small villages such as Aishihik, Canyon, Champagne, Hutchi, Kloo Lake, Klukshu and Shawshe, as well as in family camps. These were spread out over their traditional territory, which covers some 41,000 square kilometres, about one-third of which is in British Columbia and the remainder in the adjacent Yukon. Today, there are no permanent occupied CAFN villages in British Columbia; most members live in the Yukon or in nearby Alaska.

CAFN's native language is Southern Tutchone, a member of the Athapaskan language family grouping that includes Navajo, Dene and most Yukon and Alaskan Indian languages. Ties with neighbouring southern Yukon peoples were strengthened by intermarriage, visiting and trade. CAFN has also maintained strong relationships with its neighbours to the south, the Tlingit of the Alaskan coast. In former days the CAFN people who lived in the British Columbia portion of the territory were bilingual, speaking both Southern Tutchone and Tlingit. Today, only a few Yukon elders speak Tlingit. In the Yukon, Southern Tutchone is the language taught to children in schools and the family home. CAFN members living in Alaska continue to keep the Tlingit language alive.