The Alaskan Athabascans, Alaskan AthapascansWilliam Simeone, ''A History of Alaskan Athapaskans'', 1982, Alaska Historical Commission or Dena () are

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

peoples of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of the interior of Alaska. Formerly they identified as a people by the word Tinneh (nowadays Dena; cf.

Dene The Dene people () are an Indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal, subarctic and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term ...

for Canadian Athabaskans). Taken from their own language, it means simply "men" or "people".

Subgroups

In Alaska, where they are the oldest, there are eleven groups identified by the languages they speak. These are: * Dena’ina or Tanaina (''Ht’ana'') *

Ahtna The Ahtna (also Ahtena, Atna, Ahtna-kohtaene, or Copper River) are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. The people's homeland called Atna Nenn', is located in the Copper River area of southern ...

or Copper River Athabascan (''Hwt’aene'') * Deg Hit’an or Ingalik (''Hitʼan'') * Holikachuk (''Hitʼan'') * Koyukon (''Hut’aane'') * Upper Kuskokwim or Kolchan (''Hwt’ana'') * Tanana or Lower Tanana (''Kokht’ana'') *

Tanacross Tanacross (also Transitional Tanana) is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken by fewer than 60 people in eastern Interior Alaska. Overview The word Tanacross (from " Tanana Crossing") has been used to refer both to a village in eastern ...

or Tanana Crossing (''Koxt’een'') *

Upper Tanana Upper Tanana (also known as Tabesna, Nabesna or Nee'aanèegn') is an endangered language, endangered Alaskan Athabaskans, Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, United States, mainly in the villages of Northway, Alaska, Northway ...

(''Kohtʼiin'') * Gwich'in or Kutchin (''Gwich’in'') *

Hän The Hän, Han or Hwëch'in / Han Hwech’in (meaning "People of the River, i.e. Yukon River", in English also Hankutchin) are a First Nations people of Canada and an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the United States; they are part of the At ...

(''Hwëch’in'').

Life and culture

The Alaskan Athabascan culture is an inland creek and river fishing (also coastal fishing by only Dena'ina of

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet (; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding ...

) and

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

culture. The Alaskan Athabascans have a

matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...

system in which children belong to the mother's clan, with the exception of the Yupikized Athabaskans (Holikachuk and Deg Hit'an). The Athabascan people hold potlatches which have religious, social and economic significance. Dogs were their only domesticated animal, but were and are an integral element in their culture for the Athabascan population in North America.

History

Athabascans are descended from Asian hunter-gatherers, likely originally native to

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, who crossed the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

and settled in North America.

Notable Alaskan Athabascans

* George Attla (August 8, 1933 – February 15, 2015) was a champion sprint dog musher. *

Poldine Carlo Poldine Demoski Carlo (December 5, 1920 – May 9, 2018) was an American author and an American Indian elder, elder of the Koyukon people, Koyukon Alaskan Athabaskans, native people of Alaska. Born in Nulato, Alaska, Nulato, Territory of Alaska ...

(December 5, 1920 – May 9, 2018) was an American author and Athabascan elder. * Kathleen Carlo-Kendall is a professional sculptor. *

Quinn Christopherson Quinn Christopherson is an American singer-songwriter of Alaskan Native heritage. He is best known for his song, "Erase Me," which describes his experience with male privilege as a Trans man, transgender man. The song won NPR's 2019 Tiny Desk Co ...

is an American singer-songwriter. He won the 2019 Tiny Desk Contest with his entry "Erase Me," a song describing his experience with male privilege and erasure as a transgender man. *

Peter Kalifornsky Peter Kalifornsky (October 12, 1911 – June 5, 1993) was a writer and ethnographer of the Dena'ina Athabaskan of Kenai, Alaska. Early life, family and education He was the great-grandson of Qadanalchen, who took the name Kalifornsky after wo ...

is an author and oral storyteller. *

Emil Notti Emil Reynold Notti (born March 11, 1933) is an American engineer, Indigenous activist, businessman, government employee, and political candidate of Koyukon Athabaskan heritage. Early life and education Born in Koyukuk, Alaska, Notti earned ...

is an American engineer, indigenous activist and democratic politician who was key in the development of the

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by U.S. President, President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting what is still the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to reso ...

. * John Sackett (1944–2021) served in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

from 1967 to 1971 and in the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or reje ...

from 1973 to 1987. * Michael Stickman is the First Chief of the Nulato Tribal Council. * Mary TallMountain (June 19, 1918 – September 2, 1994) was a poet and storyteller of mixed Scotch-Irish and Koyukon ancestry. * F. Kay Wallis (born ) is traditional healer and member of

. * Siobhan Wescott, physician and public health advocate; she has served as director of the American Indian Health Program and is a professor of American Indian health at the University of Nebraska.

References

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Subgroups

Life and culture

History

Notable Alaskan Athabascans

See also

References