The Athabascan Indian people traditionally lived in Interior Alaska, an expansive region that begins south of the Brooks Mountain Range and continues down to the Kenai Peninsula. There are eleven linguistic groups of Athabascans in Alaska.
Where do most Athabascan Indians live?
The Athabascans traditionally lived in Interior Alaska, between the Brooks Mountain Range and the Kenai Peninsula. There are eleven distinct linguistic groups among the people who made their homes along the five major rivers: Yukon, Tanana, Susitna, Kuskokwim, and Copper.
How many Athabascan Indians are there?
Alaskan natives in Alaska number about 119,241 (as of the 2000 census). There are 229 federally recognized Alaskan villages and five unrecognized Tlingit Alaskan Indian tribes. The Athabascan people call themselves ‘Dena,’ or ‘the people. ‘ They speak eleven different languages.
What tribes were Athabascan neighbors?
Their neighbors are other Athabaskan-speaking peoples: in Alaska Koyukon (north and northwest), Gwich’in (north and northeast), Hän (northeast), Dena’ina (a little part of southwest), and Ahtna (south); in Canada Hän (northeast) and Northern and Southern Tutchone (east).
What is a Athabascan Indian?
Athabascan Indians live in interior Alaska and have the largest land base of any other Alaska Native group. The Athabascan are efficient hunters and fishers and the moose, caribou, salmon and the birch tree are the most important resources. These provide food, clothes and shelter.
Where are Athabaskan languages spoken?
Alaska
The 32 Northern Athabaskan languages are spoken throughout the interior of Alaska and the interior of northwestern Canada in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, as well as in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
What kind of fish did the Athabascan people eat?
They usually made their fish nets from willow bark. The Athabaskans also fished for Dolly Varden, grayling, ling cod, blackfish, whitefish, and pike. They cleaned, split, dried, often smoked, and stored the fish in caches to be eaten through the winter.
What happened to the Athabascan tribe?
The coastal bands of Athapaskans were party to the unratified Coast Treaty of 1855. The treaties remain in effect today and constitute the foundation for many of the tribes’ sovereign rights. In 1854, many Rogue River peoples were removed to the Table Rock Reservation, north of the Rogue River.
What is the Athabascan tribe known for?
Athabascan Indians live in interior Alaska and have the largest land base of any other Alaska Native group. The Athabascan are efficient hunters and fishers and the moose, caribou, salmon and the birch tree are the most important resources.
How many languages do the Alaskan Athabascans speak?
There are 11 different languages spoken by Alaskan Athabascans. Athabascan (Indians) The Athabascan people traditionally lived in Interior Alaska, an expansive region that begins south of the Brooks Mountain Range and continues down to the Kenai Peninsula.
What do Alaskan Athabascans do in winter?
In summer, they spend a great deal of time at their fish camps along major river systems – including the Yukon, Tanana, Innoko, Chandelar, Koyokuk and Tolovana rivers. In winter, they hunt caribou, moose and smaller animals. There are 11 different languages spoken by Alaskan Athabascans.
What are the characteristics of Athabascan subsistence living?
The most important part of Athabascan subsistence living is sharing. All hunters are part of a kin-based network in which they are expected to follow traditional customs for sharing in the community. The Athabascans traditionally lived in small groups of 20 to 40 people that moved systematically through the resource territories.
