Alaskan Athabaskans
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|
Total population | |
---|---|
6,400[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Alaska | |
Languages | |
Northern Athabaskan languages, American English (Alaskan variant), Russian (historically) | |
Religion | |
Shamanism (largely ex), Christianity |
The Alaskan Athabascans,
Formerly they identified as a people by the word Tinneh (nowadays Dena; cf. Dene for Canadian Athabaskans). Taken from their own language, it means simply "men" or "people".[11]
Subgroups
In Alaska, where they are the oldest, there are eleven groups identified by the languages they speak. These are:
- Dena’inaor Tanaina (Ht’ana)
- Ahtnaor Copper River Athabascan (Hwt’aene)
- Deg Hit’anor Ingalik (Hitʼan)
- Holikachuk(Hitʼan)
- Koyukon(Hut’aane)
- Upper Kuskokwim or Kolchan (Hwt’ana)
- Tananaor Lower Tanana (Kokht’ana)
- Tanacrossor Tanana Crossing (Koxt’een)
- Upper Tanana(Kohtʼiin)
- Gwich'inor Kutchin (Gwich’in)
- Hän(Hwëch’in).
Life and culture
The Alaskan Athabascan culture is an inland creek and river fishing (also coastal fishing by only Dena'ina of
The Athabascan people hold potlatches which have religious, social and economic significance.[8]
Dogs were their only domesticated animal, but were and are an integral element in their culture for the Athabascan population in North America.[13]
History
Athabascans are descended from Asian hunter-gatherers, likely originally native to Mongolia, who crossed the Bering Strait and settled in North America.[14]
Notable Alaskan Athabascans
- George Attla (1933–2015) was a champion sprint dog musher.
- Emil Notti, an American engineer, indigenous activist and democratic politician. Key in the development of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
- Tiny Desk Contestwith his entry "Erase Me," a song describing his experience with male privilege and erasure as a transgender man.
- John Sackett (1944–2021) served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971 and in the Alaska Senate from 1973 to 1987.
- Michael J. Stickman, First Chief of the Nulato Tribal Council.
- 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.
- Poldine Carlo
- Kathleen Carlo-Kendall
- Peter Kalifornsky
- Mary TallMountain
See also
- Tanana Chiefs Conference (all Alaskan Athabaskans' [excl. Ahtna and Dena'ina] a territorial-level organization)
- Doyon, Limited
- Alaska Native Language Center
- Alaska Federation of Natives
- Indian ice cream (Alaska)
- Athabascan fiddle
References
- ^ "Athabascans of Interior Alaska". www.ankn.uaf.edu.
- ^ "Athabascans of Interior Alaska". www.ankn.uaf.edu.
- ^ "Appendix E: Race Code List" (PDF).
- ^ "South Dakota Department of Education, Race/Ethnicity Guidance, Race Identification" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
- ^ "athabascan". www.aa.tufs.ac.jp.
- ^ "Alaska's Heritage: Alaskan Athabascans". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
- ^ Susan W. Fair (2006). Alaska Native Art: Tradition, Innovation, Continuity
- ^ a b William Simeone, A History of Alaskan Athapaskans, 1982, Alaska Historical Commission
- ^ "------------- Dena Languages -----------". anlorg.
- ^ Дзенискевич Г. И. Атапаски Аляски. — Л.: «Наука», Ленинградское отд., 1987
- ^ U.S. Government Printing Office (1900), Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior
- ^ "athabascan indians". www.aaanativearts.com.
- ^ Derr, Mark (2004). A dogs history of America. North Point Press. p. 12
- ISBN 978-0-8263-4327-7.
These words do not explain why the Athapaskans initially left their home somewhere in Asia, probably Mongolia, to settle in cold country just south of the Arctic Circle.