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The Alaska Native Heritage Center is a gathering place that celebrates, perpetuates and shares Alaska Native cultures.
A wealth of history, wisdom and knowledge is handed down from generation to
generation, ensuring survival through the geological changes and climatic challenges
of this great land.
The Athabascans share a rich linguistic heritage: there are eleven Athabascan languages in Alaska alone. Canada and the Lower 48 are homelands for other Athabascan groups. Traditional Athabascan territory includes Fairbanks and Anchorage as well as the drainages of five major rivers: the Yukon, the Tanana, the Susitna, the Kuskokwim, and the Copper rivers. In the old days, Athabascans were highly mobile, traveling hundreds of miles in small groups to fish, hunt and trap throughout the year. Today, Athabascans live in throughout Alaska and the Lower 48, returning to their home territories to harvest traditional resources. The Athabascan people call themselves 'Dena,' or 'the people.' In traditional and contemporary practices Athabascans are taught respect for all living things. 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. Southwest Alaska is the home of the Yup'ik and Cup'ik people, often called "southern Eskimos" by others. These people depend upon subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering for food. Elders tell stories of traditional ways of life, in hopes that the younger generations will learn their heritage. Historically the Yup'ik and Cup'ik people were highly mobile, traveling with the migration of game, fish and plants. Many of today's villages were ancient sites used as seasonal camps and settlements by extended families or small groups of families. The Inupiaq and the St. Lawrence Island Yupik people, or "Real People," also speak languages in what linguists call the "Eskimo" language family. They live in the north and northwest region of Alaska. To the people of the north, the extreme climate is not a barrier, but a natural realm for a variety of mammals, birds and fish, gathered by the people for survival. The Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik are still hunting and gathering peoples, continuing to subsist on the land and sea of north and northwest Alaska. Even today, their lives revolve around the whale, walrus, seal, polar bear, caribou and fish. In the old days, the Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik lived in small groups of related families of 20-200 people. The population at time of first contact with Europeans included five main units: 1,500 St. Lawrence Island Yupik 1,820 Bering Strait Inupiaq 3,675 Kotzebue Sound Inupiaq 1,850 North Alaska Coast Inupiaq (Tareumiut, people of the sea) 1,050 Interior North Inupiaq (Nunamiut, people of the land) The Aleut and Alutiiq peoples of south and southwest Alaska have historically lived off the sea. The creatures of the water provide their living, from creeks and rivers near villages, the seashore, and the vast waters of the North Pacific and Bering Sea. The people are experts in knowing what resources there are and how to harvest them. The weather , rarely freezing but almost always windy and often stormy, has always affected life in the region, making travel and hunting treacherous. Beginning in the eighteenth century, the Aleut and Alutiiq peoples became practically enslaved by Russian fur traders. Today, this legacy is reflected in the Orthodox Church in every village, favorite Russian dishes made with local subsistence food, and Russian words in local vocabularies.  The
Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians historically inhabited the region from
the Copper River Delta to the Southeast Panhandle, a temperate rainforest. The
region's precipitation ranges from 112 inches per year to almost 200 inches per
year. Here the People depended upon the ocean and rivers for their food and travel.
Salmon, halibut, seals, shellfish, and deer formed most of the diet. Many plants
and berries added nutrition. Because thick forests of evergreen spruce, hemlock,
and cedar grow from the beach up the mountainsides, these people had a wonderful
source of building material close at hand. To the rest of the world, this part
of Alaska is known as the home of the totem pole. The four groups share elements of a general Northwest Coast culture, but there are differences in language and clan system. Their social systems are complex. Each person is a member of a clan, inherited from the mother. The clans are represented by crests, usually in the form of animals such as ravens, eagles, killerwhales, and others. In some cultures, the clans are part of larger groupings called moieties or phratries. The Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian were expert traders involved with other Native groups as well as Russians, Spanish, English, and the "Boston Traders" or Salem men of the early nineteenth century. Eyak occupied the lands in the southeastern corner of Southcentral Alaska. Their territory runs along the Gulf of Alaska from the Copper River Delta to Icy Bay. It is speculated the Eyak moved down from the interior of Alaska via the Copper River or over the Bering Glacier. Until the eighteenth century, the Eyak were more closely associated with their Athabascan neighbors to the north than the nearby Tlingits. Traditional Tlingit territory includes the Southeast panhandle between Icy Bay in the north and the Dixon Entrance in the south. Tlingit people have also occupied the area to the east inside the Canadian border. The original homeland of the Haida people is the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, Canada. Before the first Europeans came to the region, a group of Haida migrated north to the Prince of Wales Island area within Alaska. This group is known as the "Kaigani" or Alaska Haidas. The original homeland of the Tsimshian is between the Nass and Skeena Rivers in British Columbia, Canada. In Alaska, the Tsimshian live mainly on Annette Island, in (New) Metlakatla, Alaska in addition to settlements in Canada. About the Alaska Native Heritage Center  An
educational and cultural institution for all Alaskans, the Alaska Native Heritage
Center provides programs in both academic and informal settings, including school
programs, day camps, adult and teen art and culture workshops, art demonstrations,
and guided tours of indoor exhibits and outdoor village sites. The Center is open year-round, with extended visiting hours during the summer (9 to 6 each day). Winter hours for school visits extend Tuesdays through Fridays, from 9 to 3. Public hours from October through April are noon to 5 on Saturday and Sunday, with numerous special programs throughout the year. Experience contemporary Alaska Native Cultures in the Welcome House. Watch our award-winning film, see dancers, sit entranced by storytellers, visit with Native artists as they fashion beautiful items rooted in their cultures, and explore the exhibits in our Hall of Cultures. "Stories from the Past": The Village Tradition Outside, on 26 acres of birch and cottonwood-covered land, five traditional sites depict ancient house forms and everyday life. Visitors can see, touch, smell, and hear about Alaska Native cultures while strolling around Lake Tiulana. |
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Alaska
is a land of diverse Native peoples: the Athabascan of interior and south central
Alaska, the Yup'ik and Cup'ik Eskimo of southwest Alaska, the Inupiaq and St.
Lawrence Island Yupik of northwest to northern Alaska, the Aleut and Alutiiq from
Prince William Sound to the end of the Aleutian Island chain, and the Eyak, Tlingit,
Haida and Tsimshian of southeast Alaska.