  Tanana River and Lower Tanana Athabaskan fish camp in theChena, Alaska, June 1997. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Alaska) (majority); Canada (Yukon) (minority) | |
| Languages | |
| Upper Tanana,Lower Tanana,Tanacross,American English (Alaskan variant), | |
| Religion | |
| Shamanism (largely ex), Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherAlaskan Athabaskans EspeciallyUpper Kuskokwim |
TheTanana Athabaskans,Tanana Athabascans, orTanana Athapaskans are anAlaskan Athabaskan people from theAthabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of theTanana River (inTanana languagesTth'itu', literally 'straight water,' inKoyukon languageTene No', literally 'trail water') drainage basin in east-centralAlaska Interior, United States and a little part (White River First Nation) lived inYukon, Canada. Tanana River Athabaskan peoples are called inLower Tanana and Koyukon languageTen Hʉt'ænæ (literally 'trail people'), inGwich'in languageTanan Gwich'in (literally 'people of Tanana River').[2] In Alaska, where they are the oldest, there are three[3] or four[4][5] groups identified by the languages they speak. These are theTanana proper or Lower Tanana (Kokht'ana) and/or Middle Tanana,Tanacross or Tanana Crossing (Koxt'een), andUpper Tanana (Kohtʼiin). The Tanana Athabaskan culture is ahunter-gatherer culture with amatrilineal system. Tanana Athabaskans weresemi-nomadic and lived in semi-permanent settlements in theTanana Valley lowlands. Traditional Athabaskan land use includes fall hunting ofmoose,caribou,Dall sheep, and small terrestrial animals, as well astrapping. The Athabaskans did not have any formal tribal organization. Tanana Athabaskans were strictly territorial and used hunting and gathering practices in their semi-nomadic way of life and dispersed habitation patterns. Each smallband of 20–40 people normally had a central winter camp with several seasonal hunting and fishing camps, and they moved cyclically, depending on the season and availability of resources.[6][7][8][9][10]
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 the southwest), andAhtna (south); in Canada Hän (northeast) andNorthern and Southern Tutchone (east).[3] The language of theUpper Kuskokwim people is more closely related to the Lower Tanana language, but not neighbor.
The homeland of the Tanana Athabaskan people can be generally divided into four distinct sections. 1) the Yukon Tanana upland draining to the Tanana River, 2) the Northway-Tanacross Lowlands, 3) the Eastern Alaskan range draining into the Tanana River, and 4) the Northern foothills.[11]
TheGoodpaster River, a 91-mile (146 km) tributary of the Tanana River, is considered to be a natural break in theTanana Athabaskan language area, separating upriver speakers of theTanacross andUpper Tanana languages from theLower (and Middle) Tanana speakers living farther downriver.[6][12]
The Tanana Athabaskans have a system ofmatrilineal kinship.[7] The Athabaskans loosely recognized membership in a larger bilateral group called theregional band (ordialect group), but the more important social unit was thelocal band (orfamily group orfamily/hunting units). In the winter, the regional band might split up into smaller units, called local bands, each one made up of perhaps four nuclear families. The regional band might meet again at a predetermined place and time in mid-winter for a gathering ceremony called apotlatch and then split up again forbeaver andmuskrattrapping.[10]
At the end of the 19th century there were twelve regional bands living in the Tanana Athabaskan homeland: six downriver bands (four Lower Tanana and two Middle Tanana) and six upriver bands (two Tanacross and four Upper Tanana).
The Lower Tanana regional bands: (language: proper dialect ofLower Tanana)[13]
The Middle Tanana regional bands: (language: extinct (1993) separate dialect ofLower Tanana. Some authors consider the Salcha-Goodpaster dialect of Lower Tanana to be a distinct language known as Middle Tanana. LinguistJames Kari has been a strong advocate for Middle Tanana, referring to the former language of the Salcha-Goodpaster bands along the middle Tanana River[14])
The Tanacross (Tanana Crossing; first documented byFerdinand von Wrangel in 1839[16] as Copper River Kolchan) regional bands: (language:Tanacross)
The Upper Tanana regional bands: (language:Upper Tanana)
Archaeological sites in Alaska (East Beringia) are where some of the earliest evidence has been found ofPaleo-Indians.[18]Alaska Interior or Interior Alaska has been continuously inhabited for the last 14,000[19] ~ 12,000[20] years, and evidence of this continuum of human (ancestors of the Athabaskans) activity is preserved within and aroundFort Wainwright's training lands. Interior Alaska's icefree status during the lastglacial period provided a corridor connecting theBering Land Bridge and northeastern Asia (West Beringia/Siberia) to North America. The earliest cultural remains in interior Alaska, as on the coast, are chipped stone blade complexes about 10,000 years old, with close relationships to Siberian materials.[20] In February 2008, a proposal connecting AsiaticYeniseian languages of central Siberia to AmericanNa-Dené languages (Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit) into aDené–Yeniseian family was published and well received by a number of linguists.[21] The homeland of the Athabaskan languages is northwestern Canada and southern/eastern Alaska.[22][23]
After initial colonization, archaeologists generally divide Interior Alaska'sprehistory into three broad archaeological themes:[24]
Paleo-Arctic tradition (12,000–6,000 years ago) is a term now generally used by archaeologists to refer to the earliest settled people known from all over Alaska. In Interior Alaska,Paleo-Arctic tradition historically included two cultural divisions called the Nenana and Denali complexes.
The Nenana complex was defined by W. R. Powers and John F. Hoffecker.[19][25] The Nenana complex began approximately 11,000 years ago. It is widely regarded as part of thePalaeoindian tradition and a likely Beringian progenitor of theClovis Complex.[26][27] Many Nenana Complex archaeological sites are located in theTanana Valley:Broken Mammoth,Chugwater, Donnelly Ridge,Healy Lake, Mead, andSwan Point.[19]
The Denali complex, dated roughly to 10,500 to 8,000 years ago, was originally defined by F. H West.[28][29][30] Some Denali Complex archaeological sites: Mt. Hayes, Swan Point, and Gerstle River. Both Nenana and Denali technology persist in central Alaska throughout theHolocene. The relationship between the proposed Nenana and Denali complexes is, as of yet, unresolved.[19] Theboreal forest in Interior Alaska (Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga of Tanana region andCopper Plateau taiga of Ahtna region) was established 8,000 years ago.[31]
Two ice-age infants discovered at an ancient residential campsite (Upward Sun River site was first discovered in 2006) in Interior Alaska near the Tanana River east of Fairbanks are the oldest human remains ever found in the North American Arctic and Subarctic, and among the oldest discovered on the entire continent, according to researchers with theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks. Discovered in 2013, the remains of the two infants date from 11,500 years ago, near the end of thelast ice age.[32]
The Northern Archaic tradition flourished 6,000–1,000 years ago. Site density increased again after about 6,000 years ago in Interior Alaska. This population increase coincides roughly with the Northern Archaic Tradition and the appearance of side-notched projectile points. Douglas D. Anderson[33][34] originally defined the Northern Archaic Tradition to specifically address notched point-bearing stratigraphic horizons that did not contain microblades at the Onion Portage site (Onion Portage Archeological District of Kobuk Malimiut tribes ofInupiat people region)[35] in northern Alaska. Notched point assemblages occur in many sites in Interior Alaska, including over one dozen on the U.S. Army's Fort Wainwright lands. Several sites, including the excavated Banjo Lake site in Donnelly Training Area, have also produced middle Holocene dates from hearth charcoal. The 6,300- to 6,700-year-old dates from Banjo Lake were also associated with a microblade component.[19]
TheAthabaskan tradition flourished 1,300–800 years ago. Linguistic evidence suggests that the Athabaskan culture may have appeared in the Tanana Valley as early as 2,500 years ago. Throughethnography,oral history, and a broad array of cultural items, much has been learned about Athabaskan culture and history in the region. Artifacts associated with the Athabaskan culture are exceptionally diverse and include bone and antler projectile points, fishhooks, beads, buttons,birch bark trays, and bone gaming pieces. In the Upper Tanana region,native copper (from trading withAhtna people or "Copper Indians") was available and used in addition to the traditional material types to manufacture tools such as knives, projectile points, awls, ornaments, and axes.[19][36] A late prehistoric Athabaskan occupation is recognized at several sites in and around U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Wainwright's training lands.[37] The Athabaskan Tradition includes late prehistoric and proto-historic cultures generally believed to be the ancestors of Athabascan tribes who currently inhabit Interior Alaska. Excavated Athabaskan sites are rare, but the limited body of evidence allows for several generalizations. Athabascan settlement patterns depended greatly on the availability of subsistence resources, and Interior bands lived a nomadic lifestyle.[19]
Ernest S. Burch (1980) defined a four-period scheme reflecting the major historical events and their impact on theAlaska Natives (Alaskan Eskimos and Athabaskan peoples):[38]
Russianfur traders (andpromyshlenniki [According to American historian and ethnologistHubert Howe Bancroft, theCossacks themselves were a light troop, but they were preceded by a still lighter flying advance guard called thepromyshleniki, a kind of Russiancoureurs des bois.[39]] forNorth American fur trade andmaritime fur trade), of the periodRussian America (1733–1867), began settling Interior Alaska starting in the 1810s, establishing atrading post atNulato on theYukon River (of Koyukon homeland) and one (in the 1819Copper Fort) at Taral (Russian Тарал, native Ahtna nameTaghaelden) on theCopper River (of Ahtna homeland).[19][40] British traders establishedFort Yukon (of Gwich'in homeland) in 1847. Trade goods from these posts may have passed to Lower and Upper Tanana Athabaskans through intra-Native trade networks. Direct contact between Tanana Athabaskans and white traders increased after the 1860s. With the U.S.purchase of Alaska in 1867, control of trading stations and the fur trade passed toAmericans. Through the 1880s, American traders established several additional posts on the Yukon and Tanana rivers, including locations at Nuklukayet (modern-dayTanana of Koyukon people homeland), Belle Isle (modern-dayEagle of Hän people homeland), and Fort Yukon.[19] The Tanana River area has a documented Euroamerican history of less than 130 years, like the Tanana Athabaskan history.
TheNucha'la'woy'ya (oranglicizedNuchalawoya lit. 'where the two rivers meet'[41]) orNoochuloghoyet (lit «the point of the big river peninsula»[42] and historically:Nukluroyit, Nuclavyette, Nukluklayet, Nukiukahyet, Nuklukait,, Nuklaciyat, Nuklukyat, Noukelakayet, Tuklukyet (modern-dayTanana) was a traditional trading settlement for Koyukon and Tanana Athabaskans long before European contact.[43]
With the beginning ofEuro-American contact in Interior Alaska in the early 19th century, trade influences and influxes of new populations began to change life in the region. Land use patterns shifted from traditional indigenous uses to activities based on Euro-American economic and political systems. As Euro-Americantraders (merchants),miners,missionaries, andexplorers moved into theTanana Valley, the traditional life ways of local Athabaskan groups were disrupted. Access to trade goods and the development of the fur trade not only affected traditional material culture but also began to dramatically affect subsistence activities and settlement patterns. Similarly, the arrival of missionaries in the Alaskan Interior profoundly influenced traditional social organization. The introduction of mission schools for Native children and the doctrine of new religious beliefs contributed to an erosion oftraditional ecological knowledge and other traditional practices.[19][44] After the Alaska Purchase in 1867, most of the Koyukon were converted by either Catholic or Protestant denominations. And by 1900, virtually all Alaskan Athabaskans were Christians, at least by name if not entirely by practice.[45] An influenza epidemic in 1920 claimed one-fourth of the Lower Tanana Athabaskan population ofNenana (Toghotili).[7]
The homeland of Tanana Athabaskans is theDfc climate typesubarctic boreal forest of theNearctic realm calledInterior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga. Their lands are located in different twoecoregions:[46]
Tanana Athabaskans weresemi-nomadichunter-gatherers who moved seasonally throughout the year within a reasonably well-defined territory to harvest fish, bird, mammal, berry and other renewable resources.[6][7] The Tanana territories generally is a mosaic of open and closedspruce forests covering the low gradient outwash slope between theAlaska Range and the flats and ridges north of the Tanana River.[7]
The economy of Tanana Athabaskans is a mixed cash-subsistence system, like other modern foraging economies in Alaska. Thesubsistence economy is the main non-monetary economy system.Cash is often a rare commodity in foraging economies because of a lack of employment opportunities or perceived conflicts in the demands of wage employment and subsistence harvesting activities.[7] The primary use of wild resources is domestic. Wild resource use in many Athabaskan villages is overwhelmingly fordomestic consumption sincecommercial fishing in Alaska is absent.[7] Commercial fishing and trapping patterns are controlled primarily by external factors. The state's limited entry system, operational by 1974 (afterANCSA), limits the number of availablefishing permits for commercial salmon (esp. thePacific salmonOncorhynchus species forsalmon cannery) fishing. In Nenana, about one-third of households have a permit. Most (70%) sample households with a permit used. Those with a permit who did not fish commercially did fish for subsistence.[7]
| Resource | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porcupine caribou hunting |  | | | | | | | | ||||
| Alaska moose hunting | | | | | | | | |||||
| Dall sheep hunting | | | | | | |||||||
| Snowshoe rabbit hunting | | | | | | |||||||
| Beaver &Muskrat trapping | | | ||||||||||
| Ptarmigan &Grouse hunting | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitefish catching | | | ||||||||||
| Berry gathering | | | ||||||||||
| Fur trapping | | | | | |
Hunting was associated with seasonal movements along trails and frozen rivers, particularly as bands moved between rivers and uplands. The primary hunting animals for Tanana Athabaskans are big animals (caribou, moose, and wild sheep). The most valuable hunting animal is thecaribou (subspeciesRangifer tarandus granti, Lower Tananabedzeyh, Tanacrosswudzih, Upper Tananaudzih). It was the most important food animal in the Upper Tanana before the coming of the non-natives and the resultant disintegration of the original nomadic patterns.[48] Now, the economic life of the Upper Tanana centers around it. Not only does the animal constitute the source of food for the natives and their dogs, but it also supplies the material for their clothing, shelters, and boats, as well as netting for theirsnowshoes andbabiche andsinew for their snares, cords, and lashings.[17][49] The caribou hunt occurred in the early summer and mid-summer. Caribou hunting during the fall migration involved the use of fence,corral, and snare complexes and was a seasonal activity critical to the survival of the Tanana people.[6] Today, most caribou meat is typically used fresh or frozen for later use.[17] Themoose (subspeciesAlces alces gigas, Lower Tananadenigi, Tanacrossdendîig, Upper Tananadiniign) is the other most important food animal for Tanana Athabaskans. The most common resource harvesting activity among Lower Tanana Athabaskan bands,[7] Moose hunting is always a popular activity in modern Athabaskan communities because of the meat's economic value and a food preference for large game.[7] Moose hunting in the fall was either an individual pursuit or a group activity. Moose meat was eaten fresh or preserved.[6] The Mansfeld-Kechumstuk band of Tanacross employed several methods to huntDall sheep (in Alaskan English simplysheep, Lower Tananadeba, Tanacrossdemee, Upper Tananadibee) in late summer and early fall in local mountainous areas or as far south as theMentasta Mountains. Dall sheep were a desired source of food and material for clothing and tools.[6]
Migratorywaterfowl (ducks,geese, andswans) andupland game birds (ptarmigans andgrouse) were a valued source of fresh meat. Grouse (spruce grouse,sharp-tailed grouse,ruffed grouse Lower Tananadeyh, Tanacrossdeyh, ch'ehtêeg, tsą́ą' ts'uug, Upper Tananadaih, ch'ahtagn, tsąą'ts'uu) and ptarmigan (willow ptarmigan androck ptarmigan Lower Tananak'orrh'eba, ddhełk'ola, Tanacrossk'étmah, ddheł k'aal, Upper Tananak'atbah) were taken opportunistically throughout the year with bow and arrows or with snares and fence-snare arrangements. Ducks and geese were easily captured whenmolting. Men in birchbark canoes quietly approached waterfowl in bays and coves and shot them with bows and arrows. Women and children then caught the birds and collected eggs from their nests.[6]
Fishing (creek and river) was done near the village sites. The fish, which are domestic and most common, were stored in large subsurface caches. The main economical fish (Tanacrossłuug, Upper Tananałuugn, łuuk) species are mostly whitefish (humpback whitefish,round whitefish Tanacrossxełtįį') andPacific salmon (king (chinook) Upper Tananagath, Tanacrossłuug chox,red (sockeye) Upper Tananałuugn delt'al, Tanacrossłuug delt'el). Other fish species arepike (Upper Tananach'ulju̱u̱dn, Tanacrossuljaaddh),grayling (Lower Tananasrajela, Upper Tananaseejiil, Tanacrossseejel),lingcod (Upper Tanana and Tanacrossts'aan) andsucker (Upper Tananataats'adn, Tanacrosstats'aht'ôl). Fishing at Mansfield Lake and Fish Creek for whitefish, pike, and grayling began in the late spring and continued until mid-July. It was a major harvest activity and whitefish, a perennially reliable food source, was especially important. All band members except the very young children assisted in harvesting and processing the catch. The spring fish harvest provided a welcome dietary change after a long winter of eating mostly dried fish and meat. Fish not eaten fresh were processed and dried ondrying racks for later consumption. Both fresh and dried fish were cooked in water boiled by placing heated stones into a birch bark basket.[6]
The white spruce (Picea glauca) and black spruce (Picea mariana) are the dominant trees, with their maximumtree line being held at around 4,000 feet. Only stuntedwillows andalders are found above this level. Severalferns, such as theostrich,wood,beech andoak fern, grow in the lowlands.[11] Beginning in late spring and continuing throughout the summer and early fall months, both adults and children gathered a variety of plants and vegetative materials. Fruit andberries (Lower Tananajega, deneyh, nekotl, Tanacrossjêg, ntl'ét, nit-sįį', Upper Tananajjign, nt'lat, niitsil), edible roots (esp. Indian potato or wild carrotHedysarum alpinum Lower Tananatroth[50]), and assorted plants (esp. wild rhubarbPolygonum alaskanum) were eaten fresh, preserved for later consumption, or used for medicinal purposes.Birch bark ofpaper birch (Lower Tananak'iyh, Tanacross and Upper Tananak'įį) and spruce roots (Tanacrossxeyh) were needed to make baskets, cooking vessels, tools,cradleboards, and canoes.[6] The Upper Tanana use lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) as a food source. They boil the berries with sugar and flour to thicken; eat the raw berries, either plain or mixing them with sugar, grease, or the combination of the two; fry them in grease with sugar or dried fish eggs; or make them into pies, jam, and jelly. They also preserve the berries alone or in grease and store them in a birchbark basket in an underground cache or freeze them.[51] They also use them in their traditional medicine, eating the berries or using the juice of the berries for colds, coughs, and sore throats.[51]
The Tananakinship is based on what is formally known as anIroquois kinship and reflects thematrilinealclan system and the importance ofcross-cousin marriage. Individuals in the Tanana society are born into their mother's clan. Their society was and still is composed of eight or nine matrilineal clans that are arranged inexogamousmoieties named Raven (or Crow) and Sea Gull (or Wolf). Marriage was supposed to occur between a man and a woman from opposite clans.[6]
Historically and traditionally, Tanana and all otherAlaskan Athabaskans practiceanimism andshamanism. The animistic belief system common to all Alaskan Athabaskan groups might be briefly characterized as follows: All creatures and some inanimate objects had spirits, which were active and powerful components of those creatures. The spirits enabled an animal to know more than was immediately apparent to him. Thus, if human beings did something that displeased the animal's spirit, the animal itself would remain aloof from the people, and the people might starve. There were very definite rules that people had to follow when dealing with animals based on this belief in animal spirits.[9]
Aboriginally and in early historic times, theshaman, called amedicine man ormedicine woman[52] (Tanacrossdeshen Upper Tananadishin) was the central figure of Athabaskan religious life. The shaman within this culture was the middle man/woman between spirits and the native peoples.Magico-religious practices included omens, charms, amulets, songs, taboos, and beliefs about the supernatural. Beliefs and practices were associated with certain animals, and many centered on hunting. Animal spirits appear to have predominated Tanana spiritual life. They believed that an evil spirit was manifested in a half-man, half-animal being. Spirits were influential in the activities of the living and in guiding the dead to their final resting place. Athabaskan shamans guarded people against the effects of bad spirits. The shaman also diagnosed various illnesses and restored the health of those harmed by bad spirits. The shaman could also provide the valuable service ofscapulimancy, which predicted the location of game when hunting was scarce.[11][53] According to cultural anthropologistRichard K. Nelson (who lived for extended periods in Alaskan Athabaskan villages), Athabaskan traditions teach that everything in nature is fundamentally spiritual and must be treated with respect. This includes not only avoiding waste but also following an elaborate code of morality toward plants, animals, and the earth itself. For example, if an Upper Tanana man kills a wolf, he should never touch it until he formally apologizes and explains that his family needs it.[54]
Thetaboos (Tanacrossinjih, Upper Tananaįhjih) are animistic and forbidden. In addition to adhering to a code of behavior, people observed a variety of taboos designed to prevent misfortune or bad luck. Many of these taboos were associated with hunting or some other aspect of the food-gathering process, thus underscoring the importance of these activities for the survival of the group.[6]Ravens,cranes,wolverines, foxes,otters, and dogs must never be eaten. The heads ofcaribou,moose, andDall sheep may not be fed to the dogs; to do so would bring the hunter poor luck. Neither the bones nor the carcasses of fur-bearing animals may be fed to dogs and must be cached in a safe place. Should the dogs get them, the hunter will take no more fur.[6][48][49] Women of childbearing age did not eat bears (Grizzly or Alaskanbrown bear andblack bear).[7] Young boys could not eat fat around an animal's eye until adulthood.[55] No animals except dogs could be brought up as pets.[47]
The Interior Athabaskans, for the most part, were contacted and missionized byRoman Catholic (for Koyukon Athabaskans),Russian Orthodox (for Dena'ina, Ahtna, Deg Hit'an, Holikachuk, Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskans), andAnglican missionaries (for Gwich'in, Hän, Tanana Athabaskans).[56] Christianmissionaries of theEpiscopal Church established churches and missions in the area of Tanana Athabaskan beginning in the early 1900s.[11] In 1905, the Episcopal Church, which had missionaries in Alaska, built the St. Mark's Episcopal mission and Tortella (Toghotili, nowadays Nenana) School a short distance upriver. The boarding school taught about 28 children of various ages at a time.[57]Hudson Stuck, the Archdeacon of the Yukon, regularly visited the settlement, part of the 250,000 square-acre territory of the Interior he administered. Native Athabaskan children from other communities, such asMinto, also attended school in Nenana.[57]
TheAthabaskan potlatch (Tanacrossxtíitl, Upper Tanana-hotįįł[58]) or thegathering-up ceremony is a mid-winter ceremonial activity of traditionalpotlatch among Athabaskan peoples. This was one event at which people from different local and even regional bands met. The several regional bands attending a potlatch might have spoken slightly different dialects, which were nonetheless close enough to each other to be mutually intelligible. The importance of potlatches in establishing friendly ties with outside groups has already been discussed: marriages and trade partnerships often grew out of association at a potlatch.[9] The potlatch usually lasted for a week. The most elaborate of Athabaskan potlatches was the funeral potlatch (or memorial potlatch, mortuary potlatch). The funeral potlatch marks the separation of the deceased from the world and is the last public expression of grief.[59][60] Memorial potlatches are held by family members of a deceased person one year after the death. It is a mourning opportunity as well as one to honor the deceased. Other potlatches were held to demonstrate the wealth, prosperity, or luck of a person: the more potlatches, the greater the wealth. Fresh moose meat is essential to the Athabaskan funeral potlatch. Today, the most well-known potlatch is Nuchalawoyya Potlatch of the Native Village of Tanana.[61] Archaeological evidence of potlatching is found at the 1000-year-old Pickupsticks site near Shaw Creek in the Middle Tanana Valley.[62]
The Upper Tanana area has a richstorytelling tradition. Old-time stories are known in many Northern Athabaskan languages under several different labels. They are set in mythical times when animals and humans could still communicate. Traditionally, stories were told in the evenings in winter in a group setting and were told to educate the young.[63]
The arts of the Tanana Athabaskans are classified asAlaska Native art.Birch bark baskets are the most common type ofbasketry made by Athabaskan women. Today, birch bark is used primarily for baskets made for sale and for bark baby carriers.[64]
The Alaskan AthabaskanIndian ice cream (Lower Tanananonathdlodi, Tanacrossnanehdlaad) is dessert-like dry meat mixed with moose fat and is different from the CanadianIndian ice cream ofFirst Nations in British Columbia. One recipe for Indian ice cream consisted of dried and pulverized tenderloin that was blended with moose grease in a birch bark container until the mixture was light and fluffy.[6] In addition, Alaskan Athabaskan communities also create songs for performances at potlatches, such as dance songs, potlatch songs, and mourning songs. Within stories and embedded in fragments of folklore, old shamanic songs are also partially remembered; they are called "ice‐cream songs" because they used to be sung during the preparation ofnonathdlodi, or "Indian ice cream."[65]
Historically and traditionally, Alaskan Athabaskans use pedestrian transportation; they travel on foot (in winter using birchbarksnowshoes). Caribou were also pursued individually on snowshoes during winter by hunters using bows and arrows.[49] Athabascan women regularlycarry their children with the help of a baby belt.[20] Dogs (Lower Tananałiga, Tanacrossłii) are used in many Athabaskan villages mostly for hunting and as pack animals.Dog sleds (Lower Tananaxwtl, Tanacrossxědl) are an ancient and widespread means of transportation for Eskimo peoples (western central AlaskanYup'ik people and northern and northwestern AlaskanInupiat people). When non-Native fur traders and explorers first traveled the Yukon River and other interior regions in the mid-19th century, they also observed that a few Athabascan groups, including the Koyukon, Deg Hit'an, and Holikachuk, used dog sleds. The Athabascans had probably learned the technique from their Iñupiat or Yup'ik Eskimo neighbors. The Gwich'in, Tanana, Ahtna, and others pulled theirsleds andtoboggans by hand, using dogs solely for hunting and as pack animals.[66] Dogs sometimes were used to drive the moose into the fence and snares.[6]
Historically, the Tanana Athabaskan people did not consider themselves as living in "tribes." It is a relatively recent term connected with political recognition by the U.S. government.[6]
Alaska Nativetribal entities for Tanana Athabaskans are recognized by the United StatesBureau of Indian Affairs:
| Tribal entities | Location (native name) | Ethnolinguistic group |
|---|---|---|
| Native Village of Minto | Minto (Menh Ti) | Lower Tanana |
| Nenana Native Association | Nenana (Toghotthele) | Lower Tanana |
| Village of Dot Lake | Dot Lake (Kelt'aaddh Menn' - 'Waterlily Lake') | Tanacross |
| Healy Lake Village | Healy Lake (Mendees Cheeg - 'shallows mouth lake') | Tanacross |
| Native Village of Tanacross | Tanacross (Taats'altęy) | Tanacross |
| Northway Village | Northway (K'ehtthiign) | Upper Tanana |
| Native Village of Tetlin | Tetlin (Teełąy) | Upper Tanana |
TheAlaska Native Regional Corporations of Tanana Athabaskans were established in 1971 when the United States Congress passed theAlaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
| Native Village Corporation | Community | Alaska Native Reg. Corp. | Ethnolinguistic group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seth-do-ya-ah Corporation | Minto | Doyon, Limited | Lower Tanana |
| Toghotthele Corporation | Nenana | Doyon, Limited | Lower Tanana |
| Dot Lake Native Corporation | Dot Lake | Doyon, Limited | Tanacross |
| Mendas Cha-ag Native Corporation | Healy Lake | Doyon, Limited | Tanacross |
| Tanacross Inc. | Tanacross | Doyon, Limited | Tanacross |
| Northway Natives Inc. | Northway | Doyon, Limited | Upper Tanana |
| Tetlin Indian Reservation | Tetlin | Doyon, Limited | Upper Tanana |
TheTanana Chiefs Conference is a traditional tribal consortium of all CentralAlaskan Athabaskans (or Interior Athabaskans[52]), with the exception of the Southern Alaskan Athabaskans (or Southern Athabaskans:[52]Dena'ina andAhtna). On the broad cultural profile factors of regional environment, land use and occupancy, and social organization, Southern Athabaskans (Dena'ina and Ahtna) life more closely resembled the other southern Native societies. In the North, the life of the Interior Athabaskans more closely resembled other northern Native societies.[52]
Lower Tanana language:
Tanacross language:
Upper Tanana language:
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