 Chugach man in traditional dress | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 United States (Alaska) | 12,113[1] |
| Languages | |
| Alutiiq (Also known as Sugt'stun) (Chugach dialect),English | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Koniag Alutiiq,Yup'ik | |
Chugach (/ˈtʃuːɡætʃ/CHEW-gatch), also known asChugach Sugpiaq orChugachigmiut, is the name of anAlaska Native people in the region of theKenai Peninsula andPrince William Sound on the southern coast ofAlaska. The Chugach people are anAlutiiq (Pacific Native) people who speak theChugach dialect of theAlutiiq language.
Their autonymSugpiaq derives fromsuk, meaning "person" and -piaq, meaning "real".[1] The termAlutiiq derives from the Russian term for theAleut people. According toEthnologue, earlier terms for the Chugach such as Chugach Eskimo, South Alaska Eskimo, Sugpiak Eskimo, and Sugpiaq Eskimo, are pejorative.[2]
Chugach villages includeChenega Bay,Eyak,Nanwalek (English Bay),Port Graham, andTatitlek.[1]
_-_DSC04923.JPG)
The Chugach people have lived in the region around Prince William Sound for millennia, according to archaeological finds. They were the first indigenous Alaskans to encounter theRussian explorerVitus Bering in 1741. The Russians were followed by Spanish, English, and American explorers. The Chugach have at times traded with or fought against neighboring groups, theEyak,Ahtna, and theTlingit.[1]
In 1964, atsunami generated by theGood Friday earthquake destroyed the Chugach village ofChenega, Alaska. The fishing-based Chugach economy was badly affected by the environmental damage caused by theExxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.
Chugach people speak one of two dialects of thePacific Gulf Yupik language; the other beingKoniag. TheseCentral Yupik languages belong to theAlaskan Yupik language family. Once written inCyrillic script, the language is now written in theLatin script.[2]
There are historical accounts of some androgynousthird gender ortwo spirit individuals among the Chugach, known asaranu'tiq.[3] According to anthropologists writing in the 1950s, these individuals were considered to be male on one side of their bodies and female on the other.[3] Some had descriptive names like "Tyakutyik" ("What Kind Of People Are These Two?"), but this description was given to many types of people in the community, and was not related to gender expression.[3]
The Chugach people gave their name toChugach National Forest, theChugach Mountains, andAlaska'sChugach State Park, all located in or near the traditional range of the Chugach people in southcentralAlaska.Chugach Alaska Corporation, anAlaska Native regional corporation created under theAlaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, also derives its name from the Chugach people, many of whom are shareholders of the corporation.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
