Native Alaskan Tribes

Ethnographical Overview

In broadest terms, Alaska Natives comprise Indian and Eskimo peoples. The Indian peoples were the first to migrate to Alaska and primarily settled in the interior and along the south-central and southeastern coast. Because these regions differ substantially in terms of climate, topography, and natural resources, the Native groups who occupied them developed distinct cultures and societal structures.

The Athapaskan Indians who settled the interior were the most nomadic of all Alaskan people. Because of the natural barriers, the limited natural resources, and the harsh climate in this region, the Athapaskans lived in small, scattered groups of several nuclear families. Although Athapaskans shared a similar language and culture and would occasionally form larger groups for specific tasks, such as caribou hunting or warfare, they had no tribal organization and only a limited tribal identity (Naske & Slotnick, 1979). Due to the challenging natural environment and limited social structures, Athapaskan culture placed a greater emphasis on individual skills and behavior. Positions of leadership were acquired through demonstrations of individual abilities, rather than inherited, and Athapaskan religion usually involved individual, rather than community, rites. Tanaina Athapaskans primarily settled along the south-central coast, in the Cook Inlet–Susitna River basin, and consequently developed somewhat differently. Influenced by Eskimos to their west, these Indians lived in relatively permanent villages, hunted sea mammals, and adopted elements of other coastal cultures.

Unlike the Athapaskans, Indians in the southeast had a plethora of natural resources available. Consequently, they were mostly sedentary and lived in larger, highly structured societies. Today, the most numerous of these people are the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian. Communities were organized around common matrilineal ancestry and stratified into a flexible system of classes, such as nobles, commoners, and slaves. Haida and Tlingit societies were divided into moieties, or parts, and marriages were arranged between individuals belonging to opposite moieties. Tlingit communities were further subdivided into clans, or nuclei of matrilineally related males. Each such clan was an independent social and political unit with its own ceremonies, crests, and claims to hunting and fishing grounds. Lineage was central to Tlingit culture. It was the basis for greater alliances between clans, an integral aspect of their religion, and was commemorated with ornate totem poles (Naske & Slotnick, 1979).

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