Alaska Natives are the Indigenous peoples of the U.S. state of Alaska. They encompass diverse cultural and linguistic groups, including Iñupiat, Aleut, Yupik peoples, and American Indians such as the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and various Northern Athabaskan. Most Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribes, which are members of the 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations responsible for managing land and financial claims.
The migration of Alaska Natives' ancestors into the Alaskan region occurred thousands of years ago in multiple waves. Some present-day groups descend from a later migration event whose descendants gradually settled across northern North America. The Alaska Native's ancestors are the ones who did not migrate further south or east. Genetic evidence indicates that these groups are not closely related to the Indigenous peoples of South America.
Evidence from archaeology indicates that the ancestors of Alaska Natives migrated from Asia. Anthropologists have proposed that their journey to Alaska from Asia was made possible through the Bering land bridge or by traveling across the sea. Across the Arctic and the circumpolar north, the ancestors of Alaska Natives established a variety of Indigenous cultures that developed and changed over time. These cultures demonstrated considerable ingenuity in adapting to harsh climates and environments.
Historically, the defining characteristic of Alaska Native groups has often been their languages, which belong to several major language families. Currently, Alaska Natives or Native Alaskans constitute more than 20% of Alaska's population.
List of peoples
The vast majority of Alaska Natives are either Eskaleut or Na Dene.Kozintsev, Alexander G., Andrey V. Gromov, and V. G. Moiseyev. "Collateral relatives of American Indians among the Bronze Age populations of Siberia?." American Journal of Physical Anthropology: The Official Publication of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists 108.2 (1999): 193-204. Below is a full list of the different Alaska Native or Native Alaskan peoples, who are largely defined by their historical languages (within each culture are different tribes):
Alaskan Athabaskans Ahtna Deg Xitʼan Denaʼina Gwichʼin Hän Holikachuk Koyukon Tanana Athabaskans Lower Tanana Tanacross Upper Tanana Upper Kuskokwim (Kolchan) Aleut (Unangan) Ancient Beringian Eskimo Iñupiat, an Inuit group Yupik Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) Chugach Sugpiaq Koniag Alutiiq Cup'ik Nunivak Cup'ig Siberian Yupik (Yupiget) Yup'ik Eyak Haida Tlingit Tsimshian
Demographics As of 2018, Alaska Natives constituted 15.4% of the overall Alaskan population. Earlier data from the Alaskan Natives Commission estimated approximately 86,000 Alaska Natives residing in Alaska in 1990, with an additional 17,000 living outside of the state. More recently, a 2013 study conducted by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development documented over 120,000 Alaska Native Individuals within Alaska. While a significant portion of the Alaska Native populations resides in smaller villages or remote regional hubs such as Nome, Dillingham, and Bethel, there has been a notable increase in the percentage living in urban areas. According to the 2010 census, 44% of Alaska Natives lived in urban areas, a rise from 38% recorded in the 2000 census.
Population history The pre-contact population of Alaska Natives, in year 1750, before first European settlement, is estimated as around 93,800 people. In 1870 the native population of Alaska was still estimated as 70,000 people. However, the census of 1880 found only 32,996 Native Alaskans. The population of Alaska Natives then further declined to 25,450 people in 1910 (of whom 25,328 lived in Alaska and 122 in the rest of the United States). Since 1910 the population began rebounding, and it reached 168,826 people in year 2010. Of them 124,758 lived in Alaska and 44,068 in the rest of the United States.
History The modern history of Alaska Natives began in the eighteenth century with the initial contact between Alaskan First Nations and Russian explorers sailing from Siberia. Subsequently, in the nineteenth century, British and American traders, coming mostly from eastern settlements in North America, arrived in the region. In some areas of Alaska, the active presence of Christian missionaries did not occur until the twentieth century.
Russian colonial period Vitus Bering spotted Alaska during an expedition. Subsequently, in the 18th century, Alaska Natives encountered Russians, with the timing of this contact varying among different Native groups across Alaska. Arriving by ship from Siberia, in the mid-eighteenth century, Russians established trade with Alaska Natives, particularly in the Aleutian Islands. They founded settlements around their trading posts, which included Russian Orthodox missionaries. These missionaries were the first to translate Christian scripture into Native languages, such as Tlingit. The lasting impact of this period is evident in the 21st century with numerous Russian Orthodox Christian congregations in Alaska composed predominantly of Alaska Natives.
The Sibero-Russian promyshlenniki, rather than engaging in hunting and harvesting marine life themselves, coerced the Aleuts into performing this labor, enserfing the Aleuts.Taylor, Alan (2001) American Colonies: The Settling of North America Penguin Books, New York p.452 As news for the fur trade spread, competition among Russian companies intensified. Catherine the Great, upon ascending to the throne in 1763, expressed goodwill towards the Aleuts and encouraged fair treatment. However, the increasing competition between trading companies, which eventually consolidated into larger and more powerful corporations, led to conflicts that worsened relations with the Indigenous populations. Over time, the situation became dire for the Aleuts and other Native Alaskan people affected by Russian contact.
As the animal populations declined, the Aleuts, already dependent on the new barter economy driven by the fur trade with the Russians, faced increasing pressure to take greater risks in the dangerous waters of the North Pacific to hunt for more otter. The Shelikhov-Golikov Company, and later Russian-American Company developed as a monopoly, using skirmishes and systematic violence as tools for the colonial exploitation of the Indigenous peoples. When the Aleut revolted and won some victories, the Russians retaliated with deadly force, destroying their boats and hunting equipment, leaving them no means of survival.
The most devastating impact on the Aleut population during the initial two generations of Russian contact (1741/1759-1781/1799 AD) was the introduction of new diseases from Eurasia. Approximately 80% of the Aleut population perished from these infectious diseases, to which they had no immunity, unlike Europeans among whom these diseases have been endemic for centuries."Aleut History", The Aleut Corporation
Effects of Russian colonization
The Russian Tsarist government expanded into Indigenous territory in present-day Alaska for its own geopolitical reasons. It consumed natural resources of the territory during the trading years, and Russian Orthodoxy was evangelized. Their movement into these populated areas of Indigenous communities altered the demographic and natural landscape.
Historians have suggested that the Russian-American Company exploited Indigenous peoples as a source of inexpensive labor. The Russian-American Company not only used Indigenous populations for labor during the fur trade, but also held some as hostages to acquire iasak. Iasak, a form of taxation imposed by the Russians, was a tribute in the form of otter pelts. It was a taxation method the Russians had previously found useful in their early encounter with Indigenous communities of Siberia during the Siberian fur trade. Beaver pelts were also customary to be given to fur traders upon first contact with various communities.
The Russian-American Company used military force on Indigenous families, taking them hostage until male community members produced furs for them. Otter furs on Kodiak Island and Aleutian Islands enticed the Russians to start these taxations. Robbery and maltreatment in the form of corporal punishment and the withholding of food was also present upon the arrival of fur traders. Catherine the Great dissolved the giving of tribute in 1799, but her government initiated mandatory conscription of Indigenous men between the ages of 18 and 50 to become seal hunters strictly for the Russian American Company. This mandatory labor gave the Russian American Company an edge in competition with American and British fur traders. But the conscription separated men from their families and villages, thus altering and breaking down communities. With able-bodied men away on the hunt, villages were left with little protection as only women, children, and the elderly remained behind.
In addition to changes that came with conscription, the spread of disease also altered the populations of Indigenous communities. Although records kept in the period were scarce, it has been said that 80% of the pre-contact population of the Aleut people were gone by 1800. The Alaska Native population was first recorded in the 1880 United States census, and it was estimated that the population had declined from 80,000 in 1741 to 33,000 due to disease. The population continued to decline until 1910 and it was not until 1947 that this number surpassed the 1880 figure.
Relationships between Indigenous women and fur traders increased as Indigenous men were away from villages. This resulted in marriages and children that would come to be known as Creole peoples, children who were Indigenous and Russian. To reduce hostilities with Aleutian communities, it became policy for fur traders to enter into marriage with Indigenous women. The Creole population increased in the territory controlled by the Russian American Company.
The growth of the Russian Orthodox Church was another important tactic in the colonization and conversion of Indigenous populations. Ioann Veniaminov, who later became Saint Innocent of Alaska, was an important missionary who carried out the Orthodox Church's agenda to Christianize Indigenous populations. The church encouraged Creole children to follow Russian Orthodox Christianity, while the Russian American Company provided them with an education. Many Orthodox missionaries, like Herman of Alaska, defended Natives from exploitation. Creole people were believed to have high levels of loyalty toward the Russian crown and Russian American Company. After completing their education, children were often sent to Russia, where they would study skills such as mapmaking, theology, and military intelligence. In the 1850s Russia lost much of its interest in Alaska.
American colonialism
Alaska's abundance of natural resources, particularly gold, drew the interest of the United States. In 1867, the United States bought Alaska from Russia. This purchase happened without considering the opinions of the Native Alaskans, who were not regarded as citizens at the time. The land traditionally belonging to Alaska Natives was treated as "open land," allowing white settlers to claim it without providing any compensation or recognition to the Native people living there. The only educational opportunities available for Alaska Natives were in schools established by religious missionaries. Many white settlers failed to appreciate the complex and well-developed cultures that Alaska Natives had created to thrive in their challenging environment. Instead, they viewed them as inferior to European Americans, which aligned with white supremacist ideologies.