Native People of Alaska
Tlingit and Haida - Southeast
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Earliest Archeological Record is 10,000
years ago (ya)
Tlingit and Haida
Food: Salmon, sea mammals, berries
 Clothing: Cedar Bark, animal skins
 Settlements:
Winter villages, summer
fish camps
*Art - carvings, weavings, and Totem
Poles
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Tlingit and Haida
Beliefs:
Linked to the Raven and other animals
through myths and legends.
Personal Guardian spirits to assist in
daily life (Powerful forces in the universe)
Belief in reincarnation
Belief in Shaman to foretell future events
and identify witches
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Unangan (Aleuts):
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First settled around 8400 ya
Food: sea foods including whales, and birds
(hunted in boats called “bidarkas”)
Settlements: Lived in “barabaras” wood
frame/sod homes
Clothing: Seal skin for waterproof garments.
Sea otter and sea lion furs. Puffins for
ceremonial clothing. Wore visors and hats.
Art: woven baskets
Unangan (Aleuts):
Description of beliefs:
Reincarnation of souls that move from
above and below.
Good and evil spirits.
Animals have spirits.
Charms provide special powers for
successful hunts.
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Bering Sea Eskimos: Yup’ik or
Yuit
Earliest records vary from 9000ya to
4000ya.
 Food: sea mammals (walrus and fish),
also large land mammals and berries.
 Settlements were permanent with
wooden poles with sod and fur walls.
There were many small structures, with
a large communal structure for men.
Settled in fish camps in summer.
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Yup’ik or Yuit:
Clothing: made from walrus gut, seal
skin, and fur. Made salmon skinned
boots.
 Art: baskets and masks.
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Yup’ik or Yuit:
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Beliefs:
All living things have a “yua”, or spiritual
essence.
Humans must remain respectful to nature.
Animals recycle back into nature.
Ceremonies with masks and drums with a
theme of sharing with nature and each other.
Northern Eskimos:
Inupiat/Inuit
Earliest record varies between
10,000ya and 4,000ya.
 Most similar to Asian populations.
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Northern Eskimos:
Inupiat/Inuit:
Food: Large marine mammals, caribou
and fish. Hunted by “Umiak” (open
boat.), snowshoes and later with dog
sleds.
 Clothing: Parkas made from caribou
skin and fur, seal skin socks.
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Northern Eskimos:
Inupiat/Inuit
Homes were semi-subterranean using
the ground as insulation.
 Left for fishcamps in summer.
 “Qargus” (kalgis) were large homes for
men and community gathering.
 Most homes were a dome made of
caribou fur and willows.
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Northern Eskimos:
Inupiat/Inuit
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Beliefs:
Reincarnation and recycling of spirit forms for
humans and animals.
--When hunting, Inupiat would take care of
animals at death to help them into the next
life.
Shamans could make cures and forecasters
for weather and the future
Healers were usually women who were
experts in plant medicine.
Interior Indians: Athabascans

Archaeological record could be as old
as 11,500ya.
 Food: Salmon, caribou and moose.
 Clothing: Tailored and form fitting.
Used caribou skin and fur. Used
porcupine quills, shells and dried berries
and seeds for patterns and decoration.
Interior Indians: Athabascans
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Settlements varied: Subterranean, log
dwellings and large plank homes to
portable dome dwellings made from
fur.
Interior Indians: Athabascans
Beliefs:
Relationship with the supernatural and
animals, which humans must remain
respectful to.
Raven is a trickster and teaches right
and wrong.
Shaman is the medical healer and
intermediary with the spirits.
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Pacific Eskimos:
Aleutiiq/Sugpiaq/Dena’ina
Earliest known date is between 7500ya
to1750 ya.
 Food: fish, whales, and large sea
mammals.
 Settlements: semi-subterranean homes
made of wood, grass and sod. A large
community building, “kazim”.
 Masks as spiritual faces
 Warfare important
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Pacific Eskimos:
Aleutiq/Sugpiaq
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Beliefs:
Steambaths were popular for spiritual
purification, relaxing and socializing.
Spiritual forces show how the universe
functions and how humans were supposed
to behave
Shamans as “knowledgeable spirits”
Belief in recycling between the levels.
Good and evil spirits exist.