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|
Total population | |
---|---|
6,400 [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Alaska | |
Languages | |
Northern Athabaskan languages, American English (Alaskan variant), Russian (historically) | |
Religion | |
Shamanism (largely ex), Christianity |
The Alaskan Athabascans, [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Alaskan Athapascans [8] or Dena [9] ( Russian: атабаски Аляски, атапаски Аляски) [10] are Alaska Native peoples of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of the interior of Alaska.[ citation needed]
Formerly they identified as a people by the word Tinneh (nowadays Dena; cf. Dene for Canadian Athabaskans). Taken from their own language, it means simply "men" or "people". [11]
In Alaska, where they are the oldest, there are eleven groups identified by the languages they speak. These are:
The Alaskan Athabascan culture is an inland creek and river fishing (also coastal fishing by only Dena'ina of Cook Inlet) and hunter-gatherer culture. The Alaskan Athabascans have a matrilineal system in which children belong to the mother's clan, with the exception of the Yupikized Athabaskans (Holikachuk and Deg Hit'an). [12]
The Athabascan people hold potlatches which have religious, social and economic significance. [8]
Dogs were their only domesticated animal, but were and are an integral element in their culture for the Athabascan population in North America. [13]
Athabascans are descended from Asian hunter-gatherers, likely originally native to Mongolia, who crossed the Bering Strait and settled in North America. [14]
These words do not explain why the Athapaskans initially left their home somewhere in Asia, probably Mongolia, to settle in cold country just south of the Arctic Circle.