Athabascans of Interior Alaska

Section 4: THE YEARLY CYCLE
5 to 10 days

OBJECTIVES

1. Students define "yearly cycle" and "seasonal resource"
2. Students list three examples of seasonal resources for the Tetlin area and tell the seasons in which they are available
3. Students describe at least one way in which life in Tetlin has changed through the years

 MATERIALS

1. Student text, Tetlin As I Knew It
2. Poster: Tetlin Resource Map
3. Books from Appendices C and F for enrichment activities
4. fish strips (enrichment)
5. Worksheets VI, VII, and VIII
6. Quiz 3

PREPARATION

1. Invite an Athabascan resource person to your class (enrichment)
2. Invite a staff member from the Bureau of Land Management to discuss firefighting(enrichment)
3. Obtain smoked fish or fish strips (enrich-ment)
4. Make copies of Worksheets VI, VII, and VIII and Quiz 3

 ACTIVITIES

1. Read and discuss Chapters II through V in Tetlin As I Knew It
2. Mark story settings on Tetlin Resource Map
3. Add resources to Basic Needs chart
4. Visit from resource person (enrichment)
5. Write stories and poems
6. Enrichment: treat students to dried or smoked fish
7. Enrichment: visit from BLM spokesperson
8. Do Worksheets VI, VII, and VIII.
9. Enrichment: research or book report on another Athabascan culture
10. Quiz 3

New Vocabulary:
seasonal resource
yearly cycle
Indian potatoes
whitefish
pike
grayling
tanning
cache
snares
nomadic

 

TEXT: CHAPTER II, TETLIN AS I KNEW IT
Have students read Chapter II in Tetlin As I Knew It, "Getting Ready for Winter."

WORKSHEET VI
Discuss the term "yearly cycle". Distribute copies of Worksheet VI. Discuss why a "yearly cycle" is represented by a circle. Instruct students to fill in the worksheets as they go through Shirley's yearly cycle. 

HANDOUT:3 (cont.)
Refer to Handout 3, Tetlin Resource Map (desk copy). Note that various locations on that map are numbered. Those numbers correspond with numbers on the teacher's reduced pages from Tetlin As I Knew It, and will be an aid to you in determining the places Shirley describes in her book.

CHAPTER II
GETTING READY FOR WINTER

 Fall was the time to get ready for the winter - the start of another yearly cycle. There was lots to do.

When I was little, the women and children (and one man, to protect us from bears) used to leave the village and go up into the ⁹hills to pick berries. We picked cranberries, bearberries, and rose hips. We'd be gone all day, and come back to the village at night.

We dug roots, too - a kind called Indian potatoes. They are very good when they're fried in moose grease.

Indian potatoes were obtained on the crest of the hill between the river and the village on the winter trail to Midway Lake. They're also called "Eskimo potatoes", and are the species Hedysarum alpinum L.

 Bears were not systematically hunted by Tetlin residents. Berries were picked in the hills behind the village. Blueberries were also picked there. The berry area is to the right in photograph #2 of Tetlin.

DISCUSSION
Have students compare their own falltime activities with those described in this chapter. How and why are they different? Are there things the students' families must do to prepare for winter? What are they?

Fall was also the time to do some last minute fishing. We fished for whitefish and northern pike in the Tetlin River close to the village, and we went up the ¹⁰Kalukna River for grayling.

The men - my dad, brother, uncles, and some other relatives - went hunting at Tetlin Lake. They stayed there until they shot a moose. Then they cut it up and brought the meat and hide back to the village.

MARK LOCATION
Mark the locations mentioned in the book on the large Tetlin Resource Map and on Handout 3.

BASIC NEEDS CHART
Add resources to your Basic Needs Chart which was begun in Section 1.

Sometimes, if someone had a car or truck, the men drove up the ¹¹Taylor Highway to Mt. Fairplay to hunt caribou. In the old days, my dad told me, they hunted caribou down by Last Tetlin. There used to be a caribou fence there. But when I was little, the men had to go all the way to Mt. Fairplay.

 

CLASS DISCUSSION
Many jobs in Tetlin were performed entirely or mostly by one sex or the other. Alert students to this fact. Compare this situation in Tetlin with the situation students have experienced in their own lives. Discuss reasons for this division of labor. Is it changing?

The meat, both moose meat and caribou meat, was brought back to the village. There, the women dried it and smoked it. The children had to keep a smoky fire going in the smokehouse all the time. Besides smoking the meat, the fire kept the flies out, too.

The women also tanned the hides. My mom used tanned hides to make mittens, mukluks, and moccasins. She did beautiful beadwork on the hides.

If we didn't do all these things -berry picking, fishing, and hunting - our caches would be empty before the winter was over. My mom and dad used to tell us that in the old days, an empty cache meant sure death. So fall was a very important time of the year for us.

 

TEXT: CHAPTER III, TETLIN AS I KNEW IT
Read Chapter III, "Wintertime: Beaver Camp".

MARK LOCATION
Mark the beaver camp and travel route on the Tetlin Resource Map.

WORKSHEET VI
Remind students to continue filling in Worksheet VI. Ask students: what important adaptation to winter conditions is shown in the picture at the beginning of this chapter?

Chapter III
Wintertime: Beaver Camp

Both beaver meat and muskrat meat are eaten, dried or cooked.

The trip took about 12 hours from 4a.m. till 4 p.m.

In early February my family used to move to a beaver camp called ¹²Sea Lake. We went by dog sled. My dad drove the first sled packed with all our gear. He went ahead to break trail. Then my mom followed, driving the second sled. This sled was packed with us children.

At that time there were three of us: I sat in the back, my brother Charles sat between my knees, and our baby sister Betty sat in front of him. We were all wrapped up in sleeping bags and canvas, and tied in with strong rope. We couldn't move at all, we were tied so tightly. What a relief it was when Mom and Dad finally decided it was time for tea break! It never came soon enough for us.

DISCUSSION
Introduce the term "seasonal resources" to the students. Ask them if they can name a seasonal resource they have already learned about. After reading this chapter, ask students to speculate on why beaver would be a seasonal resource in the Tetlin area; that is, why the wintertime is the best time to trap for beaver. (Perhaps the main reason is that the valuable fur is thickest at that time of year. In addition, the beaver houses are more accessible in the winter and beaver are more likely to take the bait during a time when fresh wood is scarce.)

When we got close to camp, my dad started setting some of our beaver snares. Then when we got to the campsite, we pitched the tent and started fixing it up. Dad put the stove in place while Mom, my brother, and I gathered spruce boughs and spread them on the tent floor. Dad got the fire going in the stove, Mom cooked supper, and then we all went to bed early. Tomorrow would be a busy day - we'd be setting the rest of the snares.

Next day we got up early and ate a quick breakfast. While Mom was packing lunch for all of us, Dad was hitching the dogs to the sled. Then the whole family was off to set snares.

Dad knew where he had set snares the year before, and he went to those places to check out the old beaver houses. Some-times beavers had abandoned their old houses and moved to new ones. But sometimes the old houses were being used again this year.

When we found a live house, Dad would chisel an opening in the ice nearby. He cut a pole of fresh birch to use as bait, and stuck it down into the opening he had made. By now the beavers were tired of their stored birch, so they welcomed the fresh pole my dad put down as bait. Then we looked for another pole - a dry one this time - and put one or two snares on the end of it. We didn't have to worry about the beavers eating the dry pole. Dad lowered it down the hole next to the bait pole, kicked some snow over the opening, and continued on to the next beaver house.

DISCUSSION
Discuss: Why wouldn't the beavers eat the snare pole made of dry wood? Discuss: What do you think the members of the family who stayed at camp while others were checking snares did to pass the time?

STUDY ILLUSTRATIONS
Check the illustrations for indications that the setting of this book is fairly recent.

ENRICHMENT: WRITING
Have students write a story from Shirley's mother's point of view. The story could be about moving to Tetlin as a young girl or about changing her way of life when white teachers and ministers came.

We checked the beaver snares every day. On a good day we'd come home with a load of beavers. Usually, after the first day, just Dad and I or Dad and my brother would go along the trapline, and the other three members of the family would wait back at camp.

 At night, Mom and Dad used to tell stories about the days when they were growing up. Mom told us stories about how she and her brother came to Tetlin to live with the chief after their parents had died. Mom was only about 10 years old. She came from Chena, and she had to learn a new language when she got to Tetlin. She was often scared and lonely when she first moved to our area.

DISCUSSION
Discuss: Why was the coming of white men "terrifying" and a "scary time for the people of Tetlin"?

WRITE POEMS
Have students write poems (preferably not rhyming ones) about a time when they camped out. What did they see, smell, hear, and feel? Their poems should be placed in their notebooks.

Mom and Dad also remembered when white teachers and ministers came to the Tetlin area, and how terrifying it was for them. The people had to give up their old nomadic way of life and settle down in one place. In order for their children to go to school, they had to live near the school, and the children had to learn English. People tried to make a living the new way -men hunted for jobs, but jobs were scarce. This was a scary time for the people of Tetlin.

When I think of the stories my parents told us at beaver camp, I can still smell the fresh spruce boughs on the tent floor, biscuits, tea, and the firewood in our tent. And I remember lying in bed listening to the owls talk at night after everyone else was asleep.

TEXT: CHAPTER IV, TETLIN AS I KNEW IT
Read Chapter IV, "Spring and Muskrat Trapping".

MARK LOCATIONS
Mark spring muskrat camp and the family's travel route on your Tetlin Resource Map.

WORKSHEET VI (CONT.)
Have students continue filling in Worksheet VI.

CHAPTER IV
SPRING AND MUSKRAT TRAPPING

 Sometime before break-up my family used to move by dogteam to ¹³Dog Lake be-tween Tetlin and Northway for muskrat trapping. We had a cabin there, so we didn't have to pack many things - mostly some food and blankets. We joined another family, the Tituses, who also had a cabin at Dog Lake.

Mom and Dad went out to set the musk-rat traps while we children stayed around camp. The older children had to look after the younger ones.

RESOURCE PERSON
Invite an Athabascan resource person to your class to 1) discuss life in the village today; 2) discuss the extent to which families still travel around together during the yearly cycle; or 3) teach crafts or stories.

For your own information, refer to Lael Morgan's, And the Land Provides for descriptions of modern Alaskan village life.

Sometimes we older children would go out on the lake, find our own muskrat houses, and set traps in them. It's easy to set traps. Just cut the top off the house and put a trap inside in the ice entryway. Then put the cover back on the house, and move on to the next muskrat house. We went back every day to check the traps. We children used to get from 50 to 100 musk-rats during one spring at muskrat camp.

 Each of us skinned his own muskrats. We learned how to stretch them and dry them, so we could sell them to the General Store.

 Around break-up time, when the snow became slushy, we packed up our sleds and headed back to the village.

 Even when we got back to Tetlin, we weren't yet through with muskrats. We used to walk out to ¹⁴some of the lakes. We'd take a dog with us who could retrieve and pack. Since the lakes were open by now, we shot the muskrats with .22 rifles, and sent the dogs out into the water to retrieve them. Once again, we had to skin and dry our own muskrats. But we could keep the money we got for the skins ourselves.

TEXT: CHAPTER V, TETLIN AS I KNEW IT
Read Chapter V, "Fish Camp at Last Tetlin".

MARK LOCATION
Have students locate last Tetlin on the Tetlin Resource Map. Discuss why this would be a good location for fish camp.

WORKSHEET VI, COMPLETED
Have students complete Worksheet VI.

CHAPTER V
FISH CAMP AT LAST TETLIN

In late May, my family moved again. This time we went to Last Tetlin by boat. By the time we got there, the whitefish were running.

 Almost the whole village moved to Last Tetlin in the summer. Each family had its own campsite with a smokehouse. The first thing everyone did was to fix up the tent and smokehouse.

 In our family, Mom and Dad put the tent up. Meanwhile, it was up to the older children to repair the smokehouse. We gathered long, thin willow sticks, and wove them together into the wall of last year's smokehouse. We made the walls pretty solid--solid enough to keep out dogs. We used the smokehouse both as a place to eat and as a place to smoke fish during the summer.

ENRICHMENT: FISH STRIPS
If possible, obtain some fish strips from one of the local meat market or an Athabascan village. Or, cut and smoke fish as a class. (Be sure not to use evergreen branches for smoking, as they impart a bitter taste to the fish.) Note: Though salmon were used by most Athabascans, they do not spawn in the Tetlin area and so were not used by Tetlin Athabascans.

By the time we children had finished the smokehouse, Mom and Dad had pitched the tent. We spread spruce boughs on the tent floor, and moved everything inside. Then we were ready for summer. The next day we would start cutting fish.

ENRICHMENT: BLM SPEAKER
Invite a staff member from the Bureau of Land Management to talk about firefighting. Prepare students for the visit by assigning questions to ask. For example, who goes firefighting? Why? How long is a person usually gone from home? When did firefighting start?

BLM planes came to Tetlin to pick up men for firefighting whenever three was a fire.

Dad usually left camp to go firefighting with other men from the village once we were settled in at Last Tetlin. So, Mom took our family's turn at tending the camp fish trap and caught all the fish we were going to need for the winter.

There are two ways to cut up whitefish: ba' is for eating and ts'ilakee is dog food. Mom prepared the ba', but she let us children cut up fish for ts'ilakee.

We took the fish up to our family's campsite to clean and smoke. Each fish cutter had his own fish cutting board made of a split log. Mom and we children sat next to our cutting boards and worked until all the fish had been cut. Then we could go visiting around camp. We were always offered tea and fried fish or fish stew. 

WORKSHEET VII
Distribute Worksheet VII to students. Have them fill it in. Then briefly discuss the differences between their yearly cycles and the Tetlin yearly cycle.

After a fish was properly cleaned and prepared, it was hung up to dry on a pole in the smokehouse. My mother and grand-mother kept a smoky fire going all the time. Besides smoking the fish, they had to keep the flies out. A good, big rotten log will burn all night with no tending.

Sometimes we dried the eggs along with the fish, and sometimes we just fried the eggs and guts and ate them right away. Dried fish eggs are better!

WORKSHEET VIII
Worksheet VIII has been designed as a review of Tetlin As I Knew It. This should be a small group (2 or 3 students) or individual activity, depending on student preference. Go over the directions carefully with the class before having them complete the worksheet. Be sure that they understand the different levels of thinking required of them for parts I, II, and III respectively. When students have completed the worksheet, go over any questions they felt were particularly difficult. Then discuss choices students made in Part III.

ENRICHMENT: OTHER MATERIALS
UN 601, Athabascan Social Studies Unit, contains other books on yearly subsistence cycles in the Interior of Alaska. In particular, you could provide the booklet, Before the Hunt as enrichment reading. The following questions and activity ideas could be written out or discussed by a small group of interested people. Discussion can be followed by use of UN 515, Athabascan Caribou Hunt Kit.

Birch bark was usually obtained in late May, behind the village on the wooded hillside.

Once in awhile, when fish weren't running, the women and children went berry picking. While Mom and Grandma picked, we children sometimes trimmed the bark off a birch tree and scraped up the sap with a knife. Delicious!

We stayed at fish camp until late July. Then we packed everything up, went back to the village, and started the yearly cycle over again, to prepare for the coming winter.

 

BEFORE THE HUNT
Study caribou migrations, reasons for the animals' movement, and other pertinent biological information about caribou which might make this story more meaningful to your students.

Thought questions:

a. Why did the adults in the story ask the medicine man for help?

b. What did they think he would be able to do for the hunt?

c. Why were the adults worried about the outcome of the caribou hunt? Have students write a poem (not necessarily a rhyming one!) which expresses the feelings of one of the Gwich'in people about caribou.

d. Would different Athabascan people feel differently about the same caribou hunt? Explain.

e. Why did the medicine man's performance reassure the people about the hunt?

f. Do you think the Gwich'in people had a good hunt in the end? Why or why not?

g. What might have happened to the medicine man if the hunt was not successful?

h. How do you think the people treated the medicine man when he was not performing? Do you think he was a good hunter? What would happen to a man in traditional Athabascan times if he were not a good hunter?

i. Write or draw an ending to the story, describing the outcome of the hunt.

Have students write songs which the medicine man might sing as he performs. Chapter II, of Tetlin As I Knew It makes no mention of a medicine man, unlike Before the Hunt. Why didn't the medicine man play a part in the Tetlin caribou hunts Shirley Jimerson mentioned?

 

ENRICHMENT: PAST LIFE IN OTHER ATHABASCAN AREAS
Appendix C of this guide refers to books on past cultures and lifestyles of Athabascan areas other than Tetlin. Students can do individual reading and book reports on that topic. Books which would be especially appropriate include Moore's Khaii Ts'a, Carlo's Nulato: An Indian Life on the Yukon (pp. 39 ff.), Griese's At the Mouth of the Luckiest River and The Way of Our People.

ENRICHMENT: RESEARCH PRESENT-DAY LIFE IN ATHABASCAN AREAS
Students can do individual reports at this point in the study. There are a number of resources which describe present-day life in Athabascan communities in the state. (See Appendix F). Make these books available to your good readers who are interested in pursuing the topic. Ask the students to read about and report to the rest of the class on one or two other communities. They may use pictures from the book or pamphlet to show students what the communities look like.

Alternatively, gather the materials listed on Appendix F together and make a bulletin board or center around those materials. Allow students to browse on their own. Prepare questions and provide paper for them; for instance:

1. Locate the community on the Native Peoples and Languages of Alaska map.
2. How do people make a living here?
3. How much use do they make of factory-made or imported item in their subsistence activities? List some of those ways.
4. How did the village get its name?
5. When was the village established?
6. Where do you think the people lived before the village was established?
7. How would you travel to the village? (NOTE: This question will require extra resources from you, perhaps through helping a student learn how to use a travel agent.)

QUIZ:
Administer Quiz 3.

WORKSHEET VI
THE TETLIN YEARLY CYCLE

 

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the circle with the activities that make up the Tetlin yearly cycle. Use the information in the Tetlin As I Knew It to help you. An example is given.

Answer Guide
WORKSHEET VI
THE TETLIN YEARLY CYCLE

 

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the circle with the activities that make up the Tetlin yearly cycle. Use the information in the Tetlin As I Knew It to help you. An example is given.

 

WORKSHEET VII
MY YEARLY CYCLE

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the circle with the activities that make up your yearly cycle. An example is given.

 

WORKSHEET VIII
Study Guide for TETLIN AS I KNEW IT

Part I:
DIRECTIONS: This first list of sentences will check how well you under-stand the facts in Tetlin As I Knew It. Put a checkmark next to each sentence which SAYS WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK. You may use your book to help you decide.

_______1. At Last Tetlin, every family has a tent and a smokehouse.

_______2. "Rock Hill" is where the people collect rocks for their fireplaces.

_______3. There are different kinds of animals all along Tetlin River.

_______4. Fall was the time of year when the men hunted for most of the big animals.

_______5. Sometimes people didn't bother to go hunting in the fall, if they were too busy with other things.

_______6. It took two sleds to carry everyone and everything Shirley Jimerson's family needed for beaver camp.

_______7. Shirley's family got beavers by shooting them.

_______8. In the old days, people spoke different languages in Chena and Tetlin.

_______9. Not much changed in Tetlin after the white people arrived.

_______10. Older children, as well as adults, used to trap for muskrats.

_______11. Because Shirley Jimerson was a girl, she never learned to use a rifle.

_______12. Last Tetlin is the name of the fish camp.

_______13. Children didn't have to help much with chores; they got to play with their friends while their parents worked.

_______14. The same jobs had to be done each year.

 

Part II:
DIRECTIONS: This second list of sentences will check how well you under-stand what Shirley Jimerson meant when she wrote Tetlin As I Knew It.

Put a checkmark next to each sentence which you feel SAYS WHAT SHE MEANT IN THE BOOK. (Hint: sometimes she didn't actually say what she meant, but you should be able to figure it out.) You may use your book to help you decide.

_________1. The mountains at the far side of Tetlin Lake look beautiful.

_________2. Tetlin is a nice place to live.

_________3. People in Tetlin are not very friendly.

_________4. Shirley's family knew all about their land.

_________5. Life was not as good for the people of Tetlin
before the white people came.

_________6. Shirley Jimerson enjoyed the days and nights at beaver camp.

_________7. Shirley Jimerson was proud of the muskrats she trapped.

_________8. Work at fish camp was hard and boring.

 

Part III:
DIRECTIONS: This third list of sentences will check how carefully you read the book Tetlin As I Knew It.

Put a checkmark next to each sentence that you think SHIRLEY JIMERSON WOULD AGREE WITH, based on what she wrote in the book. Be prepared to defend your choices.

_______1. If a person is going to live off the land, she must know the land and its resources very well.

_______2. In order to survive, a person must look out for himself.

_______3. If a family is going to live off the land, every member of the family must pitch in.

_______4. If your land is good, you should be able to build one house and stay there all during the year, and make a good living.

_______5. Women and children aren't very important when it comes to living off the land.

_______6. Moving to a new place can often be very scary.

_______7. A woman's beauty is the most important thing about her.

 

Answer Guide
WORKSHEET VIII
Study Guide for TETLIN AS I KNEW IT

Part I:
DIRECTIONS: This first list of sentences will check how well you under-stand the facts in Tetlin As I Knew It. Put a checkmark next to each sentence which SAYS WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK. You may use your book to help you decide.

 ___X____1. At Last Tetlin, every family has a tent and a smokehouse.

 _______2. "Rock Hill" is where the people collect rocks for their fireplaces.

 ____X___3. There are different kinds of animals all along Tetlin River.

 ____X___4. Fall was the time of year when the men hunted for most of the big animals.

 _______5. Sometimes people didn't bother to go hunting in the fall, if they were too busy with other things.

 ____X___6. It took two sleds to carry everyone and everything Shirley Jimerson's family needed for beaver camp.

 _______7. Shirley's family got beavers by shooting them.

 ____X___8. In the old days, people spoke different languages in Chena and Tetlin.

 ________9. Not much changed in Tetlin after the white people arrived.

 ____X___10. Older children, as well as adults, used to trap for muskrats.

 _______11. Because Shirley Jimerson was a girl, she never learned to use a rifle.

 ____X___12. Last Tetlin is the name of the fish camp.

 _______13. Children didn't have to help much with chores; they got to play with their friends while their parents worked.

 ___X____14. The same jobs had to be done each year.

Part II:
DIRECTIONS: This second list of sentences will check how well you under-stand what Shirley Jimerson meant when she wrote Tetlin As I Knew It. Put a checkmark next to each sentence which you feel SAYS WHAT SHE MEANT IN THE BOOK. (Hint: sometimes she didn't actually say what she meant, but you should be able to figure it out.) You may use your book to help you decide.

_____X____1. The mountains at the far side of Tetlin Lake look beautiful.

_____X____2. Tetlin is a nice place to live.

_________3. People in Tetlin are not very friendly.

_____X____4. Shirley's family knew all about their land.

_________5. Life was not as good for the people of Tetlin
before the white people came.

_____X____6. Shirley Jimerson enjoyed the days and nights at beaver camp.

_____X____7. Shirley Jimerson was proud of the muskrats she trapped.

 _________8. Work at fish camp was hard and boring.

 

Part III:
DIRECTIONS: This third list of sentences will check how carefully you read the book Tetlin As I Knew It. Put a checkmark next to each sentence that you think SHIRLEY JIMERSON WOULD AGREE WITH, based on what she wrote in the book. Be prepared to defend your choices.

___X___1. If a person is going to live off the land, she must know the land and its resources very well.

_______2. In order to survive, a person must look out for himself.

___X___3. If a family is going to live off the land, every member of the family must pitch in.

_______4. If your land is good, you should be able to build one house and stay there all during the year, and make a good living.

_______5. Women and children aren't very important when it comes to living off the land.

___X___6. Moving to a new place can often be very scary.

_______7. A woman's beauty is the most important thing about her.

 

QUIZ 3
Upper Tanana Athabascans & The Yearly Cycle

1. What language has traditionally been spoken in Tetlin?(8 points)

 

2. Name three mammals used to fulfill a basic need in Tetlin. (12 points)

A.

B.

C.

3. Name one kind of fish the Athabascans used for food in the Tetlin area. (8 points)

 

4. Make this circle into a chart of a yearly cycle for Tetlin. (8 points)

A. Fill in the seasons.

B. Name two seasonal resources or activities of the Tetlin Athabascans for each season.

5. Name a kind of plant the Athabascans in the Tetlin area ate. (8 points)

 

6. Name one thing that Shirley did, in the 1950's, as a little girl which her grandmother did not do when she was a little girl. (8 points)

 

7. On the map of Alaska below, color in the Upper Tanana area. (8 points)

8. Extra Credit: label as many of the Athabascan languages on the map above as you can. (10 points possible)

 

Answer Guide
QUIZ 3
Upper Tanana Athabascans & The Yearly Cycle

1. What language has traditionally been spoken in Tetlin?(8 points)

Upper Tanana

2. Name three mammals used to fulfill a basic need in Tetlin. (12 points)

A.For example: bear, beaver, caribou, muskrat, dall sheep, moose

B.

C.

3. Name one kind of fish the Athabascans used for food in the Tetlin area. (8 points)

Examples: Northern pike, arctic grayling, whitefish, burbot(not salmon)

4. Make this circle into a chart of a yearly cycle for Tetlin. (8 points)

A. Fill in the seasons.

(any quadrants can be used for the seasons, as long as they are sequential)

B. Name two seasonal resources or activities of the Tetlin Athabascans for each season.

5. Name a kind of plant the Athabascans in the Tetlin area ate. (8 points)

Examples: blueberries, raspberries, crowberries, Indian potatoes, inner bark

6. Name one thing that Shirley did, in the 1950's, as a little girl which her grandmother did not do when she was a little girl. (8 points)

Answers will vary-Examples: shoot with a rifle, learn to speak English, use a canvas tent, sell muskrat pelts at the trading post.

7. On the map of Alaska below, color in the Upper Tanana area with a crayon. (8 points)

Answers will be on the map.

8. Extra Credit: label as many of the Athabascan languages on the map above as you can. (10 points possible)

 Answers will be on the map.

---Upper Tanana, Tanaina, Holikachuk, Upper Kuskokwim, Ahtna, Tanana, Kutchin, Han, Ingalik, Koyukon, Tanacross

Section 1 Adaptations to Basic Needs	Section 2 Athabascans	Section 3 Upper Tanana Athabascans
Section 4 The Yearly Cycle	Section 5 There's More To Culture Than Basic Needs	Section 6 Could You Survive?
Appendix A	Appendix B	Appendix C
Appendix D	Appendix E	Appendix F
ALASKAN ATHABASCANS	WHEN PEOPLE MEET ANIMALS	A VIEW OF THE PAST
TETLIN AS I KNEW IT		OTHER SOCIAL STUDIES UNITS

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, educational institution, and provider is a part of the University of Alaska system. Learn more about UA's notice of nondiscrimination.