Athabascan Ethnographies
Ackerman, Robert E., The Kenaitze People,
Indian Tribal Series; Phoenix; 1975. A very readable ethnography
of the Kenai branch of Tanaina Athabascans, written for the Kenai
Native Association.
Allen, Lt. Henry T., Atnatanas: Natives
of Copper River, Alaska Smithsonian
Institute Report Extract; 1885. Re-printed by Shorey Book Store;
Seattle; 1970.
Clark, Annette McFadyen, Koyukuk River
Culture National Museums of Canada; Ottawa; 1974. An ethnography
of the Koyukuk River (Koyukon--speaking) area of Alaska.
Fry, Alan, Come A Long Journey Doubleday
Canada Ltd.; Toronto, Ontario; 1971. A
story of the early trade relations between interior Athabascans
and the coastal Tlingits. Although the book is fiction, it affords
a good view of life and intercultural relationships of several
generations ago.
Guedon, Marie-Francoise, People of Tetlin,
Why are You Singing?: A Study of the Social Life of the Upper
Tanana Indians National Museum
of Man; Ottawa; 1974. Guedon's
main focus is the social organization of the Upper Tanana Athabascans
as it appeared in 1969-70 when she did her fieldwork in Alaska.
Other topics covered are the subsistence cycle, life cycle, and
social ceremonialism.
Hadleigh-West, Frederick, The Netsi-Kutchin:
An Essay in Human Ecology University Microfilms Ann Arbor.
Reprint of PhD Dissertation submitted
to Louisiana State University;
1963. The author did fieldwork
in Northern Alaska among the Netsi Kutchin (also called Chandalar
Kutchin in some publications) with the purpose of discovering
the relationship between cultural practices and the environment
in which those practices took place.
Hippler, Arthur E. and Wood, John R., The
Sub-Arctic Athabascans:
A Selected Bibliography Institute of Social, Economic and
Government Research, University of Alaska; Fairbanks; 1974, A
well arranged annotated bibliography of general and cultural
anthropology works on Alaskan and Canadian Athabascans. Emphasis
is placed on the psychological aspect of Athabascan life as repre-sented
in the publications.
Hosley, Edward H., The McGrath Ingalik Anthropological
Papers of the University of Alaska; Vol. 9, No. 2, May 1961.Hosley
gives a brief description of present day(1960) life in Nikolai,
Medfra, McGrath, and Telida. The Athabascans in this area might
be, recent linguistic evidence suggests, Lower Kuskokwim rather
than Ingalik speakers.
Kari, James, The Heritage of Eklutna:
Mike Alex 1908-1977, Alaska
Native Language Center; Fairbanks, 1978. A
short biography of the traditional chief of Eklutna, Mike Alex,
is followed by a fascinating list of Dena'ina (Tanaina) place
names in Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, and the Matanuska Valley.
Lantis, Margaret, ed., Ethnohistory
in Southwestern Alaska and the Southern Yukon University
Press of Kentucky; Lexington; 1970. Two
chapters deal with Athabascan ethnohistory (history of a group
based on oral tradition or historic sources): "Tanaina Ethnohistory:
An Example of a Method for the Study of Cultural Change" by Joan
B. Townsend and "Indian Stories About the First Whites in Northwestern
America" by Catherine McClellan.
Loyens, William J., The Changing Culture
of the Nulato Koyukon Indians University Microfilms; Ann
Arbor. Originally published as PhD Dissertation for the University
of Wisconsin; 1966. Descriptions
of traditional, transitional, and modern Lower Koyukon culture
are provided. Effects of the major agents of change - missionaries
and government - are examined.
McKennan, Robert A., The Chandalar Kutchin Arctic
Institute of North America; Montreal; 1965. This
is the most extensive ethnography of the Chandalar Kutchin, a group
which is today centered around Arctic Village. It was the result
of a summer of field work in 1933, and reports on the culture of
that time. It also makes tentative reconstructions of pre-contact
cultural practices, based on historical sources and accounts of
Chandalar Kutchin informants.
McKennan, Robert A., The Upper Tanana
Indians Yale University Publications in Anthropology #55.
Yale University; New Haven; 1959. An
account of life in Upper Tanana society in 1929-1930, based on
field work by the author. The Upper Tanana Indians had been little
affected by white men at the time the field work took place.
Michael, Henry N., ed., Lieutenant Zagoskin's
Travels in Russian
America 1842-1844. University of Toronto Press; Toronto;
1967. Zagoskin investigated
the Lower Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers in 1842-1844, and left this
record of his travels. Much of the information is on the geography
of the area, although he also provides valuable information on
the culture of the Ingalik and Koyukon Athabascans and Eskimos
he encountered. He also documented trading practices in the Yukon
and Kuskokwim Valleys, indicating the goods and prices for goods
which were traded.
National Museum of Man, Canada and the
Royal Scottish Museum, The Athabaskans:
Strangers of the North ,National
Museum of Man; Ottowa; 1974. This
is a catalogue from a travelling museum exhibit sponsored jointly
by the National Museum of Man and the Royal Scottish Museum. The
scholarly text is balanced by numerous beautiful photographs of
Athabascan tools and art.
Nelson, Richard D., Hunters of the Northern
Forest University of Chicago Press; Chicago; 1973.Nelson
describes subsistence activities of Alaskan Kutchin Athabascans
in great detail, based on his stays in Chalkyitsik, Huslia, and
Hughes. Comparisons are made between Athabascan and Eskimo adaptation
to extreme climate.
Olson, Wallace M., Minto, Alaska: Cultural
and Historical Influences on Group Identity A thesis presented
to the Faculty of the University of Alaska; 1968.Some of the
problems of acculturation and assim-ilation, as evidenced by
the Tanana Athabascans of Minto, are examined. A good pre-contact
picture of life in the area is also presented.
Osgood, Cornelius, Contributions to
the Ethnography of the Kutchin Human Relations Area Files
Press; New Haven; 1970.This publication provides a reconstruction
of 19th Century Kutchin Athabascan culture. Osgood covers the
standard topics for an ethnography (environment, material culture,
social organiz-ation, and belief system).
Osgood, Cornelius, The Distribution
of the Northern Athapaskan Indians Human Relations Area Files
Press; New Haven; 1970, First
published in 1936, this short book provides information on the
distribution of Alaskan and Canadian Athabascan groups, and proposes
a system of dividing the Indians into linguistic groupings. All
previous spellings and references to Athabascan groups are included.
Osgood, Cornelius, The Ethnography of
the Tanaina Human Relations Area Files Press; New Haven;
1966. Osgood's fieldwork in
Cook Inlet took place in 1931. From this work he produced this
volume, a good general ethnography of the Tanaina. It deals with
the material culture, the social culture and with Mythology.
Osgood, Cornelius, The Han Indians Yale
University Publications in Anthropology, No. 74; New Haven; 1971. Osgood
surveyed and synthesized existing ethno-graphic accounts of the
Han Athabascans to provide the first unified publication about
this group of Indians.
Osgood, Cornelius, Ingalik Material
Culture Yale University Publications in Anthropology, No.
22. Human Relations Area Files Press; New Haven; 1970. This
is a large catalogue of all phases of Ingalik material culture,
from tools and weapons to ceremonial objects. Information on
each object is exhaustive, and includes illustrations as well
as descriptions on manufacture, use, etc. A companion volume
to Ingalik Mental Culture and Ingalik Social Culture.
Osgood, Cornelius, Ingalik Mental Culture Yale
University Publications in Anthropology, #56. Yale University;
New Haven; 1959. The beliefs
of the Ingalik Athabascans are covered in this companion volume
to Ingalik Material Culture and Ingalik Social Culture. Topics
covered are: the natural world, the social world, the spiritual
world, and mythology.
Osgood, Cornelius, Ingalik Social Culture Yale
University Publications in Anthropology, #53. Yale University;
New Haven; 1958.The social aspects of the following topics are
covered: village
activities, family life, inter-personal relations, and individual
behavior. This is a companion volume to Ingalik Material Culture
and Ingalik Mental Culture.
Parsons, Elsie Clews (ed.), American
Indian Life University of
Nebraska Press; Lincoln; 1967. Originally published in 1922
by B. W. Huebsch, Inc. Anthropologists
portray life in American Indian societies in 27 stories. Each
story is written as if by a Native of the Indian group being
described, and though the accounts are actually written by anthropologists,
the information and action depicted are true. The stories are
written for the laymen.
Of interest for this bibliography are
two tales of Northern Athabascans, one of which is about a woman
from Anvik, Alaska.
Pitts, Roger Steven, The Changing Settlement
Patterns and Housing
Types of the Upper Tanana Indians MA
Thesis for University of Alaska; Fairbanks; 1972. This
is an exhaustive survey of the different structures which were
a part of traditional Upper Tanana culture. There are many illustrations
and photographs. Changing settlement patterns, brought about
most recently by the Alaska Highway, are also examined.
Pruitt, William 0., Animals of the North Harper & Row;
New York; 1967. Although primarily
about the animals in the sub-arctic, there is a good chapter on
the Athabascan yearly subsistence cycle at approximately 8th grade
reading level.
Spencer, Robert F. and Jennings, Jesse
D. et. al. (editors), The Native
Americans Harper & Row; New York; 1965. This
is a general sourcebook on American Indians and Eskimos. It contains
information on prehistory, archaeological techniques, and general
ethnographies of different Native groups. One section is devoted
to "Athabascans of the Western Sub-Arctic".
Sullivan, Robert J., The Ten'a Food
Quest The Catholic University of America; Washington, D.
C.; 1942.Sullivan reports on subsistence activities of the
Ten'a (Koyukon) Athabascans, as they took place in 1936-37.
He includes customs and beliefs which surrounded
the various activities.
Townsend, Joan B., Ethnohistory and
Culture Change of the Iliamna
Tanaina University Microfilms; Ann Arbor. Originally PhD
Dissertation for UCLA; 1965. This
publication focuses on the culture change which has occurred
in Tanaina culture since contact, as well as the persistence
of some aspects of the culture.
VanStone, James W., Athabaskan Adaptations Aldine
Publishing Co.; Chicago; 1974. VanStone
synthesizes written accounts of Canadian and Alaskan Athabascans
to provide a good, general view of subsistence activities, social
institutions, and belief systems. The various Athabascan groups
are divided by subsistence pattern, and good comparative analyses
are given.
VanStone, James W., Ingalik Contact
Ecology: An Ethno-history of the Lower-Middle Yukon, 1790-1935 Fieldiana
Anthropology, Volume 71, March 29, 1979.
VanStone, James W., Historic Ingalik
Settlements Along the Yukon, Innoko and Anvik Rivers, Alaska Fieldiana
Anthropology, Volume 72, March 30, 1979.
Athabascans
of Interior Alaska
