Tanana
The Tanana are an Indigenous group belonging to the Athabaskan language family, primarily located in the southeastern region of Alaska along the Tanana River. Traditionally, they relied on hunting and fishing for subsistence, with caribou serving as their most crucial food source. During the fall, Tanana community members employed trapping techniques, while spring brought hunts for moose, muskrat, and beaver, and fishing for whitefish and salmon commenced in June. Their shelters varied seasonally, including dome-shaped lodges for winter and bark-covered huts for fishing camps, alongside birchbark canoes and snowshoes for transportation.
Tanana society was organized with a chief and a second chief overseeing community resources, particularly caribou fences. Spiritual beliefs centered around shamans, who were thought to possess the ability to heal illnesses caused by evil spirits. The arrival of non-Indigenous traders in the late 19th century, alongside the discovery of gold, dramatically altered their traditional way of life, leading to increased contact, trade, and significant population decline due to epidemics. The establishment of missions and schools furthered this transition. Today, the Tanana participate actively in the Tanana Chiefs Conference, advocating for their rights and working to preserve their cultural heritage amidst contemporary challenges.
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Tanana
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: Subarctic
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Athabaskan
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Alaska
- POPULATION SIZE: 233 (Tanana Chiefs Conference, 2012)
The Tanana, of the Athabaskan language family, inhabited the southeastern portion of Alaska around the Tanana River, hunting and fishing for their subsistence. The Tanana’s most important food source was caribou—in the fall, members of the Indigenous group trapped them against fences, then killed them with lances and arrows. Surplus meat was dried for winter use. In the spring, the Tanana hunted moose, muskrat, and beaver. Beginning in June, whitefish and salmon were caught in nets and cylindrical fish traps. Women gathered berries and roots and snared marmots and squirrels.
Tanana shelters varied with seasonal activity. Dome-shaped lodges covered with skins were used in winter camps. Lean-tos, which held two families, were used in more temporary camps. Bark-covered huts were constructed in fishing camps. The Tanana used birchbark or skin canoes for water transportation. Snowshoes and toboggans pulled by women were used for land travel. Tanana made clothing of tanned caribou decorated with shells and porcupine quills.
Each band had a chief and a “second chief” who, together, owned the caribou fences. The Tanana believed that shamans possessed supernatural powers. Illnesses were attributed to evil spirits which entered the body, and shamans possessed the power to remove them.
The first documented Tanana-White contact occurred around 1875 and was with trader-prospector A. C. Harper. Although non-Indigenous American trade goods had already found their way into the area through Russian trading posts, Tanana Indigenous Americans primarily traded through intermediaries. Participation in the fur trade changed annual migration patterns for the Tanana. When this occurred, economic importance shifted from the entire group to the family.
In 1886, the discovery of gold brought thousands of non-Indigenous Americans into Tanana territory. Roads transformed little villages into large towns. Many Indigenous peoples hunted food for miners. The Tanana suffered epidemics of measles, influenza, and tuberculosis, which devastated a number of villages. In the 1880s, Anglican ministers established missions and mission schools, which brought Tanana into more permanent settlements. In 1958, when Alaska became a state, fish and game laws had the net effect of essentially ending old patterns of life and forcing the Tanana into wage-labor jobs.
The Tanana Athabaskan languages are divided into Tanacross, Upper Tanana, and Lower Tanana, each of which had fewer than 100 living speakers as of the early twenty-first century. An important contribution of the Tanana is its formation and participation in the Tanana Chiefs Conference, a non-profit alliance of over thirty federally recognized Indigenous American groups that, in the mid-2020s, continued to work towards meeting members' socioeconomic needs by offering various social services, advocated for Indigenous rights, and worked to preserve Athabascan culture.
Bibliography
Cellarius, Barbara, et al. “People of the Upper Tanana.” National Park Service, 31 Oct. 2024, www.nps.gov/articles/000/people-of-the-upper-tanana.htm. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
“Communities in Our Region - Tanana.” Tanana Chiefs Conference, www.tananachiefs.org/about/communities/tanana. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
McKennan, Robert A. The Upper Tanana Indians. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959.
"Our History." Tanana Chiefs Conference, www.tananachiefs.org/about/our-history. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
Simeone, William E. A History of Alaskan Athapaskans: Including a Description of Athapaskan Culture and a Historical Narrative, 1785–1971. Anchorage: Alaska Historical Commission, 1982.
“Tanana.” Alaska Native Language Center, www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages-move/tanana.php. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.