Alaska Native
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Alaska Native
Inuit man
Total population
~106,660 (2006)1
Regions with significant populations
Alaska
Languages
American English, Haida, Tsimshian, Eskimo-Aleut languages, Na-Dené languages, others
Religion
Shamanism (largely ex), Christianity

Alaska Natives are indigenous peoples of the Americas native to the state of Alaska within the United States. They include Inupiat, Yupik, Aleut, and several Native American peoples, including Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan peoples.

History

In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded.

In 1971 Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act which settled land and financial claims and provided for the establishment of 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations to administer those claims. Similar to the status of the Canadian Inuit and First Nations, which are recognized as distinct peoples, Alaska Natives are in some respects treated separately from Native Americans in the United States. An example of this separate treatment is that Alaska Natives are allowed the harvesting of whales and other marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. In addition, Alaska Natives were not given title to land under the Dawes Act but were instead treated under the Alaska Native Allotment Act until it was repealed in 1971. Another characteristic difference is that Alaska Native tribal governments do not have the power to collect taxes for business transacted on tribal land, per the United States Supreme Court decision in Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government because Alaska Natives (except for Tsimshians) do not hold reservations.

Cultures

Below is a full list of the different Alaska Native cultures. Within each culture are many different tribes.

Alaska Native Languages

• Athabascan
  • Ahtna
  • Deg Hit’an
  • Dena'ina
  • Gwich’in
  • Hän
  • Holikachuk
  • Kolchan
  • Koyukon
  • Lower Tanana
  • Tanacross
  • Upper Tanana
• Eyak
• Haida
• Tlingit
• Tsimshian
• Eskimo
  • Inupiat (an Inuit people)
  • Yupik
    • Siberian Yupik
    • Yup'ik
      • Cup'ik
    • Sugpiaq (Alutiiq)
      • Chugach
      • Koniag
• Aleut (in their own language they refer to themselves as Unangan)
• Alutiiq

See also

• List of Alaska Native Tribal Entities — the list of officially recognized Native Villages and other "tribal entities", according to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Native Americans in the United States
• Prehistory of Alaska
• First Alaskans Institute

Alaska Native

External links

• Alaska Federation of Natives
• Alaska Native Health Board
• Alaska Native Heritage Center
• First Alaskans Institute
• Tlingit National Anthem, Alaska Natives Online
• Alaska Native Arts Foundation

References

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