Native Alaskans
Click on an area of the map to learn
more about each Native group.
About 20 percent of Alaska’s
650,000 residents are Native or have Native descent, but there was a time when
their cultures dominated this vast land. As the state continues to grow,
Alaska’s Natives are finding it more important than ever to celebrate their
heritage and educate residents and visitors about Alaska’s first peoples.
The following is a short primer
on the breakdown on the five major cultural groupings found in Alaska. A good
source for further information is the Alaska Native Heritage Center in
Anchorage, which features exhibits and programs on all of Alaska’s Native
cultures. The Alaska Native Heritage Center makes a great starting point for
your cultural visit to Alaska, with informative displays on each of Alaska’s
cultural groupings.
In general, there are three
groups of Alaska Natives – Indian, Eskimo and Aleut. The terms “Inuit” and
“Native American” are sometimes used in place of “Eskimo” and “Indian” in an
effort to be politically correct, but in Alaska, Eskimo and Indian are not
considered derogatory terms. Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts pride themselves on
their heritage.
Within the three categories,
Native culture is further divided into five cultures based on similarities in
tradition, language and proximity. At the Alaska Native Heritage Center, there
are houses representing each of the five cultures, and visitors to the Center
can learn how the different Native groups lived.