The History Of Alaska
The history of Alaska is a story of harsh conditions but also of great fortune. It is a story of capitalism, but it is also a story of conservation. The Alaskans hold rich traditions, like dog sled racing and train riding, but also welcome the influx of tourists who are eager to see some of the uniqueness the state of Alaska possesses. Few people leave this state untouched by the beauty and serenity of “the last frontier.”
The first Alaskans were thought to have crossed the Bering Strait between 60,000 and 50,000 BC. By the mid 1700s, there were 60-80,000 Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos living in Alaska. The Indians of Alaska included the Tlingits and Haidas in the Southeast, and the Athabaskans of the Interior Passage; together, they numbered about 20,000 strong. The 15,000 Aleuts inhabited the Aleutian Islands and a Southwest portion of the Alaska Peninsula.
Lastly, 30,000 Eskimos lived along the Alaskan coast from the Arctic Ocean to Yakutat, stretching to the Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula and Prince William Sound. The early inhabitants of the state of Alaska lived in a hunter-gatherer society and used every part of the beasts they hunted, making long houses, tools, igloos, weapons, clothing, blankets, jewelry, dishes and canoes.
Shamans battled for good and evil, with some providing spiritual healing, while others cast curses. Wealth was shared through ceremonies, like Tlingit potlatches, Athabaskan festivals, Eskimo messenger feasts, and Aleut theatrical performances. For thousands of years, these indigenous groups would be the only population on the Alaskan frontier, but that changed and the Alaska native became just 15% of the total population.
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