The Koyukon (russian: Коюконы) are an
Alaska Native
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
Athabascan
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Co ...
people of the
Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the
Koyukuk and
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
rivers where they subsisted for thousands of years by hunting and trapping. Many Koyukon live in a similar manner today.
The
Koyukon language
Koyukon (also called ''Denaakk'e'') is the geographically most widespread Athabascan language spoken in Alaska. The Athabaskan language is spoken along the Koyukuk and the middle Yukon River in western interior Alaska. In 2007, the language had ...
belongs to a large family called
Na-Dené
Na-Dene (; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included, but is now considere ...
or
Athabascan
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Co ...
, traditionally spoken by numerous groups of native people throughout northwestern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. In addition, due to ancient migrations of related peoples, other Na-Dené languages, such as
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
and
Apachean
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
varieties, are spoken in the American Southwest and in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
History
The first Europeans to enter Koyukon territory were
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
ns, who came up the Yukon River to
Nulato in 1838. When they arrived, they found that items such as iron pots, glass beads, cloth apparel, and tobacco had already reached the people through their trade with coastal
Eskimo
Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...
s, who had long traded with Russians. An epidemic of
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
had preceded them, causing high fatalities in the village. In subsequent years, European infectious diseases drastically reduced the Koyukon population, who had no
immunity
Immunity may refer to:
Medicine
* Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease
* ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press
Biology
* Immune system
Engineering
* Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
to these new diseases.
Relative isolation persisted along the Koyukuk until 1898, when the
Yukon Gold Rush brought more than a thousand men to the river. They found little gold, and most left the following winter.
[Shannon Michele McNeeley (2009)]
Seasons out of balance climate change impacts, vulnerability, and sustainable adaptation in Interior Alaska
, Fairbanks, Alaska, August 2009
![Koyukon People 1898 sfc00497](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Koyukon_People_1898_sfc00497.jpg)
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Koyukon people have inhabited their region for at least 1,000 years, with cultural roots there that stretch back thousands of years earlier.
Ethnobotany
The Koyukon freeze
lingonberries
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Norther ...
for winter use.
Notable Koyukon
*
Nikoosh Carlo, PhD, scientist and policy advisor. Dr. Carlo served as Senior Advisor, Climate & Arctic Policy to the Governor of Alaska (2017–18), Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State for the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2015–2017), Public Voices Fellow at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and as executive director, Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (2013–2015).
*
Poldine Carlo
Poldine Demoski Carlo (December 5, 1920 – May 9, 2018) was an American author and an elder of the Koyukon Alaskan Athabaskans, native people of Alaska.
Born in Nulato, Territory of Alaska, Carlo was a founding member of the Fairbanks Native ...
, writer and elder
*
Kathleen Carlo-Kendall
Kathleen Carlo-Kendall born in Tanana, Alaska, is a Koyukon Athabaskan professional carver from Alaska.
Background
Kathleen Carlo was born in Tanana, Alaska, the daughter of Poldine and William "Bill" Carlo. She moved to Fairbanks at the age ...
, professional carver artist
*
Mary Jane Fate
Mary Jane Fate (née Evans; September 4, 1933 — April 10, 2020) was a Koyukon Athabascan activist. She was a founding member of the Fairbanks Native Association and the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and worked as a lobbyist for the Alaska Nat ...
, activist and leader
*
Walter Harper
Walter Harper (1893 – October 25, 1918) was an Alaska Native mountain climber and guide. On Saturday, 7 June 1913, he was the first person to reach the summit of Denali (Mount McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. He was followed by ...
, first man known to reach the summit of
Denali
Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...
(Mount McKinley), in June 1913
*
Emil Notti
Emil Reynold Notti (born March 11, 1933) is an American engineer, indigenous activist, businessman, government employee, and political candidate of Koyukon Athabaskan heritage.
Early life and education
Born in Koyukuk, Alaska, Notti earned a ...
, American engineer, Indigenous activist and Democratic politician
*
Michael J. Stickman Michael J. Stickman is the First Chief of the Nulato Tribal Council, an Athabaskan tribe in Nulato, Alaska. Stickman, who is Koyukon Athabascan, is seated on the Arctic Council
The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that ...
, First Chief of the
Nuwato Tribal Council
*
Morris Thompson, businessman and leader
References
Further reading
*Hunn, E.S. & Williams, N.M.(Eds.). (1982). ''Resource Managers: North American and Australian Hunter-Gatherers.'' Westview Press: Colorado. Nelson, R.K. “A Conservation Ethic and Environment: The Koykon of Alaska” p. 211-228 Rohrlich, R & Baruch, E. (Ed.). (1984).
*Naciente, Esperanza. "Indigenous Lifestyles: Lessons for the Industrialized World." ''Fighting For Freedom Because A Better World Is Possible'' Eds. Edgey Wildchild and Esperanza Naciente. New York: Planting Seeds Press. 2006. 121–126.
* Nelson, Richard K. ''Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
* Nelson, Richard K., Kathleen H. Mautner, and G. Ray Bane. ''Tracks in the Wildland: A Portrayal of Koyukon and Nunamiut Subsistence''.
airbanks Anthropology and Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1982.
* Peter, Adeline. ''Iñuksuk: Northern Koyukon, Gwich'in & Lower Tanana, 1800-1901''. Fairbanks, AK: Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 2001.
External links
{{Authority control
Koyukon