The Hän, Han or Hwëch'in / Han Hwech’in (meaning "People of the River, i.e. Yukon River", in English also Hankutchin) are a

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

people of Canada and an

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

Athabaskan Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, ...

people of the United States; they are part of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional lands centered on a heavily

forested A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

area around the Upper Yukon River (Chu Kon'Dëk), Klondike River (Tr'on'Dëk), Bonanza Creek (Gàh Dëk) and Sixtymile River (Khel Dëk) and straddling what is now the

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Yukon Territory Yukon () is a territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s westernmost territory and the smallest ...

border. In later times, the Han population became centered in

Dawson City, Yukon Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

and Eagle, Alaska.

Etymology

The name ''Hän'' or ''Han'' is a shortening of their own name as ''Hwëch'in / Han Hwech’in'', and of the Gwich’in word ''Hangʷičʼin'' for the Hän, both literally meaning "People of the River, i.e. the Yukon River". This word has been spelled variously as ''Hankutchin'', ''Han-Kootchin'', ''Hun-koo-chin'', ''Hong-Kutchin'', ''An Kutchin'', ''Han Kutchin'', ''Han-Kutchín'', ''Hăn-Kŭtchin´'', ''Hän Hwëch'in'', and ''Hungwitchin''. The Hän were often mistaken for just another Gwich'in (Kutchin) band, especially as part of the Dagoo Gwich'in / Tukudh Gwich'in and Teetł'it Gwich'in / Teetl'it Zheh Gwich'in. The French traders called the Hän ''Gens du fou'', ''Gens de Fou'', ''Gens de Foux'', ''Gens des Foux'', or ''Gens-de-fine''. The name ''Gens de Foux'' (and variants) has also been used to refer to the Northern Tutchone (Dan or Huč’an). The Hankutchin were then known as ''Gens de Bois'' or ''Gens des Bois,'' in association with their forested territory.

History of the Hän

The Hän were one of the last Northern Athabascan groups to have contact with European peoples. In 1851 Robert Campbell from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

became the first white man known to have entered Han territory, when he traveled from Fort Selkirk to Fort Yukon. It was not until 1873 and 1874 (after the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

purchase of

), that two trading posts were set up. One was established by Moses Mercier, a former employee of the

, in Belle Isle across the Eagle River. The other, Fort Reliance, was established on the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, just below the mouth of the Klondike River, near Dawson, by two Alaska Commercial Company traders, Leroy N. McQuesten and Frank Bonifield. Gradually trading with whites resulted in the Han shifting from their traditional fishing-hunting economy to a fur-trapping economy, as they grew increasingly reliant on such European goods as guns, clothing, and canvas from 1887 to 1895. Moosehide village

Bishop William Bompas established the first

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

mission in Hän territory, and gradually the people shifted away from traditional religion. They also combined it with Christianity in a syncretic fashion. The Han suffered high mortality during several epidemics of new infectious diseases, to which they had no immunity.

Culture

Food

Historically, fish, especially salmon, comprised the main part of the Hän diet. King salmon was caught along the Yukon River in June and

chum salmon The chum salmon (''Oncorhynchus keta''), also known as dog salmon or keta salmon, is a species of anadromous salmonid fish from the genus ''Oncorhynchus'' (Pacific salmon) native to the coastal rivers of the North Pacific and the Beringian Arctic ...

in August. Fishing tools included weirs, traps, gill nets, dip nets, spears, and

harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

s. Salmon was dried and stored for winter consumption. Between the

salmon run A salmon run is an annual fish migration event where many salmonid species, which are typically hatched in fresh water and live most of their adult life downstream in the ocean, swim back against the stream to the upper reaches of rivers to s ...

s from June–September, the river camps were abandoned. The Han men sought other fish, moose, caribou, birds, bears, and small game. Men hunted game (once after the salmon run and later for caribou in February and March) while women fished (for fish other than salmon). The women traditionally cooked by boiling food with water heated by stones that been placed in a fire and then dropped in woven spruce-root baskets.

Housing

A square half-recessed house was made of wooden poles and moss insulation (called a ''moss house''). This served as the main type of housing. The people erected temporary domed houses made of skin stretched over tied branches when they were traveling.

Language

The Hän language is most similar to Gwich’in (Kutchin). It is more distantly related to

Upper Tanana Upper Tanana (also known as Tabesna, Nabesna or Nee'aanèegn') is an endangered language, endangered Alaskan Athabaskans, Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, United States, mainly in the villages of Northway, Alaska, Northway ...

and Northern Tutchone. The language was used as a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

by Gwich’in, Tutchone, Tagish, and Upper Tanana peoples toward the end of the 19th century during the Gold Rush in the Yukon. The language is now the most

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead langua ...

of Alaska, with only a few speakers (all are over 60 years of age). The language may have ancient, early

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

origins in the region.

In media

* Members of the group are encountered on a number of occasions in

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

's 1989 novel '' Journey'' in which a group of Europeans try to reach Dawson overland from Athabasca Landing in Alberta in 1897-99.

References

Bibliography

* Crow, John R.; & Obley, Philip R. (1981). "Han." In J. Helm (Ed.), ''Handbook of North American Indians: Subarctic'' (Vol. 6, pp. 506–513). Washington: Smithsonian Institution. * McPhee, John. (1977). ''Coming into the Country''. New York: Farrat, Strauss, and Giroux. * Mishler, Craig and William E. Simeone. (2004). ''Han, People of the River: Hän Hwëch'in''. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press. * Osgood, Cornelius. (1971). ''The Han Indians: A compilation of ethnographic and historical data on the Alaska-Yukon boundary area''. Yale University publications in anthropology (No. 74). New Haven, CT.

External links

Chief Isaac's people and history web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Han