Modern Alaska Natives

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Almost all of the Alaska Native cultures of modern Alaska are part of the two language groups that formed the second and third prehistoric migrations to Alaska. The Na-Dene speakers of the second migration (sometimes referred to as Indians) evolved into the Athabaskan of Interior Alaska (in green on the map below) and the Tlingit and Eyak of Southeast Alaska (in red on the map below). At the time of first contact with Europeans in the mid-1700s, the estimated population of the Alaskan Athabaskans was 10,000 and the Tlingit 15,000. It is worth noting that the Tlingits had a 50% greater population while living in an area 1/8 the size of the Athabaskans. This was reflective of the abundant ocean, rivers, and forests of Southeast Alaska.

The Eskaleut speakers of the third migration evolved into the Aleut, Inupiaq, Yupik, and Alutiiq of modern Alaska. The Aleut inhabited the Aleutian Islands and parts of the Alaskan Peninsula (in orange on the map below). They numbered around 15,000 when the first Europeans discovered Alaska.

The peoples who have historically been referred to as Eskimos lived along the Alaska Coast from Prince William Sound to the Arctic Ocean. It is estimated that their population was around 30,000 at the time of the European discovery of Alaska. These peoples can be divided into three distinctive groups:

The Alutiiq, who live along the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, and Prince William Sound (in purple on the map);
The Yupik, who live along the Bering Sea Coast and the Y-K Delta (in brown on the map);
The Inupiaq, who live north of the Brooks Range and along the Arctic Ocean coast from the Seward Peninsula to Canada (in yellow on the map).

The only Alaska Native groups that are not part of these two language families are the Haida and Tsimshian, who are related to the Natives of the Pacific Northwest. These two groups recently migrated into the very southern part of modern Alaska from Canada. Altogether, it is estimated that about 65,000 people lived in Alaska at the time of European discovery.

Alaska Native Regions

For a very detailed map of all of Alaska's Native languages and dialect, check out this high resolution map: Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska

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