The First Alaskans

Nobody knows just when the first humans discovered Alaska, and the subject continues to be a topic of great debate among archaeologists.  But this first migration to Alaska occurred at least 15,000 years ago and possibly more than 25,000 years ago.  This was during the last Ice Age.  As one would expect, the Earth was much colder during the Ice Age. At the maximum ice extent 21,000 years ago, 1/3 of the Earth's land surface was covered by glacial ice, which in spots was two miles thick! 

With so much of the Earth’s water frozen in massive ice sheets, sea levels were dramatically lower. The lower sea level exposed a large land area connecting Asia and North America.  This land bridge was massive and over 1,000 miles wide. The combined land mass of Alaska, Siberia, and the exposed lands between them is known as Beringia.  

The first people to come to Alaska migrated over the Beringia land bridge from central Asia, following huge herds of game, such as mammoths, horses, and bison. This migration was slow, likely as slow as a few miles a year on average. In time, these hunters migrated to the rest of North America and eventually South America. Over hundreds of generations, groups adapted to new locations, slowly evolving into the hundreds of native groups that people North and South America today. 

But while the first people to come to the Americas came through Alaska, the Native peoples of Alaska today do not come from this first migration!

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