Subsistence in the Denali Area

We live with this world in a very special way. It means living with the land, with the animals and with the birds and fish as though they were your brothers and sisters. It means saying the land is an old friend, an old friend that your father knew and your grandfather knew… Indeed, a friend that your people have always known.

- Richard Nerysoo, Native Elder

Paul Starr working his beaver trap in the winter, Paul Starr Photo

From the earliest times humans have been seasonally attracted to Denali's remote and elevated country because of the concentrations of wildlife and resources near the Alaska Range. Archeological sites in and adjacent to the park and preserve document Native occupation and use for as long as 11,000 years. Through succeeding generations, a family of peoples evolved who would be identified as Athabaskan.

Athabaskans have adapted to this country by utilizing extremely flexible lifestyles. The seasonal availability of certain resources and geographical abundance of resources in some regions and not in others made it necessary for people to travel long distances and range over large territories in their yearly subsistence cycle.

They formed smaller or larger bands of people, as circumstances demanded. They hunted in the lowlands, hills, drainages and mountains of the Alaska Range for caribou, sheep, moose, bear and other small animals. They preserved berries, gathered edible plants and harvested fish. As winter approached they moved to lower river valleys, which provided better protection from severe weather.

The rugged, strenuous life made Athabaskans strong. Their total dependence on the land and its resources gave them a powerful bond to it that was both physical and spiritual.

Traditionally, Athabaskans are taught respect for all living things, taking only what is needed and sharing with family and friends. As time passed Athabaskans developed a more sedentary lifestyle, and villages that were once only seasonally occupied became permanent places of residence. During the 20th century many non-Native people moved into the area around Denali and adopted the subsistence pattern of harvest from the land. Today the villages of Cantwell, Lake Minchumina, Nikolai and Telida are recognized as subsistence use communities for Denali National Park and Preserve. Other families with traditional use patterns within Denali, but who reside in other villages are also recognized as subsistence users.

We see land as much, much more than others see it. Land is life. Without our land, and the way of life it has always provided, we can no longer exist as people. If the relationship is destroyed, we too are destroyed.

- Richard Nerysoo A Native Elder