It is appropriate to begin with a discussion of the names that have been applied to the people of the Upper Kuskokwim area. A search of existing literature reveals a number of different names. Among them are McGrath Ingalik, Kolchan, Goltsan, and Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan. There is also some confusion in the literature as to whether the residents constitute one group, more than one group, or an amalgamation of groups. What then is the historical origin of the Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskans whose descendants now live in Nikolai and Telida?

In 1960 the anthropologist Edward Hosley came to study the people of the area. He concluded, after gathering family histories, that the people were:

"--an amalgamation of at least two earlier societies and show strongest connections with the Ingalik of the lower Yukon " (Hosley 1960:63).

He referred to them at the time as the McGrath Ingalik.

In the Introduction of Native People in the National Park Service publication Land Use in Northern Addition to Denali National Park and Preserve: An Historical Perspective a note of caution is made:

"Various linguistic and cultural groups make up the Native populations living on the north flank of Denali . The historical roots of these groups point to in-migration, out-migration, intermarriage, dispersions, and consolidation. They are not one people; they are many (NPS AR-9, 1984:8).

It is important not to conclude from these statements that there is a lack of cohesion and historical continuity among the residents of Nikolai and Telida. Note that by 1981, with additional information, Hosley published the article Kolchan: Delineation of a New Northern Athapaskan Group (Arctic 21(1):6-11). In it he states:

"The Kolchan are the Athapaskan Indians of the upper Kuskokwim River . They speak a distinct Athapaskan language more closely related to Tanana than to Ingalik, spoken on the middle Kuskokwim . They are not so much a "tribe" as a collection of autonomous contiguous bands having cultural and linguistic similarities" (Hosley 1981:618).

We can also add that they have numerous kinship ties.

It is the language that is the deciding factor. Language is one of the key features that has been used to identify Athabaskan peoples. A map produced in 1984 by Dr. Michael Krauss, of the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, lists Upper Kuskokwim as one of the 11 Athabaskan languages that have been identified in Alaska . While these language areas do not denote tribal or political boundaries in all cases, they do reflect a degree of geographical isolation over time that allows distinct dialects to develop. These dialects developed differently enough from neighboring dialects to eventually become unique languages.

In looking at current residents of Nikolai and Telida, one has to go back only one, or at most two, generations to find someone who came from outside the area and was raised speaking a different language. The people of the area could have told us all along that their language is different from that of all their neighbors. However, in the past, they usually grew up being able to understand the Athabaskan language spoken by their closest neighbors. When someone moved into another language area, he eventually adopted the local language and his children grew up speaking it. It was not unusual to be bi-lingual or even tri-lingual. Some residents of the Upper Kuskokwim could speak or understand Koyukon, Holikachuk , Tanaina, or Tanana (all Athabaskan languages) and Yup’ik (Eskimo). When the Russians arrived they began learning the Russian language and when the Americans arrived, they added the English language as well. But all those who made this area their home adopted the Upper Kuskokwim language as their primary language.

The presence of the Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan language is proof that a distinct group of Athabaskans has been living in the Upper Kuskokwim River basin for a long period of time. It takes time and social or geographical isolation for new languages to develop. In some ways the Upper Kuskokwim language is very conservative and has retained some of the characteristics of the ancestral Proto-Athabaskan language. One such characteristic is the retention of an almost full array of consonants at the ends of words. In many of the Athabaskan languages the endings of words have been simplified so that only a few consonants, out of many possibilities, are utilized in the end position. This feature, and others, show that the language developed in place over time and is not an amalgamation of other Athabaskan languages but a distinct language.

Even though there has been a continual movement of people in and out of the area, and the bands consolidated into the communities of Nikolai and Telida in more recent times, their unique language marks them as a distinct group of people and ties them to the area in which they live.

As to what name should be assigned to this group, they refer to themselves simply as Dina'ena (the people). But they also recognize geographic distinctions. The broadest of these is Dichinanek' Hwt'ana ( Timber River people). Their neighbors also knew them by this name. In Tanaina they were Kenaniq' ht'an while the Koyukon people to the north referred to them as Dikinanek Hut'ana. The English translation would be “ Upper Kuskokwim people”.

The Russians first learned about the people of the Upper Kuskokwim from other Athabaskans who called them Goltsan, and adopted this name, but as Zagoskin noted in his journal:

"This is a name applied to all the tribes of the interior by those living along the coast. Those we saw called themselves by the rivers which in a sense constitute their patrimony" (Zagoskin 1967:243).

The term Goltsan is probably best translated as "strangers". The Tanaina sometimes used this term to refer to their neighbors, pronouncing it Gheltsana. This is the term that Edward Hosley chose in 1981, spelling it Kolchan. It is now used in some publications by other anthropologists. In 1965, when Ray and Sally Jo Collins published their first material on this language, they chose to use the geographical term "Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan". In retrospect, they might also have chosen Dichinanek' Hwt'ana, the Athabaskan name, instead of its translation.

Historically there was a clan system present in the Upper Kuskokwim which placed people in groups. Everyone in the same clan was considered to be related and could not marry another member of that clan. An individual belonged to his mother's clan while his father would belong to a different clan.

In the late 1960's Wassily Petruska and Carl Seseui identified the following clans:

Midzishtihwt'ana Caribou people

Noltsena Middle people

Ne » chots'ina (meaning not known)

Tonedrghelts'elinh Mid-river people (?)

Dichalayu Fish-tail people (thought to be a Yukon clan)

When people traveled in the Interior where other Athabaskans also used the clan system, they could expect that anyone of the same clan delineation would treat them as sister or brother. This was of great importance in the past when people traveled far from home to trade or to seek a wife.

In attempting to explain clans, Carl Seseui said they were "all the same Democrats and Republicans." He may have been inferring that members of the same clan were like-minded people who stuck together and treated fellow clansmen kindly. In times of warfare one could rely on clan members to give support just as family would.

While elders in the 1960's had some knowledge of the clan system, most young people today are not aware of their clan affiliation. They would have to consult with elders to try to determine the clan affiliation of their mothers or grandmothers to identify their own clan status.

Pattern of Life

The people of the Upper Kuskokwim area developed a pattern of life that was determined to a large extent by their environment. As with other Athabaskans who reside near the head of a river system surrounded by mountains, they share a number of environmental constraints. The climate is that of the Alaskan Interior with cold winters and relatively warm summers. The boreal forest provides a number of micro-environments. Black spruce and moss lie over areas of frozen ground that requires a hot fire to clear and thaw, thus allowing willow and birch to move in. The thawed ground along the rivers is covered with stands of white spruce and birch on the higher cut bank side of the river, with thick stands of willow and alder on the sandbars. Cottonwood are found along the river and aspen on the higher ground. Cross-country travel is difficult in much of the lowland area because of numerous swamps and boggy areas drained by small streams that flow into the major rivers. The rivers are the main highways for travel both in summer and winter.

Food resources vary in type, quantity and habitat. Three species of salmon ascend the Kuskokwim streams: chinook (king ), chum (dog), and coho (silver ). Whereas hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of salmon enter the Kuskokwim River , by the time they reach the headwaters only a few thousand, or even a few hundred, are left to spawn in any given stream. There are no large lakes at the head of streams that the sockeye (red salmon), require for spawning. Whitefish, northern pike , Arctic grayling, Inconnu (sheefish ), suckers, lush and a few resident Dolly Varden trout are present but these are also widely dispersed and not present in every stream.

Until the late 1800's and early 1900's moose were absent in most of the area. The large animals most harvested were Dall sheep , caribou , black bear and grizzly bear . Dall sheep habitat is limited to the Alaska Range . Caribou also spend much of the year in the mountains, moving down to the lowlands primarily during the winter.

Small game species such as rabbits, grouse and ptarmigan are widely dispersed but their populations are cyclic and in some years they are very scarce.

Ducks and geese pass through the area by the thousands in the spring when the headwaters of the rivers first open, but most move on to nest elsewhere. During the fall migration, when there is plenty of open water, most fly over the area without stopping except for a brief rest.

This illustrates that no one resource could be counted on as a source of food in any one location, and never all year long. The people had to utilize a wide variety of resources dispersed over a wide geographic area. There were no permanent, year-round villages in the past. People had to move seasonally to harvest food and would winter in different locations to keep from depleting the resources such as food, fur, and firewood in any given place. Many times it was easier to move the camp than to transport the resources back to the village. A person who moved around a lot and became familiar with hundreds of square miles of territory was better able to survive and support a family. If one resource failed he always knew of another place where he could successfully support his family.

For this reason, once a young man reached his teens he was expected to move around and learn to live off of the country. Even young women were prone to wander, as can be seen in the following story of "Ts'ek'its'a" (see Telida Village Stories section). Sometimes it was a matter of life or death as illustrated in the case of the two women who first settled at Telida in the following story "Capture" (see Pattern of Life section). Women moved with the men whenever possible. However, if they had young children that would have hindered the band then they might remain at a fishing site or other camp while the others went on nomadic hunts, such as to the mountains. The elderly traveled as long as they were able, then they remained in camp while others went on a migratory hunt. An example of this situation is recorded by Gordon (1917:65) who found an elderly man in camp alone on the North Fork of the Kuskokwim when he descended that river in 1906. Prior to this incident, he had found only a few people at Lake Minchumina while the rest of the band members were away hunting in the mountains.

Moving frequently, for the early Athabaskans, was a survival strategy. This is not unlike what takes place today when young people move to Anchorage for awhile to work, or even up to the "north slope" to work in the oil fields, or to go commercial fishing . One might also move between villages for work or to get married. Occasionally someone remains away permanently, just as in the past we found that some people moved into the Upper Kuskokwim area from a distance away for a variety of reasons. While the old strategy of moving around still applies today, it does not mean that one has abandoned his home - most people are still identified as being from where they or their parents or grandparents had lived.

Over time people identified dependable key resources and their locations in the Upper Kuskokwim and they returned to those places repeatedly. Telida was one of those locations with a dependable run of whitefish that moved in and out of Telida Lake each year. The Alaska Range also played a key role in the yearly cycle as sheep could always be found at the same locations, caribou spent the summer and early fall there, and later moose became numerous enough to harvest along the foothills. There were other advantages to hunting in the mountains. The ground is firm, making travel easier than in the lowlands. Once in the foothills hunters moved up and down into the mountains, or along the range from drainage to drainage. It is open country and game could be spotted from a great distance utilizing key lookout locations. When game was killed in the summer it was dried before transporting. In the late fall it was allowed to partially dry and could be hung for later retrieval. The hides of moose, or at an earlier time caribou, would be sewn together over an improvised frame to make a boat. After loading in all the meat, the camp, and the family the party floated downstream to a suitable winter camp in the timbered lowlands.

In the past, some Upper Kuskokwim people lived year ‘round in the mountains at the head of streams on the north and south forks of the Kuskokwim River . Originally the only reason to move downstream was to secure a better supply of fish or to trap beaver and muskrat . Marten and other furbearers, even a few beaver, could be found in the mountains. When people became more dependent on trade goods from "the Outside" it made sense to move closer to the source of those goods.

One such move of Nikolai Village was linked to the availability of trade goods. There was an early site up the South Fork near Farewell from which people had moved to the mouth of the Tonzona River , a major source of king salmon. Later, in 1910, when a steamboat with trade goods ascended to just above the present site of Nikolai and a trading post was erected, the people established their winter village at that site.

Each of the original band territories described by Hosley was along one of the major tributaries of the Upper Kuskokwim and most extended out to the mountains.

A yearly cycle in one of these territories might begin with relocating to a fishing site in the late spring to take advantage of the fish runs that began moving upriver at breakup. Chinook (king salmon) was one of the prime fish sought because of its size and nutritional value. The original method for catching these fish was by constructing a fence and weir in a shallow side stream that was utilized for spawning. They were more difficult to catch in the main Kuskokwim River until the fishwheel was introduced in the early 1900's, and large twine and nylon fish nets became available. The original nets were made of babiche or willow bark. Both were difficult to make and required a lot of maintenance. If left in the water for very long they would rot and fall apart so they had to be taken out and dried frequently. Because of the labor involved these were smaller than the nets used now. There are only a few key fishing sites for king salmon in the Upper Kuskokwim area; at Jits’u » kashdi’ on the Tonzona River, on the Salmon River of the Pitka Fork, near Fourth of July Creek on the Takotna River, and a site up the Nixon Fork of the Takotna River. Of these, the first two sites were the most productive. Whitefish and other fish were caught in nets and later in fishwheels.

Miska and Katherine Deaphon installing the Salmon River fish fence , mid-1960’s. Ray Collins photo.

Completed Salmon River fish weir, mid-1960’s. Ray Collins photo.

After a good supply of fish was cut, dried and stored for the winter the men, women without small children, and children old enough for the walk headed for the Alaska Range to hunt. They traveled by boat to a point on the South Fork of the Kuskokwim or a location on the Middle Fork of Big River where they would cache their canoes. Both places are called Nenots'eshts'ilyashdi' (place where we left our boats). From there people would proceed with just what each person could carry in a pack, walking the river bars of the then-braided stream out to the mountains. There they would hunt and dry meat until they had enough hides to make a skin boat and enough meat to fill it up, then rejoin kin who had remained in other camps downriver. After freezeup the young men would be sent back out to the foothills to hunt for the entire village.

Nikolai and Telida were suitable sites for winter villages. Other sites that were used at times included East Fork , Big River and Vinasale . During the winter some families dispersed to trapline cabins. As trade goods became more available, and with the establishment of trading posts at McGrath and Medfra , trapping began to play a bigger role in the yearly cycle. Men and boys trapped for marten , lynx , wolf and wolverine and then in February their efforts shifted to trapping beaver . This sometimes involved moving to spring camp sites where muskrat could also be trapped or shot in the early spring.

By the time spring came the supply of dry fish from the previous summer and the meat from the fall and winter hunts was depleted. Beaver and muskrat provided some food as well as fur, but by mid-spring people looked forward to the thaw when the rivers would begin to open up. Ducks and geese returned, fat from a winter of feeding in the south. Open water also meant the commencing of the fish runs. All of these fresh food resources were greatly appreciated, especially after a long winter when food supplies might have been depleted. At times there were periods of starvation in the late winter when resources were depleted and conditions and location prevented immediate replenishment.

Ideally, fresh food was provided frequently, even in winter, by snaring rabbits around the winter camp and hunting grouse and ptarmigan. During some years migrating caribou moved down into the valleys around the winter villages. Whenever possible fresh meat was brought from the mountains. As stated earlier, some families remained through the winter in the foothills where they had access to sheep and caribou, and in more recent times, moose .

This general pattern of life continued until the late 1960's with some modifications. A major disrupting factor was the advent of schools. The presence of a school in Nikolai, beginning in 1948, required families to stay in residence there during the school year. The family, as a unit, could no longer move to the trapline or hunting grounds. Instead, men formed partnerships and worked their traplines. They remained away from the village for periods of time that varied from a few days to a week or more. Then they would have to return to the village to bring meat to their family, replenish the firewood supply, trade furs, and replenish their own supplies. After a few days in the village they would return to their lines to check their traps. Some of the old patterns were incorporated into these activities. Whereas young men used to go out to the mountains to hunt for the meat supply for the village, they might now open a trapline after freezeup that extended to the Alaska Range . They would remain in the foothills for a few days, hunting while their traps "worked". Then they would check their traps on the return trip to the village. After a few days this process would be repeated.

One winter a young woman and a boy were captured in the upper Kuskokwim area and taken over to the Yukon River . The next summer the young woman was allowed to go out berry picking with the other women but was watched closely. She did manage to take some dry fish with her each time she went out, and cached it. While picking berries she spotted an eagle's nest on a high bluff near the berry picking area. When she had hidden enough food to last her for a few days she watched for an opportunity to escape. Finally one night she slipped away, picked up the dry fish she had cached and made her way to the bluff. She managed to climb the bluff and hide under the nest. This was done in the early morning when the mother who watched her was away. From her hiding place she could watch the people searching for her. When they finally gave up the search she headed home for Nikolai. She was a relative of Miska Deaphon.

The next spring, after her return, Jinoljits, Miska Deaphon's grandfather and a man from Tanana set out after the Shaman who had captured her. They left in the spring and after making their way to the Yukon they found the man. They slipped up on him at night and speared him. There was some fat from his stomach membrane on the spear and two of the men ate some of it for protection. (It was believed that by eating even a small part of an enemy he became a part of you. If his spirit came after you to do harm it would be like harming his own body.) The other man, who was from Tanana , did not eat any and on his way home that fall he was killed by a bull moose . Other moose had come after him several times but always stopped short. Finally, up near lake Minchumina , a bull moose got him. He had climbed a small tree for protection but the moose tore it down and killed him.

Jinoljits lived to be an old man. He was blind but a nephew led him by a stick. He lived up the Takotna River and was finally killed on the trail between Takotna and Vinasale Lake . He and his nephew, who was leading him, were at the front of a traveling party when someone behind them stumbled and shot him in the back with a muzzle loader. It was thought to be an accident (J. Gregory, personal communication).

Summer Trips to the Mountains

As Told By Miska Deaphon

Transcribed and Translated by: Betty Petruska

Edited by: Ray Collins

 

This is what they used to do here a long time ago, around Nikolai village. They stayed home in the summer-time while they were catching fish. They dried the fish they caught. All the people that stayed here were doing that. After the fish were dried, some of the men would travel upriver towards the mountains. But the young women and people who had small children would stay home while the men and only some of the women went upriver to the mountains.

They started off in skin boats going up there to the mouth of Nenotr'esh'ilyashdi (place where the boats are left). They all came to that one place where they left their boats. Upriver, at the point of the island, inside the island, is a place where they had a summer trail. From there they started walking upriver.

Whatever they will use (while on the trip), they put in one place. They carried a rope for those things and with it they bundled their clothes. They would pack it on their backs. They had a pack handle (a flattened stick that fits across the chest) with which they carried it. They picked them up, and upriver inside the island, where the trail used to be, they would start walking upriver.

Then upriver at a place they call K'esh T’ough (beneath the birch) there was a small outlet creek from a lake. The beaver had a dam across the outlet. They walked to there and then, "We caught one beaver," they said. They would take the dam apart and let the water drain away from the beaver pond. When the water had gone down they would catch one or sometimes two beaver. Having what they wanted they skinned and cooked that one. They used to camp there with the one they wanted. They spent the night there. Afterwards, in the morning, they continued walking up inside the island again.

Finally they came to the tip of the island. They didn't walk very fast so the children could keep up with them. Upriver when they came to the tip of the island there was another beaver dam. The beaver had a dam across a narrow pond. It stayed in that pond. They took the beaver dam apart. Then they killed one beaver and having what they needed they stayed over night again.

Upriver further they came to a long sandbar and then they would spot a porcupine over there on the bar. While the dogs were walking around by themselves they would find a porcupine. The dogs would start barking at the porcupine and that is how they would find it. So they walked up to it. They killed the porcupine. Then they would build a fire and burn the hair off of it. That is the way they take care of that one. Sometimes they got two porcupines. Up there at a place this side of Tohwnaghe'o (peninsula sticking out in the water) they would camp again. That is the way they used to do it. By the time they ate the porcupine it started getting dark. In the morning they would start walking upriver again.

Up there beyond Tohwnaghe'o, there on the southwest side, is a long ridge that the summer trail follows. They walked up there. Beyond there they walked up to where another hill comes down. They walked to the top of that hill and from there you can see in all directions. Around there are open foothills. They walked to where you can see all over. There are blueberries there also. They continued walking along up there where the river stretches out. From Ts'enan Naz'one there are lots of little hills sticking up all around.

When you come up to Nin'tsodi'oye (underground cache place), halfway to the mountains on the west side, there are open foothills where you can see a long ways. When they reached there they would spot caribou . They would put their packs on the ground while one person would stalk the caribou. Sometimes two people would go. When they got close to the caribou they would shoot at it and kill one. Then they would walk back and get their packs, take the caribou apart, and hang it up. They did that with some of it. There are also some pools of water in the open foothills. There is water all around on the ground. Having what they wanted (caribou) they would camp around there. They stayed overnight in a patch of spruce in the open foothills. In the morning they started walking again.

Up there is the mountain they call Ts'enan Naz'one. On the west side of that one out there a small mountain sticks out. They walked up to that one. They used to say there were Dzi » yehwt'ana (Hill-People) inside that mountain. They came to a place they called the "doorway" of the Hill People’s home. Then whatever they are carrying in their packs - dry fish eggs or dry fish - everyone takes some from their packs. They would put a little piece of that dry fish or fish eggs in the place they call the Hill People’s doorway. Then they would talk to them and say, "In return for whatever you people use of this you will help people, because this is what we have down below and here we are giving it to you to eat." Then they would put those things in the doorway. They named the things that are around there also _ caribou , sheep , black bear , moose and porcupine . "You will help people with these things," they said, and then they put the things there.

From there they walked to the river. Upriver below Ts’enan Naz'one there are some lakes up there (on the bench_Farewell Lake s), and they came there again. There were some moose tracks around there so they spread out to look for it. Some went on the upriver side of the lake and some went on the downriver side. "Up there at that place where the ridge starts up we will meet," they said, and then separated and all spread out. "See if someone can spot that moose," they said. When they were all spread out they started walking and then they heard shooting from down below. Whoever sees the moose kills it. Sometimes they would kill two moose when there were moose around the lakes. Then they would all gather around the moose. They would cut that one up also and make a meat rack for it. Sometimes they would stay there two or three nights. They cut up the moose they killed and hung it up. Over it they put the moose hide so water wouldn't drip on it. They cut down small spruce trees and put them around it so nothing would eat it.

After they cut down the spruce they started walking again. Up there on the west side of Ts'enanNaz'one, back in, up above, is Toy'draya (Heart Mountain/Little Egypt). They camped again above there where a creek comes out. Around there are what they call mountain trout . These are little Dolly Varden trout. They caught these with fish hooks. They made the fish hooks out of sewing needles and caught them with that. They would put the fish together in one pot and cook them. They wanted those fish so they camped there.

Afterwards they started walking upriver again. Above Toy'draya they say there is another small creek coming out. They continued on and above there is a place where they go over. They walked over what looks like a little hill. Then on the other side where a valley comes out they reached the Post River . Below there where they came out is a shale slide. They went down that and reached the Post River . As they continued up (the Post River ) they went past a mountain and there a hill comes down to the river again. As they came to the point of the hill there were sheep right above looking down at them. The sheep were moving around and from that bunch they killed one. Having what they wanted they camped again. Sometimes they spent two days in camp. Then they spotted a black bear across on the hillside. Two people would stalk it. They killed that one also. They cut that one up in small pieces, so they can carry it, and packed it back to camp. Having what they needed (black bear /sheep) they might camp there three nights.

Afterwards they would go on from there again. They used to do it that way. They continued to go up the Post River as long as they had enough food.

They went up the Post River to a place where there is a little strip of spruce trees. They stayed overnight there. They spent the day there also. Once when I was a child they did that and I was with them. Then Grandma, Grandma too, went with us. The old man who stayed with her was with her. While I was staying there with Grandma, "You stay here," they told me. They left without us and went upriver.

That afternoon, up there where the spruce are growing up on the mountain, from those spruce it sounds like a lot of shooting. Over there under the cliff. Over there where the mountain comes down to the water is a rock bluff. We were a little way below there. I was sitting under a canvas (lean-to) with Grandma. The dogs were tied out in front on the sandbar. It was sometime after the shooting when I looked upriver and it looks like something came out of the trees. "What is that coming from upriver?" I said to Grandma. "It's the_one_to_be_scared_of," (grizzly ) she told me. She pushed me down to the ground and threw a blanket over me. She sat under the canvas as it came lumbering over there. When it got to the entrance of the canvas it stood up on its hind legs. It was looking all around. The dogs that were tied out in front started really barking at it. The dogs were lunging at it but it just stood there looking around. It was looking around to see if it could spot somebody. Grandma didn't move and from under the blanket I saw it in the doorway. Finally it dropped down on all fours. Downriver there was a line of spruce trees. It lumbered into those trees and then two dogs broke loose and followed it.

The people were all gone but pretty soon the one who used to be my father came running back to camp. "What are those dogs saying?" he said. "It happened like this." Grandma told him. He went downriver and climbed clear to the top of the mountain but couldn't find where it went. It had gone into the timber and the dogs were gone too. Then just as the sun was setting the dogs came back alone. And then he saw a black bear up above him. Up there on top of the mountain on the west side. He killed that one and packed it back over there (to camp) instead (of the grizzly ).

Then the people who were shooting up there came back alone (without any game). They had caught some moose , too. They killed three moose up there. The people who had went across there camped up above instead (of carrying the game back to the camp). In the morning we moved up to that place also. It is the place that looks like a line of spruce along the riverbank. They were going to make a skin boat, so they moved to where the skin boat would be made and began staying there. They packed all the meat to that one place. They made a big meat rack for it. They cut it up and hung it there. Meanwhile they continued hunting both ways. They killed sheep there and caribou also behind there. Up the Post River they caught two more moose and then they had five moose.

After they packed those in and they decided to make a skin boat. In preparation they had cut rope and also a bunch of rawhide. Besides that they also got the skin boat poles and the ones that would become ribs all at one time. After they brought the poles back there and they sewed the moose skins together. Then they laid down the poles that would be the backbone (keel). They could tell how long they should be by laying them next to the skins. Then they placed the ribs by it and tied them in place with rawhide. As they had no nails they tied the skin boat frame together with rawhide. They made two skin boats.

They stayed there for some time while the meat was drying. Finally they put the skin boats in the water and put in them whatever they had. They all took off at the same time next to each other. They left from there heading downriver. The dogs were smart too: they knew what the people were doing. When people left they knew from the way the water is flowing to go downriver above the ridge on top. From there they went around and they came down to the mouth of the river (the cut bank and ridge along the river forced the dogs to climb up on top and go behind the ridge and then come back to the river). They came down in the skin boats and arrived at a place just above the mouth ahead of them. After some time all of the dogs finally came up to us there. There are sand bars around there and the dogs would go along on the shore near the people who were going downriver in the skin boats. As they did that they camped here and there.

They reached the mouth of the Post River and then they were floating along in the skin boats down the South Fork of the Kuskokwim . And then the water was flowing past a sandbar and down at the point where the water is flowing there was a fish. It was a king salmon, a really big one, that had just died there recently. They stopped there and walked over there to it. They brought it back and cut it up. Right there on the sandbar they cut it up and cooked it in a pot. I still remember when they found that really big king salmon. The fish that go upriver to spawn, they die and float down to a sandbar like that one did that time. They wanted that one so they stayed overnight there.

When it was morning they went on downriver again and stopped down there at Toy'draya (Little Egypt). There was already a road-house there at that time. They called that place Farewell Roadhouse . A fellow by the name of French Joe (Joe Blanchell) was running the roadhouse then. He stayed there in summer and fall (as well as winter). We stopped a little below where he stayed, at the mouth of a creek.

He found out we were there and walked down to us. "Anyone who is out of salt, sugar, tea or anything I will help him," he said. He always came over and said that. He went after it himself. When they would tell him what they were out of he goes and gets it and brings it back to them. He stayed with us at the place where we stopped. He used to do that. He was by himself and he got lonely. He really used to like meat that was fried over the open fire. When they would kill a porcupine , skin it and fry it he really liked that one also. "Take your things up there (to his place) and stay there awhile," he said. So they made a meat rack there and hung up everything that was in the boats.

Downriver from there up on the higher ground back from the river is where there are moose . After awhile they walked back to the place down below Ts'enanNaz'one where there are lakes, to get the moose they had killed and hung up there when they were walking upriver. French Joe went with them. When they got there they killed another moose. Then he said, "I have salt so why don't you cut up the fat ribs in strips and fry it?" So they fried that one for him. That one who stayed at the road-house (French Joe) used to eat a big piece that was fried over the campfire. We are the only ones who used to be good to him and when people went there he used to help them.

As they were going back down there to the one (meat) that was hanging up with the brush stacked around it, it had been drying. By the time they got back to that one it had really dried up a lot. They packed all that back to one place and then they hung it up again.

"You stay," that white man said. So then they stayed there with him for maybe a week. "The ones who are lacking something, maybe ammunition, when the ammunition is gone you tell me. I have those also," he said. That is what that white man used to do to help us. He was the one who used to stay there at Farewell Road -house.

Then he told the people, "Float across downriver a little this side of the Tetno' (Dillinger) and hunt for red salmon (local name for silver salmon). There is a red salmon spawning place across there." They paddled across there. They went with him to a place where the water runs through the timber a little ways above Tetno'. There were really a lot of red salmon in the water where they spawn. They got a lot of red salmon from there. They split them in half and hung them up. They were hanging in smoke. After that they used to pull the skin boat back upriver on the other side and then return to camp.

After that they left there. But downriver below Tohinaghe'ohw, there below Techamisa' they camped again on the way to Nikolai. They arrived at a place above Nikolai. Where there is also a place where fish are spawning. There it was that the mountain animal (grizzly ) was getting fish so they walked the shore for that one too. They shot them also. They camped there too, sometimes twice (two nights).

After that they left there and then across the river, downriver at Nonoch'idolkwshdi is another place where fish spawn. They stopped at the mouth of that creek. They say there is a place up there where it (grizzly ) goes for fish. They used to do that too. They shot at a mountain animal and killed that one.

There are dinuhmo' (white berries) around there so they hunted for porcupines. The porcupine eats dinuhmo' and they really get fat. They put all of them (porcupine they caught) in one place and burned the hair off them. They took the insides out, split them and hung them in the smoke. When they are half dry they would leave there. When they leave there they go downriver past the mouth of Tonilts'udochak' ( Tonzona River ).

When they come to Nikolai they would all gather together in one place. The ones that stayed there are really thankful that they (the travelers) got lots ( of game). When they see their relatives they would really get happy. They brought back by boat all kinds of meat for winter to that one place (Nikolai). Meanwhile the people that stayed there had been getting fish. These they dried and by the time the others got back to them they had lots of dry fish . They put sheep meat, caribou meat,moose meat and black bear meat in the caches. They split it up and gave the same amount to each family. They all had the same amountof food.

Then it froze up with them. After it was frozen up again they had sleds and dogs. They built sleds. Then after freezeup they went back up to the mountains again. They took off by dog team to go back there to Dots'odimona'. They were young guys with only three or four dogs. And when they reached the mountains they would kill fresh caribou . Theywould kill moose again also and haul the frozen meat back. They hauled sheep back too. At that time people had lots of food.

It doesn't happen likethat now. Now children do not listen to older people. The way it happens now even those who have children are not helped by them. This is what the older people used to do, when it was the morning of a big holiday, they would cook everything. And then at that time many people would eat because of them. It does not happen like that now. Instead many people are hungry. Even when there is everything (we need) around us the government is watching over (guarding) the things on earth. They make all kinds of laws against the village people. And then it is impossible for village people to go hunting. They have closed everything.

People from a given area are hungry because of them, the way they have it now. Because of that many people are hungry now. In the summer and the winter too. Whatever they used to eat is closed to them instead (of being available). They have made it bad. Now what we used to kill is closed and instead the game commission will arrest you, because of what we used to eat. The laws they have are bad for us.

Are we not the people from around here? We are Alaskan people. They should leave it up to us. We should stay near the place where we are born. They guard them (the game) from us. That is what I do not like now. I remember what the old timers used to do and I do not want to go to jail because of what I eat. When someone is hungry he eats. And then he eats something fresh and because of that he has to stay in jail. That one (game) is put on earth for us. God put us on earth, and then we are born at a place that will be our village. Then whatever is around that place we should be able to eat. Instead of that the government keeps watch over (protects) it from us. Because of that we do not get to eat many things such as caribou and sheep . We used to eat as much of those as we ate moose . The way it is now sheep are protected. It has been over 30 years since I ate sheep because it is closed (during the winter when it is accessible to the villagers). The government, the game department keeps them from us.

I do not like it but what can be done? We are the people from around here. The door should be open for us. Instead it should be closed only to the people from the states. That would be good but now it is no good because they put people from around here in jail because of what they eat.

Sometimes I do not think it is good what they are doing to us. Alaskan people should have a meeting over the food (game animals) that is closed to them. There should be an open door again to the things that we eat. We are Alaskan people so I want everything we eat to be made like that again but I don't know who else thinks this way. I think sometimes that people from all over who think like this should make a petition against those laws.

I think that way because that is how my late dad used to feed me. And myself too, whatever I needed I would kill from back in 1920 all the way through. We went up there to the mountains and got whatever we needed. We hauled it back to one place. We used to share that with older people. We were young guys then, when we went up to the mountains. We brought the fresh ones to one place, sheep and caribou . We shared those with older people and then we would go back up there again by dog team.

It is not like that anymore. So then, many people are hungry instead. Many people are not doing the right thing for themselves now. The children that are old enough to work for themselves do not listen to older people. Because of that many people are hungry.

Long ago it was not like that. The young boys who looked like they were old enough to go out hunting would be advised by the older people. That is the way is was long ago. Then the young people listened to those older people. Following their advise, they would go out hunting and kill something. They would put all that in one place for the older people and they used to eat good. Now it is not like that.

Now many people are hungry because the season is closed to us. Younger people do not learn what they should about hunting and on top of that the season is closed to us. When us older people would eat something it is out of season and because of that we do not kill what we should. They have made laws for us we do not want but what can we do about it. We used to be able to hunt all winter long and have whatever we needed.

Because they had everything needed they also made nemaje (Indian ice cream). They had all kinds of grease to make ice cream, and berries too. They had all kinds of berries so they made all kinds of ice cream and put them in the cache. They also gathered those wild carrots. They piled them together and broke it up by pounding. So, long ago they had wild carrot ice cream also. It is not like that now. I do now know what happened to those.

When they killed a mountain black bear and it was fat they would cook it and get the grease. So they had all kinds of grease for berries. They made ice cream out of that one too. I have not seen that kind for a long time. They would only give those special kinds to the oldest people. There is nothing done like that now.

On the morning of a big holiday they brought out whatever they had and put it together in one place. They had a potlatch for as long as a week. They cooked all kinds of food even porcupine . During a holiday they used to eat everything, sheep , caribou , porcupine, beaver and all kinds of ice cream. I remember how they used to do that. They do not do that at home anymore. Because people do not do things the way they used to it is hard to get around now. It is not only in Nikolai they don't do it. The people who stayed in Slow Fork and Telida used to do it that way also. But now the people are gone from those places. Because the older people are gone we are not learning the things we should.

They used to fish a lot at Telida too. But now the old people are gone. So nothing is happening there either. At Slow Fork too, one big family used to stay at Slow Fork. Those people went to the mountains too. Whatever was there they would get. They used to dry what they got and put it in a cache. None of that is happening at those places now. There is nobody there. All around the old people left are hungry instead, because they do not do anything (like they used to). It is like that now. It is bad now.

Now about down there at Big River , the old timers would go up the North Fork and they would make a skin boat up there. That is what the people who stayed at Big River used to do. There where there is a creek outlet they would stay. The places where lake whitefish used to migrate they would find and then they would camp there to catch them. They made a fish trap for them. They used to catch a lot of fish. They do not do it that way anymore. They stopped doing that. The place where the fish used to be are still there but nobody tries to catch the fish.

Then there are the places where the spawned out fish used to gather together. The fish on the sandbars they would also get and cache them in one place. It does not happen that way now. Many fish still come there but people leave them alone. That is what happens. It is wrong but what can you do. That is what the people from each place did.

Those women also picked a lot of berries. They made birch bark baskets for the berries. They put them in those for wintertime, for freeze up time. They picked berries for all winter. There used to be a lot of berries at that time. That is how they used to put berries away.

The eggs of those fish they caught were also put away in birch bark baskets. They put them in baskets and then the eggs would ripen in the baskets.

That is what they used to do but they do not do it that way anymore.

Jim Nikolai's Story

Jim Nikolai was raised at Telida. When he was growing up, even at a young age, he used to ride around with his dad in a canoe, hunting.

The Nikolai family went to Nikolai for Christmas in 1949. While there Jim started going to school for the first time. The school had opened the year before. He went through the second grade and then quit to go trapping. He wanted to catch marten . He had already learned to trap before starting school.

In the 1950's, when he was about 14 or 15, Chief Devian wanted to walk out to Jack Dunn's cabin in the Alaska Range . It was in late August and Jim's dad said, "You should go with him". The Chief would have been in his 70's at that time. They left from the Tonzona River and followed the winter trapline trail to the Alaska Range . It took three days to walk to the mountains.

At the foothills they found a cache of flour, sugar and tea which had been left there during the previous winter when Chief Devian had traveled there by dog team to trap. They stayed there about a month, hunting. They didn't get any sheep but they did catch a moose so they had plenty to eat. In mid-September they walked over to Dry Creek , which was in the next drainage, and caught a cow and calf moose. They built a dwhk'a (meat cache) and hung up all the meat. They covered the cache with brush so the birds could not get to it. Later in the winter they went back by dog team to bring in the meat. The meat was still good and nothing had bothered it.

The Chief would have stayed at the foothills longer but Jim wanted to go back to Nikolai. It had taken them three days to walk out to the foothills, but it only took two days to walk back to the Tonzona (J. Nikolai, personal communication).

The Chief, like many of his generation, liked to live out in the country. Even late in his life he would travel up the South Fork in a canoe by himself and hunt all alone. Young people were still being introduced to this nomadic lifestyle in the 1950's.

Bobby Esai's Story

 

As told by Bobby Esai, 1991

Transcribed and translated by Betty Petruska

Edited by Ray Collins

I am Bobby Esai. I will tell you a little about what it was like a long time ago when I was a child. They say it was 1928 when I first saw Nikolai. It was New Nikolai. Nikolai was already there a long time. It was maybe twenty years since they moved from Old Nikolai to New Nikolai. It was the village they had moved to. That was the Nikolai I saw in 1928.

Some people were still using tents to live in. There were not many houses. There were only a few houses when I saw Nikolai. Theodore Pitka was the one who built the church back there and he had a roadhouse, a two-room house. He had a big place when I saw Nikolai. Deaphon Nikolai, who was the chief, also had a house. I remember when Nikolai only had a few houses.

People used to be nice in those days. They used to meet in one place. They told each other how the last winter was with them. They also told each other about their hunting trips. Those people, who have now passed on, used to laugh and tease each other. They used to really be happy at that time.

Now? Now they complain while they are young that they are sick. Long ago, when I was a child, the elders didn’t say, “I am sick here.” They would get together in one place and talk. Sometimes they would tease each other. It is not like that any more. In those days they would serve tea and eat together. Now it is not like that. Long ago those who were elders would get together in one place by themselves. They would tell the children to come in in the evening. “It is getting dark now,” they would say and when they said that we would (come in)! Now children play outside even in the dark. Those that raised us used to be really strong when they spoke to us.

They would tell each other their plans. They told each other where they would go and when they were going to return to a second place. They told each other when they would come there. They all lived out in the woods. When a “big day” came (that’s what we call it in our language; white men call them holidays), they would be aware it was coming. When the time came they gathered in one place. For white man’s Christmas they would go to McGrath. I don’t know how many days they stayed in McGrath for white man’s Christmas. When the calender ended they would go to Takotna to celebrate New Years. When the celebration ended they would travel back to wherever they came from. Russian Christmas is January 7 th. Some would come to Nikolai for that. It is a holiday for us and we would do nothing for three days (except participate in the celebration). They always used to go to church. When we were children, at four o’clock in the evening they would ring the church bell and we went to church. “Go to church ,“ they would say. So we went to church. “Wash your hands and face,” they told us and we went to church. Also, early in the morning at nine o’clock , we went to church again. We went to church for three days when it was Russian Christmas, on January seventh.

Now it is different. Only a certain few are in church and the rest are absent. It is different now days. They stayed in one place for church, three days in Nikolai. They would stay until January 14 and then it was the Orthodox New Year. On New Year’s eve they would stay up until midnight . That’s when they say evil spirits are especially strong. Then on the 14 th they wished each other a happy New Year. They say, “It’s a bright new day,” and they are thankful.

In the evening there would be music and white man’s dancing and sometimes Indian dancing. Athabaskan speeches and native dancing and songs. They used to drum too but for some reason the religious people told them to leave the drumming alone and they stopped. From then on we only see white man’s dancing. Soon it was January 19 which is another big church day. It is a holiday in honor of Saint John the Baptist. They went to Telida for that one. They would pray there.

They also held potlatches. I don’t know how many but on lots of days. Each one would last for two or three days. There was lots of food in those days. They would go hunting. The young men would go up the mountains. They would save all the good food and store it in one place. They saved it for when the people would gather in one home. Their parents would all save something. The best food such as the stomach, the guts, the brisket, the backbone and the kidneys were saved for the potlatch. They didn’t run out of food in those days.

Sometimes at night the dogs would start barking. When they barked it meant a visitor was coming. They came to the village late and all the dogs were barking. They only used dogs in those days. When visitors came the whole town would come out to greet them even if it was dark. They are all thankful to see each other again. They would quickly take all the dogs out of their harnesses and tie them up out there. They also had grass ready and they would put that down for the dogs. All this was done for the newcomer and in no time the traveler was settled down. That’s the way it used to be done. They helped each other. They would also tease each other.

Sometimes there would be dancing at night. When a dog traveler arrived there during the dance, and he was all snowy, he would come dancing in with frost on his face. I remember seeing those dancers coming to the dance like that. They used to be happy at that time. Now people arrive quietly and people don’t pay much attention to each other.

When I was young, around the first time I saw Nikolai, the people played instruments. They owned instruments and they played and sang for the dancers. They had guitars, mandolins, violin, accordion and harmonica. They had a good time. Old man Pete Snow played the harmonica. Miska Deaphon, Nick and Pete Pitka all played. Tony Pitka had a guitar. The children would also make music. But only a few tried the guitar and they didn’t change chords much.

They would mush up from Vinasale even though it is a long ways. They would also haul food for the potlatch. The late Gregory family, who are from Vinasale, used to do that.

Whatever is good, the best parts, they saved for the potlatch. Some people would be cooking outside and some would be cooking inside. The men would have something big on a fire outside and they would cook on the fire they kept going. At that time people always helped each other. When someone started to work on something everyone would gather there.

After the potlatch, the travelers would soon disperse. They would all go home with cooked food. Fifty pound flour sacks would be clear full. Many sacks would be put in each sled. They would not have to cook a meal for maybe a week. They would just heat up what they needed. That is the only food they ate for some time.

It used to be fun when they gathered for holidays. They traveled long distances to get there. They came from down at Vinasale , and from what we now call Deacon’s Landing and even from Stony River . They used to mush dogs from way down there at that time. That is what they did! Even when it got real cold it wasn’t too cold to travel. They would still travel in cold weather at that time. The people never used to stay in one place. They used to travel all over. The elders never used to complain of aches. Even if they were old they still worked.

Sometimes after breakup they would meet at what they called Tochak (McGrath). They got together there and stayed for some time. The town of Old McGrath was across the river at that time and up the Takotna at the Nixon Fork was a place called Forks. They had a town there too and the steamboat used to travel up there.

My parents used to go to McGrath at breakup and I thought that was a real nice place. The houses of the town used to only be strung out along the bank. Over at Old Town there was a small store and a store that was first called the A.C. (Alaska Commercial) and then it was called N.C. (Northern Commercial) and now it is the A.C. again. The Alaska Commercial Store. At the time my parents lived up the Nixon it was called the N.C. store. It was a big store. The one across in Old Town had two buildings. The first one built in the old town site burned and after that they built another one over there. It was really a big place over there at what they now they call the old town site. That place burned down too. Sometime about then they moved across the river to the current McGrath town. A.C. built the third store there and now it has been replaced by a new store.

Wasilly Devian, Carl Seseui and Old Esai in front of the Nothern Commercial Co. store at McGrath; 1930s -W. F. Erskine Collection photo, UAF Archives

Over in the Old Town site the houses were only down there along the bank. It went clear around the bend. I remember those log houses.

I also remember when they built the airstrip at McGrath. There were big spruce trees near the town site and they cut them down. There were no machines then. They only had their hands and horses. When there was a stump they would hook the horses to it. The horses pulled out the stumps from the big trees. They also used block and tackle to pull them. I remember when the airstrip was being built. Sometime after they were already working on it a Caterpillar tractor, or what they call a “bull dozer”, was brought up on the steamboat and then the work wasn’t hard at all. I remember seeing it pushing dirt. They used to work hard in those days. Those poor people had to work hard! One person told me he worked for only $7.00 a day then. Only $7.00 and hard work too. That is what they did a long time ago.

When I was small my parents went to McGrath in the spring. When they went there was a steamboat there. It was a small one. They were unloading it. There was a young slender person, a Native person who was working on it. That boat was the “Gasoline Nick.” That was the boat’s name, “Gasoline Nick.” Adolf Linn was the first person to run a gasoline engine at McGrath. The young man that was working on that boat was Vonga Bobby. I was really small then yet he is still living. Vonga Bobby was already working when I first saw him. He is from Lime Village . He may still be stronger than me now even if I am way younger than he is. I say I am sick and move around slow but he still gets around fast. They say he still gets around when they see him in McGrath. Some people live a very long time.

Things have changed now. There is alcohol and drug abuse now. Some might be living still if it wasn’t for that. Accidents! There will be no elders living in the future. Our language will be gone too. Now, since we only have a few elders, our language is like a flame burning out and maybe it will be gone.

It used to be that our late parents worked every day. In the summertime they used the water. They fished using only fishnet and dip nets and that is how they got them (fish). They used to make the nets themselves too. They wove the nets. It was not like now. They did not wrap food in paper then. Flour came in a cloth sack and this had a gunny sack on the outside. They would unravel the gunnysack to make a fishnet. They also took sinew from back strap and that sinew was woven along the edge. They braided the fishnets that way. If they were short of gunnysacks, sometimes they used willow bark. They tore the willow bark into long strips and used it along with the gunny sack. There was fishnet twine available then but only some people used it. There was always a shortage of things at that time.

There were no fishwheels then. It was maybe 1910 when a white man came over from the Yukon . It was a family man named Lee Atwater who came over from the Innoko River to the Kuskokwim side. He was a young man who had married a native woman from Holikachuk . Lee Atwater who moved from the Innoko River to the Kuskokwim in 1910 made the first fishwheel then. He made a raft with only an auger. He drilled it with only an auger. He used wooden pins to make it. He put the wooden pins into the holes he drilled. The fishwheel shaft was also drilled with an auger and the holes to put in the poles for the basket. He made that fishwheel at McGrath. That was the first time a fishwheel was made on the Kuskokwim and from then there were fishwheels here.

At that time the people from the Outside raised their own food. They raised chickens and they also raised animals for their fur. Lee Atwater used some wire they called “chicken wire” to make the baskets. Other people started copying him but some didn’t have any chicken wire so they used strips of spruce to cover the baskets. If they had no chicken wire that is what they did. They were really hard working people. Now people don’t work real hard. Things have changed.

That first fishwheel Lee Atwater made at McGrath he moved upriver. Above McGrath where the shipyard was is where he got a piece of ground the first time. It was a homestead. He had a homestead there for a short time and then a man named Vanderpool and his family bought the homestead from him. Lee Atwater moved up by Big River . His place was five miles below Big River on the winter trail. By river it was fifteen miles at that time. Right now the place is still called Lee Atwater’s.

I am talking into a tape recorder even if I forgot some things. These are the parts here and there that I remember. This is the first time I have used a tape recorder.

Edward Hosley described how the people were organized in pre-contact times:

"The social and political unit of the inhabitants of the upper Kuskokwim -upper Kantishna River area was the semi-nomadic band. These groups were customarily little more than a large extended family, numbering perhaps fifteen to thirty individuals. According to tradition, the band was often structured around two brothers, or a brother and his sister's husband, with their wives, children and perhaps daughters' spouses and grandchildren forming the nucleus to which other, more distant relatives might attach themselves" (Hosley 1966:76).

These bands tended to locate along major streams which allowed them to follow the seasonal round of movement previously described; e.g., movement from the Kuskokwim River to the Alaska Range . These bands, excluding the Kantishna River -Minchumina band, can be described as: the Telida band along the McKinley Fork (Swift Fork ) which frequently wintered at Telida; the East Fork band with winter villages at Slow Fork and Dennis Creek; and the South Fork band with villages in the Farewell area or at the mouth of the Tonzona (Little Tonzona ). (The latter village moved twice and became Nikolai village during the contact period). Other bands included the Salmon River band along the Salmon River and the Pitka and Middle Fork of the Kuskokwim; the Big River band which used Big River and the Middle Fork with winter villages at Farewell Landing and the mouth of Big River; and another band which ranged around Vinasale Mountain and had close ties with the former Tatlawiksuk and Takotna River bands. All of these bands were connected with numerous kinship ties, and families and individuals moved frequently between them. As various epidemics swept through the area, the population declined and people began the process of consolidation into the remaining communities of Nikolai and Telida.

With Russian contact and the conversion of the people to the Russian Orthodox Church, some former band leaders were appointed as "chiefs" (doyon). Previously they were recognized informally based on their ability to lead and serve their bands. Nikolai, the first "Chief", was appointed by a priest who visited Vinasale sometime in the late 1800's. Later, Old Man Seseui was appointed as the chief of Telida. These are the only communities where churches were built in the upper Kuskokwim area. The chiefs had a special role in each church to see that the spiritual and physical needs of their members were met. In the absence of a priest the chief would speak in church. This merely formalized the roles of the former band leaders within the church structure. Formerly they spoke to the band, and spoke for the band to outsiders. They were also expected to see that all members of the band were provided for.

When Chief Nikolai died, he was succeeded by his son Deaphon (Nikolai). Wassily Devian was appointed second chief or "Marshal" (Hosley 1966:175). The first church was built in Old Nikolai about 1910. In 1924, the village and the church moved to the current location on higher ground that did not flood. After this move Devian was appointed chief, serving until his death in 1963. He was succeeded by his second chief, Pete Gregory. A few years later Miska Deaphon was appointed chief. Chief Seseui of Telida was succeeded, upon his death in 1930, by Second Chief Sergie Petruska. Carl Seseui followed Petruska in this position. These men, plus the adult males in the community, formed a traditional council that made all important decisions for the group.

Following the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), and the incorporation of Nikolai as a second class city, leadership in the communities has become much more complex. More recently the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) has assisted in the formation in each community of Native Village Councils which are recognized by the federal government.

Nikolai and Telida first formed their own separate village corporations. Then, in 1976, they merged with McGrath and Takotna and formed MTNT, Ltd. A board of directors was elected to run this corporation with each of the four villages represented. MTNT, Ltd., holds title to land around each village and manages their joint income from ANCSA. They all belong to the Doyon regional corporation, and the non-profit Tanana Chiefs Conference which has a sub-regional office in McGrath.