You arrived at Camp 3! Yippee! Find this camp on your mountain and complete your next three activities.
Map of traditional Alaska Native lands encompassed within the boundaries of Denali National Park and Preserve.
NPS Photo
Culture and Heritage of Denali
Alaska Natives have called Denali home for thousands of years. Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses the traditional lands of five Alaska Native groups. These are the Ahtna, Dena’ina, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, and Tanana peoples, each with distinct languages and cultural traditions. They are part of the much larger Athabascan or Dene language group.
Many Alaska Natives continue to live on traditional lands and practice cultural traditions. You probably live on the traditional lands of Native peoples, too. Follow this link to visit the Native Land website and explore an interactive world map of Native territories, treaties, and languages.
1) Do you live on traditional lands? Write the name of at least one Native group from your area next to Camp 3 on your mountain.
The late Chief Mitch Demientieff of Nenana tells the Legend of Denali at the Eielson Visitor Center in 2008. Denali is snow-capped in the background.
NPS Photo / Kent Miller
Storytelling
Many Alaska Native elders practice oral tradition. Oral tradition is a way of sharing culture, history, and memories across generations through stories. Stories often feature wildlife such as bears, ravens, and salmon.
Ask an older relative to tell you a story passed down from parents or grandparents.You are now part of your family's oral tradition!
Click below to hear the late Chief Mitch Demientieff of Nenana tell the Legend of Denali. As you listen or read the transcript, pay close attention to connections between people, animals, and the natural environment.
The Legend of Denali
The late Chief Mitch Demientieff of Nenana, Alaska, reads an Athabascan legend about the origins of Denali, the Great One.
Woman: "The Legend of Mount McKinley," as told by Chief Mitch Demientieff, of Nenana, with music by Pamyua of Anchorage, Alaska.
Chief Mitch Demientieff: "Long before Denali was created, there lived in Alaska an Indian named Yahoo. He possessed great power but had no wife. Yahoo built a canoe and paddled west to find one. As he approached the raven chief village, he began singing a song that explained that he was seeking a wife.
The wife of the second chief spoke softly: "You may have my daughter for your wife, but take her and go quickly. The raven chief is preparing to kill you!"
Yahoo began to paddle away with the young woman. The raven chief was right behind him. The raven chief caused a great storm. The water became very rough. Yahoo took out a powerful stone and threw it ahead of him, calming the waters, but mountainous green waves continued to roll behind him.
Next the raven chief threw his great spear at Yahoo, but Yahoo, using medicine, changed the large wave behind him into a mountain of stone just in time. The great spear glanced off the crest of the stone mountain. There was a second tremendous wave of water, even greater than the first. Yahoo used all his medicine to turn this wave into a tremendous mountain of stone. When the great spear hit the top of the mountain, there was a crash of breaking rock, and the great spear flew off into the sky.
The raven chief was paddling so quickly, his canoe struck the second great mountain of stone. The raven chief was thrown onto the rocks, where he changed instantly into a raven and flapped to the top of the mountain. Exhausted, Yahoo fell asleep. When he awoke he was back at home with his new wife at his side. Gazing around, Yahoo saw the two mountains he had created. There was a smaller one to the west now called Foraker, but the larger one, the one the great war spear glanced off before shooting into the stars, that mighty dome would be called - Denali! The Great One!
Yahoo looked at the sky to see the great raven happy to be back with his people, dancing his approval in the wind.
An Alaska Native woman teaches a young girl how to sew mukluk boots from caribou skin.
NPS Photo / Robert Belous
Traditional Clothing
The clothes we wear can tell stories, too. Many Alaska Natives make and wear special, traditional clothing. Traditional clothing may be stitched from moose or caribou hide, trimmed with lynx or beaver fur, or beaded by a loved one. Unique designs and patterns express culture, identity, and art. Traditional clothing reminds wearers of their heritage and home.
2) Do you have a clothing item that tells a story or reminds you of a special person or place? Draw that clothing item next to Camp 3.
Subsistence activities may look like hunting, fishing, trapping, or picking blueberries.
NPS Photos
Subsistence
Imagine living in a village many generations old, traveling by trails and rivers instead of roads, and finding food in nature. This is what leading a subsistence lifestyle in Alaska is like! Subsistence is the traditional use of wild and renewable resources for food, fuel, shelter, clothing, tools, art, and transportation. Many Alaska Natives and rural Alaskans continue to hunt, trap, fish, and harvest plants for subsistence.
3) What food have you eaten or would you like to eat from the land? Write your answer next to Camp 3.
An archeologist at Denali sketches an artifact on graph paper.
NPS Photo
Ancient Ancestors
Archeologists are scientists who study and learn about early humans from the clues they left behind, like tools used to hunt, cook, and make clothing. Archeologists in Denali have found human tools dating back 12,600 years. This means that people may have lived here alongside woolly mammoths! What could an archeologist in the future learn from the tools you use every day?
You have explored some of the rich cultures and traditions of the Denali area. We cannot possibly represent all Dene peoples of past and present! With guidance from Alaska Native communities, we will continue to learn more and improve our lessons and activities for future Online Junior Rangers.
Click on Camp 4 to climb onward!
NPS Photo
Learn More, Climb Higher
(Optional) To take a detour and learn more about the cultures and heritage of Denali, please visit:
907 683-9532
A ranger is available 9 am to 4 pm daily (except on major holidays). If you reach the voicemail, please leave a message and we'll call you back as soon as we finish with the previous caller.
