Homesteads on Fort Richardson, Alaska - The USARAK Home Page ...

Chapter 4.0Early PeopleIt is thought that the earliest people probably arrived in the Anchorage area over seafrom the south and from the southwest by land and by sea. Travel from populatedwestern spots in the Tanana and Nenana River valleys through the Alaska Rangewas likely limited until about 9,500 years ago because the mountains would havebeen choked with ice. The earliest archaeological site in the upper Cook Inlet areais found at Beluga Point. Cultural material found at Beluga Point dates back at least4,000 years, and geologic evidence suggests the site may be at least 8,000 or 9,000years old. 9More recently the entire Cook Inlet area, encompassing about 41,000 square miles,was traditionally home to the Dena’ina. The Dena’ina are thought to have arrivedin the vicinity about 1,650 years ago. 10 The large land base of the Dena’ina “is themost environmentally varied of any Alaskan Native peoples.” 11 It includes bothinterior and coastal environments, flatlands, rivers, lakes, creeks and toweringmountain ranges. The territory is grouped into two main geographic areas, UpperInlet and Lower Inlet, distinguished by dialectic differences. 12 Fort Richardsonfalls in the territory of the Upper Inlet Dena’ina.The extensive Dena’ina territory allowed for diverse resource exploitation. To thisend, they traditionally practiced a subsistence, hunting and gathering lifestyle thatnecessitated seasonal relocations. The Dena’ina in the Anchorage vicinity fishedfor salmon in the Matanuska and Knik rivers, and hunted in the Chugach andTalkeetna mountains. 13 Marine resources of the Knik Arm, such as beluga andharbor seals, were also an important contribution to the food base. 14 The Dena’inahad a well-developed trail system throughout their territory. It traversed mountainranges and glaciers, connecting all the land for trading and visiting purposes. TheDena’ina also made use of boat travel, particularly to go back and forth acrossCook Inlet. 15First contact with the Dena’ina probably did not occur until Captain Cook exploredthe area in 1778. Early Russian presence in the Upper Inlet region is not well documented.16 Their interest was likely limited until seal populations in the west werecompletely decimated. There may have been a Russian post at the head of KnikArm. Whether it was a permanent settlement is unknown. 17 Contact for reasonsother than trading was likely not extensive.9Reger and Pinney “Late Wisconsin Glaciation of the Cook Inlet Region with Emphasis on the Kenai Lowland and Implications forEarly Peopling” pp. 28-31.10James Fall, Patterns of Upper Inlet Tanaina Leadership, 1741-1918, (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D., 1981) p. 20.11James Kari and Priscilla R. Kari, Dena’ina Etnena Tanina Country (Alaska Native Language Center: University of Alaska, 1982) p. 8.12James Fall, Patterns of Upper Inlet Tanaina Leadership, 1741-1918, p. 20.13Ibid., p. 23.14Ibid., p. 143.15Kari and Kari, Dena’ina Etnena Tanina Country, p. 8.16Michael R. Yarborough, “ ‘A Village Which Sprang Up Before My Very Eyes’ An Historical Account of the Founding of Eklutna” inNancy Y. Davis and William E. Davis (eds.) Adventures Through Time: Readings in the Anthropology of Cook Inlet (Anchorage, Alaska: Cook InletHistorical Society, 1993) pp. 111,112.17Ibid.<strong>Homesteads</strong> on Fort RichardsonAlaska9