The Alaskan Athabascans, Alaskan Athapascans or Dena are Alaska Native peoples of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of the interior of Alaska.
Former Gwichʼin grand chief Clarence Alexander in 2004
1847 illustration of Gwich'in hunters
Alaska Natives are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Alaskan Creoles, Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups. Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims.
Alaska Native dancer performing in Fairbanks
Alaska Native Languages
Yupik mother and child, Nunivak Island, c. 1929; photographed by Edward S. Curtis.
Metlakahtla brass band