Upper Tanana Ethnographic Overview and Assessment

Project ID: J9W88040018

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Fiscal Year: 2004

Initial Funding: $59,664

Total Funding: $86,276

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Disciplines: Cultural

National Park: Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve

Principal Investigator: Simeone, Bill

Agreement Technical Representative: Cellarius, Barbara

Abstract: The Upper Tanana Ethnographic Overview and Assessment will provide a broad synthesis of Upper Tanana cultural history, traditional territory, socio-political organization and cultural change over the last 100 years. This will be accomplished by synthesizing ethnographic literature and other previously collected material and, if necessary, conducting new interviews to fill data gaps. The project will focus on the present-day communities of Northway, Tetlin, Tanacross, Dot Lake and Healy Lake. The project will be conducted by researchers from Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, in cooperation with NPS staff. The collected information will help to inform park management decisions, orient new park staff to the cultural context of the park, and provide interpretive materials for the park’s use. An associated annotated bibliography will critically evaluate significant sources of information about the Native peoples of the Upper Tanana region.