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After the early Tanaina Athabascans In this area got the things they needed to fulfill their basic needs, the next step was to use those things. It takes a lot of knowledge to use the natural environment well. For instance, after they had fouThe map of Alaska shows eleven different groups of Athabascan Indians speaking eleven different languages in Alaska. You don't have time to learn about every group, so you will concentrate on one group in this unit: the Upper Tanana Athabascans. As you learn about that group, remember that each Athabascan area is a little different, and so are the customs of the people living in each area.

You will be reading a book called Tetlin As I Knew It. It was written by Shirley Jimerson, an Upper Tanana Athabascan who now lives in Anchorage but who grew up in Tetlin. In her book, she describes the way life was when she was a little girl, in the 1950's. Life changes for people all over the world, and life has changed in the Tetlin area too. Nowadays there are more stores, and snowmachines and more people going to school than there were in the 1950's. Nowadays men don't trap with their families as much. Instead, they go with friends and leave the families in town so the children can go to school. And nowadays more and more men and women are working for money, instead of surviving from the natural environment.

Life is different now from the way it was when Shirley Jimerson was little. As you read, try to find clues to the way life was different for Shirley than for her mother and father when they were little.nd, tracked, and killed a moose. the Tanainas needed to know how to butcher it. They needed to know which parts could be used for food, which parts to make tools, which parts could become clothes. They need to know how to preserve the meat.

The ways in which people use or change the things from their natural environment to meet a need are called their adaptations to the natural environment. One example of an adaptation to our natural environment is a house. A house uses materials from the environment to protect against the rain, snow, and cold. It helps keep people warm, and so fulfills the basic need for shelter.

The early Athabascans made many adaptations to their environment. And today, all Alaskans. both Athabascans and non-Athabascans are still making and using adaptations. Many of our adaptations today no longer meet basic needs. Paved roads, for instance, are an adaptation to the need to travel quickly in cars. But that is not a basic need.

In this unit, you will be looking at some of the ways some Alaskan Athabascans have adapted to their environments in the past. You will learn that, unlike the way many Alaskans live today, the early Athabascans used mostly their natural environment in adapting. You will learn, too, that even today, many Athabascans prefer to live where they can be close to the natural environment, adapting to it in old and new ways.

You've learned a little bit about how the Upper Tanana Athabascans adapted to fulfill their basic needs in the area around Tetlin. But you've also learned something else: you've learned some of what the life meant to the people as they were busy getting their food, water, clothing, and shelter. You've learned what they thought about their hunting and trapping. These thoughts are another part of their culture. In your mind, review what you've read and try to think of all the feelings and thoughts Shirley Jimerson expressed about her life.

Then think about your own life. You have certain feelings and thoughts about it too. Most of us have strong feelings about our birthdays, vacations, school, family, and friends. These are all parts of the culture we live in.

Shirley Jimerson's book was written about a time not too long ago when life was beginning to change for the Upper Tanana Athabascans. The next book you'll read is about a time longer ago than that. It is about a time fifty years ago and more. In those days, people didn't live in villages. They moved around throughout the year, even more than Shirley's family did. They called a very big area of land their home, and each camp they stopped in was home too. And they knew the miles of land in between camps as well as you know your own yard or playground.

This next book, called When People Meet Animals, explores more of the cultures of some of the Athabascan groups. It tells more about the feelings and thoughts the people had about the things they did in fulfilling their basic needs.

At the beginning of our study of Athabascan culture, you learned that the Tanaina (or Denaina) Athabascans came to the Anchorage area long ago. At least 300 years ago, perhaps longer, they first began living here.

Of course, Tanainas still live in the Anchorage area. Many Tanainas live in Anchorage itself, while others live in villages close to town. The closest one is Eklutna, north of Anchorage near Eagle River and Chugiak.

Eklutna has been a winter village of the Tanainas since they first came to this area. It is close to Cook Inlet fishing resources. Eklutna flats plant resources, and good sheep hunting areas. Eklutna was one of many settlements which the Cook Inlet Tanainas used. Other Upper Inlet Tanainas used the land in the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, up and down the Knik and Susitna River systems. They had villages in all of those areas. The large and small lakes, including Big Lake, Nancy Lake and Eklutna Lake were part of their territory. The Upper Inlet Tanainas also used the land where the city of Anchorage is now. The area at the mouth of Ship Creek was at one time an important Tanaina fish camp.