| Group: | Alaskan Athabascans |
| Population: | 6,400[1] |
| Popplace: | Alaska |
| Langs: | Northern Athabaskan languages, American English (Alaskan variant), Russian (historically) |
| Rels: | Shamanism (largely ex), Christianity |
The Alaskan Athabascans,[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Alaskan Athapascans[8] or Dena[9] (Russian: атабаски Аляски, атапаски Аляски)[10] are Alaska Native peoples of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of the interior of Alaska.
Formerly they identified as a people by the word Tinneh (nowadays Dena; cf. Dene for Canadian Athabaskans). Taken from their own language, it means simply "men" or "people".[11]
In Alaska, where they are the oldest, there are eleven groups identified by the languages they speak. These are:
See also: Shamanism among Alaska Natives.
The Alaskan Athabascan culture is an inland creek and river fishing (also coastal fishing by only Dena'ina of Cook Inlet) and hunter-gatherer culture. The Alaskan Athabascans have a matrilineal system in which children belong to the mother's clan, with the exception of the Yupikized Athabaskans (Holikachuk and Deg Hit'an).[12]
The Athabascan people hold potlatches which have religious, social and economic significance.[8]
Dogs were their only domesticated animal, but were and are an integral element in their culture for the Athabascan population in North America.[13]
Athabascans are descended from Asian hunter-gatherers, likely originally native to Mongolia, who crossed the Bering Strait and settled in North America.[14]