Bearfoot Alaska Guides: Travel Alaska's Roads... On Your Own!

Birchbark basket, dating back to Columbus, found in Alaska's Wrangell Mountains.

Archaeologist Works With Ahtna Athabascans To Find 650 Year Old Birchbark Basket & Other Tools Preserved In Remote Mountain Ice

Over 14,000 years ago, much of North America was covered in ice, starting at the Alaska Range, and moving down all the way to what are now the cities of Chicago and New York. The ice was very thick -- miles thick. Then, it abruptly melted over much of the northern hemisphere. Except in parts of Alaska. Around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, the ice in Alaska was close to its present configuration, with high mountain glaciers surrounding the Copper River Valley.

In Alaska, a still-cold part of the world, there remain many glaciers. And, there are other icy geological features: Gigantic "ice fields" and smaller permanent "ice patches," An ice patch is an isolated patch of ice in the lee of a slope, made by drifting snow that is at an altitude where it never melts.  Ice patches are often high in the treeless mountains, but not so high that animals and people can't reach them. (Ice patches can be seen in the Alaska summer from the road along the lower Richardson Highway, on the way to the coastal town of Valdez)

Recently, the ice patches have begun to melt. And the items that are in them -- the wood, and birchbark and sinew, even an arrow feather  -- have dropped down onto the surface of the tundra.

Archaeologist James Dixon talked with young Ahtna volunteers.

Because "ice patches" remain all summer long, they are places caribou can escape the hordes of insects that populate the tundra -- and where they can cool down.  Ancient hunters, aware of the cyclical patterns of Alaska's wildlife, and the way that they are funneled along the same basic routes -- year after year -- followed their prey to the ice patches.
At the ice patches, these long-ago hunters killed animals, and hung out, in the summer, waiting for other game to show up.  As all of us humans tend to do, the hunters left behind their everyday litter on the ice. This included an arrowhead, pieces of wooden arrow shafts, a broken birchbark basket, carved antlers, and even sinew, used to lash an antler projectile to an arrow shaft: The fabric of their lives.

Generally, the "stuff" that ancient Athabascans in Alaska used and discarded has been completely recycled by the earth. It's not particularly solid material, but is more likely to be made of what we now call "biodegradables" -- leather, feathers, wood pieces, antlers (which are commonly gnawed by voles for the calcium), and even a thin piece of copper, fashioned into an arrowhead.  At the ice patches, these ancient people's litter fell down through the snow, protected by the ice, as if in a giant freezer.

Albert Craig, Jr. helped find ancient artifacts on ice.

Archaeologists have gone searching for these items in the Wrangell Mountains. And, amazingly, they have found quite a bit of hitherto unseen evidence of how people lived up to 3,000 years ago.

Some of the items are seriously old. The pink-and-white piece of birchbark basket -- its sewing holes as fresh and clear as if it were made in the nearby village of Chistochina yesterday -- dates back to the days of Columbus. Other items date back to the Middle Ages, and to almost a thousand years before Christ.

"Ice Patch Archaeology" is a new and exciting field of research that reveals a startling look at a very fragile, and difficult-to-chronicle way of life, high in the Alaska arctic.

The Wrangell-St. Elias project was the work of James Dixon, of the University of New Mexico, working with the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and the Ahtna Heritage Foundation. Local Ahtna people accompanied the archeologists, and helped find the artifacts. Here's a list of local people who worked with Jim Dixon through the Ahtna Heritage Foundation: Liana Charley-John, Albert Craig Jr., Tana Finnesand, Martin Finnesand, Roy Hancock, Joeneal Hicks, Jason John, Joey Leonard, Lishaw Lincoln, Katherine McConkey, Markle Pete, Phillip Sabon, Ruth Ann Shinn and Dorothy Shinn.

On October 30th, 2014 there was a special "Coming Home" celebration, in which people from the University, the National Park, the Ahtna Heritage Foundation and the Alaska and Copper River communities showed up to welcome several of the artifacts to a new home at the Ahtna Cultural Center - C’ek’aedi Hwnax ‘Legacy House’ - on the grounds of Wrangell-St. Elias Park's visitor center complex in Copper Center, Alaska.

Elaborate beaded baby-carrying strap made by Athabascan artisan in rural Alaska.

Beaded Athabascan Baby Strap At Museum Of The North

This museum display of a typical Athabascan Alaskan baby strap shows a level of care, design -- and hopefulness. It's a celebration of the birth of a child in the wilderness of Alaska. You can see a similar strap in another section of Finding My Alaska,  showing articles that were made and used by Sophie Lincoln, of Copper Center Village. 


The baby strap Sophie Lincoln made is not on display in a major museum, like this one. But it's just as nice, and shows that common, everyday items throughout Alaska were often finely crafted. They were not just "for show" as "art," but were literally meant to carry a baby through the woods. On display at the University Of Alaska Museum Of The North in Fairbanks.

Locally produced everyday artwork, made by Ahtna elder Sophie Lincoln throughout the course of her long life.

Display Of Ahtna Athabascan Beadwork From Copper Center Reveals Strong Esthetic Judgement. Lisa Yoshimoto (it's her married name; she's actually Ahtna Athabascan) has assembled a wall full of beaded shoes, handmade mitts, and high-top boots and mukluks -- all made or used by her grandmother, Sophie Lincoln of Copper Center, Alaska. There are hair decorations, bands for carrying babies, earrings -- and a wide range of foot gear and mitts, some adorned with heavy beadwork. Others are made in a very simple manner, in the same tradition, but out of mattress covering, or whatever was available.  When the mitts, slippers and boots served their purpose, they were placed somewhere in a corner or shed -- just like old tennis sneakers, or once-beloved baseball caps that aren't serviceable anymore. Voles and small creatures cropped the fur. You can see how authentic and heavily-used these slippers were; Sophie Lincoln's foot shape is clearly visible in the everyday wear of her artwork.  Sophie Lincoln died in 1995 at the age of 93. With her husband, Louis Lincoln, they had eight children.There's a highly decorated baby-carrying strap that runs across the top of this display, showing that, even in the most ordinary of Ahtna households, the birth of a child was a time for rejoicing. The baby was safeguarded while traveling on the mother's back by way of a lovingly crafted functional, yet beautifully artistic, object.  You can see a similar baby strap elsewhere on this website, on display at the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks. Lisa's grandmother's artwork is currently on display at Meiers Lake Roadhouse, in a back room behind the counter, between Paxson and Delta Junction, on the Richardson Highway.

Locally made birch baskets in Chistochina, Alaska. Alaska's Birchbark Baskets Were As Common As Plastic Containers Back In The Past -- And Served The Same Purpose As Modern Tupperware, Pans Or Pottery In Alaska, you can find birch in the Matanuska-Susitna region, along the roads.  Lots of birch. So much birch, in fact, that there's actually a birch syrup company that sells gallons of birch syrup that rivals maple syrup. This is a relatively balmy part of the road system: "The Banana Belt," as Alaskans like to call it.  There is also birch near Fairbanks. Up there beyond the high Alaska Range, Fairbanks and the Tanana Valley are very cold in winter, but extremely warm in the summer.  The Mat-Su Region is Dena'ina Indian country. The Fairbanks Region is Tanana Indian country. And both have a heritage of use of birchbark for a broad range of tools, especially the canoe. But also, baskets, baby cradles, and other objects. Birch is an excellent, moldable, strong wood that is used for snowshoes and sleds, too. In the Copper Valley, which is Ahtna Indian country, and which lies between the vast areas held by the Dena'ina and the Tanana language and cultural groups, birch is hard to come by. The Copper Valley is plagued by poor, cold, permafrost-underladen soil. It's cold in the winter. But, unlike Fairbanks, it's usually cold in the summer, too. You can find birches here. But they are few and far between. This is black spruce country, and aspen country. It's home to willow. Birch are extremely rare. They do grow here -- often on isolated hills -- but they do not grow everywhere. Yet, birch is highly valued all over Alaska, even in the Copper Valley. These baskets are at a Copper Valley trading post in Chistochina, near the Tanana Valley entrance.

Fish-drying display outdoors in Nenana.

"Dog Salmon" On Display at Nenana, Alaska 

This is a fish drying display in Nenana, Alaska. Salmon is a major source of protein along Alaskan rivers. Dried fish is a staple of Alaskan culture, and Athabascan Indians were adept at turning fish into nutritious, portable food, easily carried around in bundles. Please note -- this display is at least a decade old, and has weathered storms, dust and bad weather. Actual dried and smoked salmon are red and delicious; these fish are so old, and dust-covered, that they have not been edible for many years. They're just a display.

Long Ago, People Came To the Kenai And Russian Rivers, Just As They Do Today 

Cooper Landing is where the Russian and Kenai Rivers come together. And where salmon fishing is absolutely fabulous... and, totally accessible from Alaska's road system. Only 100 miles south of Anchorage, Cooper Landing was once a large Kenaitze Indian fish camp. The Kenaitze had a name for the area. Roughly, it translates as, "The Grocery Store." This is a Native American icon, marking a spot along the river banks. 

A Native American icon marks an historic  spot along the river in Cooper Landing.

Slate ulu dating back a millenium.

If It Was Durable, & Was Readily Available, People Made Ulus Out Of It: Wood, Stone, Metal, Ivory...

The ulu -- or Alaskan knife -- is a marvelously adaptive tool that has been used all over Alaska. It's considered "a woman's knife," used for women's chores, like fleshing animal hides, and cutting up food. (The "man's knife" tends to be more dagger-like. Often more like a bayonet.)

You'd hardly know the blade of this knife is made of stone.

Ulus were traditionally made of stone, usually slate that had been sharpened. Handles were made of bone, wood or antler. Eventually, ulu blades were made out of metal, including saws.

This is traditionally an Eskimo knife, although people in Alaska and elsewhere have adapted to using it. It takes a certain amount of skill to learn to use an ulu; items are cut by grabbing the top handle, and the ulu blade is rocked back and forth. Or, its razor sharp blade deftly slices open whale or seal meat. Sometimes, on Alaska TV, you'll see people using the ulu to separate whale blubber from the rest of the meat, at outdoor gatherings where the whale is divided in a coastal village out on the beach.

Ulus are very much used in Alaska today by indigenous people. they're not a thing of the past.

Nowadays, commercially made ulus are also sold to tourists as souvenirs. Remember, it doesn't matter what they look like. They're knives. And knives will be confiscated if they're in your carry-on luggage while boarding a plane. So think ahead if taking an Alaska ulu back home with you.

A more modern ulu, probably made from a commercial sawblade.

Traveler in Anchorage views map of Alaska's Native cultures.

Three Different Groups Of Alaska Natives Live On The Road System. All Of Them Are Athabascan Indians

Dena'ina Indians Of The Kenai, Anchorage & Mat-Su Valleys

The Dena'ina live to the south, where Anchorage now is, and down into the Kenai Peninsula.

Nina Alexander, a Tanana Athabascan, made these slippers in Nenana, Alaska.

This was an advantageous place, because it was so close to the sea, which is the source of wealth and food around the world.

This is a beaded Athabascan baby-carrying strap.

Ahtna Indians Of The Copper Valley, Denali Highway & Cantwell

The Ahtna live north of the Dena'ina, mainly in the Copper River Valley, between the Alaska Range and the Chugach Range. The Ahtna were known for their Copper River salmon -- plump and healthy fish who traveled a long way. And for their copper, which they fashioned into arrowheads, pots and other useful items.

 

 

 

Tanana Indians Of the Tanana Valley

The Tanana people live north of the Alaska Range, on and near the great Tanana River, in the birch country of the north.

These Native Americans are just some of the many Natives who live in Alaska, scattered throughout the state. Many Natives come to Anchorage and Fairbanks to live. Their original homes -- their actual homes -- may be as far away as Nome or Barrow, in Eskimo country. But, when you're driving through Alaska, you are in Athabascan territory.