TANANA IN ALASKA

EVIDENCE OF THIS TRIBE DATES BACK TO 11,000 YEARS AS ONE OF THE OLDEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES . THEIR LANGUAGE REFLECTS CONTACT WITH NEIGHBORING GROUPS WHO SPEAK ATHAPASKAN. LITTLE IS KNOWN OF THE PREHISTORY OF THIS AREA. SOCIAL CONTACT HAS PERSISTED FROM THE UPPER KOYUKON. DATING FROM 1850'S THE DIRECT CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS HERE LED TO THE RUSSIANS ESTABLISHING A NETWORK OF TRADING STATIONS. CONTACT WITH AMERICANS WAS AFTER 1867 PURCHASE OF ALASKA FROM RUSSIA. CONTINUOUS CONTACT AMONG TANANA AND EUROPEANS EXPANDED THEIR COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND EXPLORATION. THEY HUNTED AND TRAPPED ANIMALS AND DRIED SALMON. CORDWOOD WAS USED TO TRADE AS MINING OPERATIONS BOOMED IN THE 1950'S AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY BOOMED.

THE MISSIONARIES BUILT CHURCHS, SCHOOLS AND MEDICAL FACILITIES DURING THE 1920'S. BY THE 1950'S MOST OF THE TRIBES BECAME SEMI PERMANENT VILLAGES VS. HUNTING AND GATHERING NOMADS.

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