Dear Auntie, Are there Natives in Alaska?
I’m glad you wrote in. If you don’t know something…it’s good to ask.
To answer your question, yes, there are Indigenous people in Alaska. There are 229 federally recognized tribes in Alaska, while there are 562 federally recognized tribes overall in the United States. So, Alaska Native tribes account for nearly half of all the US tribes, the rest are located in 33 other states. These tribes are ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse.
There are many Native cultures in Alaska, ranging from the Iñupiaq people in the northern region to Yup’ik and Cup’ik in the southwest to the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian in the southeast region.
A really great resource you can check out is the Alaska Native Heritage Center at alaskanative.net. I visited their center a few years ago in Anchorage and it was pretty amazing! Really cool place where I learned a lot.
I encourage you to keep asking questions and to visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center’s website to learn more… and hey maybe you can plan a trip to Alaska to get the full experience. You wouldn’t regret it.
Thanks for writing in!
Take care,
Auntie Manda
