NANUTSET Ch'u Q'udi Gu
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National Park Service – U.S. Department of the Interior Lake Clark National Park and Preserve NANUTSET ch’u Q’udi Gu BEFORE OUR TIME AND NOW AN ETHNOHISTORY OF LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK & PRESERVE Karen K. Gaul 1 U.S. Department of The Interior National Park Service Lake Clark National Park & Preserve 240 West 5th Avenue, Suite 236 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 As the nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural and cultural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places, and providing for enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Cultural Resource Programs of the National Park Service have responsibilities that include stewardship of historic buildings, museum collections, archeological sites, cultural landscapes, oral and written histories, and ethnographic resources. Our mission is to identify, evaluate, and preserve the cultural resources of the park areas and to bring an understanding of these resources to the public. Congress has mandated that we preserve these resources because they are important components of our national and personal identity. Research/Resources management Report NPS/AR/CCR/2007-58 Published by the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Lake Clark National Park and Preserve December 2007 ISBN # 978-0-9796432-3-1 Front Cover: Katherine Constantine at Qeghnilen Village in 1930. Photo courtesy of Nickoli Balluta. George Koktelash Sr.’s fishcamp at Nondalton. Salmon drying on rack for smoked fish, 2006. Photo taken by Judy Putera. 2 Agafia Simeon O’Hara cuts fall fish at Pile Bay on Iliamna lake in 1952. Her husband Tom O’Hara gathers fish in the skiff. Photo courtesy of Vantrease and Wilder families. NANUTSET ch’u Q’udi Gu BEFORE OUR TIME AND NOW AN ETHNOHISTORY OF LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK & PRESERVE 3 Sockeye salmon strips drying on fish rack at Evanoff’s fish camp located below Nondalton. Photo by Judy Putera. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................................. ix Note on Dena’ina Language Pronunciation and Spelling ........................................................................................ ix 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................01 Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Local Residents .....................................................................01 Shared Elements of Dena’ina Culture ........................................................................................................02 Attachment to Place: Cultural Landscapes ................................................................................................07 Lives Based in Subsistence .......................................................................................................................08 Parks Nature and Culture: Cultural Resource Management Challenges ....................................................11 Traditional vs. Modern ...............................................................................................................................13 People and Their Environment ...................................................................................................................15 Methods and Sources .................................................................................................................................16 2. The Lake Clark Environment .............................................................................................................................21 Lake Clark: Qizhjeh Vena ...........................................................................................................................21 Fire and Ice ................................................................................................................................................21 Habitats in Water, Shores, Skies, Trees and Tundra ...................................................................................26 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................................................28 Historical Overview of the Dena’ina People in the Lake Clark and Lake Iliamna Area ......................................29 3. Historical Overview...........................................................................................................................................31 Dena’ina Origins and Prehistory by Alan Boraas ........................................................................................31 From Prehistory to History: Contact with Outsiders ....................................................................................41 Russian Contact ........................................................................................................................................42 Church and Schools ...................................................................................................................................43 Mining and Prospecting .............................................................................................................................47 Commercial Fishing ...................................................................................................................................47 Evolving Government-to-Government Relationships ..................................................................................49 ANCSA and ANILCA ....................................................................................................................................49 4. Village Profiles .................................................................................................................................................51 Dena’ina in the Lake Clark Triangle ...........................................................................................................52 Resident Zone Communities ......................................................................................................................53 Coastal: Tyonek, Kustatan, Polly Creek.......................................................................................................53 Tyonek (Tubughna ) .....................................................................................................................53 Polly Creek (Tałin Ch’iłtant) .........................................................................................................55 Kustatan (Qezdaghnen) ...............................................................................................................56 Northeast: Lime Village and Stony River ....................................................................................................57 Lime Village (Hek’dichen Hdakaq’ ) .............................................................................................57 Stony River (K’qizaghetnu Hdakaq’ ) ...........................................................................................58 Southwest: Kijik, Tanalian Point, Port Alsworth, Old Nondalton and Nondalton, Old Iliamna and Iliamna, Pedro Bay ..........................................................................................................60 Kijik (Qizhjeh ) .............................................................................................................................60 Port Alsworth and Tanalian Point (Tanilen) ..................................................................................60 5i Old Nondalton and Nondalton (Nundaltin) ..................................................................................62 Old Iliamna (Nuch’ak’dalitnu or Ch’ak’dalitnu) and Iliamna .......................................................64 Newhalen (Nughil Hdakaq’ ) ........................................................................................................66 Pedro Bay ....................................................................................................................................67 Population Shifts .......................................................................................................................................68 5. Lives in Motion: Subsistence-based Culture and Economy ..............................................................................71 Mobile People .............................................................................................................................................71 Trails and Passes ........................................................................................................................74 Water ...........................................................................................................................................77 Snow and Ice ...............................................................................................................................78 The Cultural Importance of Aviation for the Dena’ina of Qizhjeh Vena (Lake Clark) and Nila Vena (Lake