Alaskan History 1: Pre-European "Discovery" Quiz

Answer: Asiatic

The consensus among paleontologists is that the first visitors to North America would have been Asiatic. Ethnic features of modern Alaskan natives seem to support this theory.

Answer: across a now eroded land bridge

The idea of a "Bering Land Bridge" to western Alaska has long been a dominant theory of how humans first migrated to the New World.

Answer: ice fields formed by the last ice age

When dealing with pre-history, periods as short as a winter season or the time it takes to backtrack a mountain route to select another are meaningless, but the final ice age may have prevented much movement beyond western Alaska for a number of generations.

The ultimate point is that the first inhabitants of Alaska may have a much, much longer history than those in any other part of the Americas. "Temporarily" is a relative term in paleontology.

Answer: Hopi

Hopi Indians traditionally inhabited the South West of North America, modern day Arizona and California. The other three are Alaskan peoples categorized, among many other characteristics, by the region of Alaska they came to inhabit. The missing category is a grouping of several ancient tribes, collectively known as the Coastal Indians.

Answer: the Alaskan Panhandle

If the rest of the Alaskan mainland is viewed as a pan, then South East Alaska does look somewhat like its handle. It is a region dominated by coastline, good for subsistence fishing and hunting. Other tribes of the Coastal Indians were (and are) the Haidas, the Eyaks, and the Tsimshians.

Answer: totems

Totems or totem poles are common throughout the northwest of the continent. The Coastal Indians of Alaska have a long tradition with them. Because they are made of wood and prone to decomposition, though, truly ancient artifacts don't exist today.

Answer: They had to follow food resources according to seasonal and migratory conditions.

These hunting and gathering people depended largely on fish, moose, caribou, and berries for subsistence, so they moved constantly to where the best supplies would be. Weather in the interior of Alaska can be extreme, but indigenous peoples of every region of the world have found ways to endure climatic conditions. Legends are generally formed to reflect or explain existing lifestyles, not the reverse; and the Athabascan people had litle competition for this region of Alaska with its small concentrations of food.

Answer: kayak

Kayaks are still used by native hunters today for subsistence. In addition, the more stable sea kayak is an excellent way for the adventure tourist to see small portions of the Alaska coast in protected areas. Open sea coastline, especially the Aleutians, is best left to the experts.

Answer: polar bear

The caribou is not a carnivore. The eagle isn't large enough to carry off the seal or walrus, and, though the wolf does hunt some big game on land, it isn't proficient enough in the water to tackle such large marine mammals.

Answer: They ate raw whale blubber.

Inuits did (and do) have a tradition of eating raw whale blubber called "muktuk". There is a persistent rumor that peoples of the north developed extra vocabulary for snow to identify variations of which they are more keenly aware than other cultures.

In actuality, about 12 words is the most linguists have counted in the languages of Alaska natives. English has at least nine in common use. Natives of Canada and Greenland sometimes lived in igloos; Alaskan natives never did as a widespread practice.

They did, however, insulate their living structures with snow. Finally, the most controversial misconception. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, health statistics and life expectancy among Alaskan natives are lower than the national average. Among the reasons cited are "cultural barriers, geographic isolation, inadequate sewage disposal, and economic factors." The claim remains that problems have arisen recently because the natives aren't tied closely enough to the land anymore. Would subsistence living techniques before 18th Century technology arrived really have addressed these issues any better? You be the judge.