ATHABASCAN CLOTHING BY Mike Nelson

Traditional Clothing • Traditional clothing reflects the resources available. • For the most part, clothing was made of caribou and moose hide • Moose and caribou hide moccasins and boots were important parts of the wardrobe.

Traditional Clothing • Styles of moccasins vary depending on conditions. • Both men and women are adept at sewing, although women traditionally did most of skin sewing. • Athabascan beadwork is an important part of the cultural heritage.

ATHABASCAN FOOD AND HUNTING

FOOD (CONT.) • The Athabascan people traditionally were very mobile. • In the summer, they gathered at streams and caught salmon • In the winter, they had to follow caribou herds, moose, and rabbits, which were their main winter food.

FOOD (CONT.) • Moose and caribou, are not stationary, nor easily found so they had to follow them. • Their mobility was all by foot, and they walked a lot. • For example, an Athabascan informed students at the UAF that he once walked from his home in Allakaket to Fort Yukon to buy a rifle, and then walked home. This was a trip of 450 miles.

FOOD (Cont.) • Today, moose hunting is still a huge part of the subsistence lifestyle for Athabascans in interior Alaska. • Subsistence lifestyle is hunting for survival, or for the sole purpose of proving for yourself and your family.

ATHABASCAN INGENUITY AND TRADITION

• TREE RINGING • POTLATCH • MOOSE HUNTING • 1ST MOOSE • SHARING • FISHING AND SHARING

UAF Jukebox Project http://jukebox.uaf.edu/Fairbanks/html/hl.htm http://jukebox.uaf.edu/central/biohtm/lanab.h tml Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eu8FBM 47nM Athabascan Fiddle Festival http://emilyschwing.wordpress.com/2010/11/ 12/28th-annual-athabascan-fiddle-festival/