Human History along the Alagnak Wild River

NPS Photo/L. Law

People of the area have used the Alagnak River and its natural resources for many hundreds of years. Evidence of prehistoric settlements, historic fish camps and cabins, as well as an abandoned contact-era village with a Russian Orthodox Church and cemetery, dot the landscape. The combination of natural and cultural resources represents an invaluable part of our shared heritage. As remote as the Alagnak River seems to us today, it has supported human activity for thousands of years. From the time of the earliest Alaskans, the river has given much to those willing to learn its ways.

The meaning of 'Alagnak'

Alagnak means “making mistakes” in Yup’ik. The river channel is elusive amid ever-shifting branches and braids. According to a life-long area resident, "the channel is always changing, causing mistakes and getting lost." Every year the river changes and branches which is why it is known locally as "the Branch River." The Yup'ik people pronounced Alagnak as "Ah-lock-anok." Euroamericans anglicized its pronunciation as Lockanok.  

Pieces from a reconstructed ceramic vessel found at an Alagnak site.

Prehistoric People along the Alagnak

The human history of the Alagnak Wild River drainage is a rich and complex story that is beginning to unfold through the combined efforts of Native residents, archeologists, historians, and ethnographers. The story begins sometime after the close of the last great Ice Age 14,000 years ago, when glacial ice receded from the region and plants, animals, and finally early Americans colonized the pristine landscape over a period of some millennia. Archeologists don't know who the first people were to see this landscape or when they first set foot here. We will never know what language they spoke or what their belief systems were, yet, we can learn about aspects of their lives from the remains of their camps.

12,000 b.p.	Ice from the last Ice Age receded from the Alagnak River drainage well before 12,000 years ago.
9,000 b.p.	Cultural evidence of people who occupied the river banks and lake outlets since the last ice age, is found on the surface of the glacial drift and outwash deposits at the lake outlets. Some evidence of camp sites near the headwaters may be as much as 9,000 years old.
2,500 b.p.	Pottery made of local clay and tempered with hair or down, and later with sand or gravel, is common in sites on the Alaska Peninsula beginning 2,500 years ago.
2,200 b.p.	Most of the village sites along the banks of the Alagnak are less than 2,200 years old. The reconstructed ceramic vessel (shown above) from an archaeological site along the Alagnak named DIL-161 has a flat-bottom and is 7.5 inches high. It is about 2,100 years old.

Traditional Lifestyle along the Alagnak 150 years ago:

The Alagnak River corridor was not abandoned during the Little Ice Age, which ended about 150 years ago. Archeologists have recorded camps and villages all along the Alagnak that were used during the last cold period and through the time of contact with Russian traders and missionaries. The Alagnak Wild River drainage was home to Native people until the late nineteenth century when they moved to new settlements for commercial opportunities.

During this time, Native Alaska residents were Alutiiq and Central Yup'ik speakers. People lived in small, closely-knit kinship-based communities and shared a similar lifestyle of subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping. Hardships of weather, isolation, and a significant lack of modern conveniences bound communities together. 

Life along the river was dominated by seasonal activities. In late May or early June, residents hunted beluga whales in Bristol Bay. Bird eggs, sourdock, wild celery, and fiddlehead ferns were gathered for personal consumption. In summer, fish were caught for smoking, drying and freezing for the winter. As colder weather approached, residents collected salmon berries, crowberries and blueberries for winter use. Moose, caribou, and bear were hunted after the animals had grown fat from a brief season of plentiful food. In late fall and winter, subsistence trapping was also an important activity. Mink, otter, martin, beaver, fox, wolf, lynx, wolverine, rabbit, weasel, and squirrel were trapped for their furs. Furs may have been sold outright or used for clothing. Once the waters froze over, smelt, trout, and grayling could be harvested by ice fishing.

The river provided both in terms of food and as a waterway for transportation. Kayaking was the primary means of transportation when weather allowed and dogsleds were used in the winter once the river was frozen.

20th Century Changes

During the early part of the century, canneries and commercial fishing grew in importance in the area. Cash income from the commercial salmon industry allowed Alagnak subsistence users to purchase more store-bought food, such as coffee, tea, sugar, and salt.

Historically there had been many villages and cabins at various locations on the Alagnak River, including near the forks of the Alagnak and Nonvianuk Rivers and another village known as "Sleepy Town" on the right side downstream from the forks. Apparently, some of the houses in these settlements were traditional semi-subterranean and some were above ground log houses. Branch River village was the last historic settlement on the river and was abandoned by the 1960s.

By the 1960s and early 1970s all the Alagnak families had left Branch River village for nearby communities of Levelock, Igiugig, Kokhanok, and Naknek. The modern world with all its opportunities and pressures had intruded on isolated Branch River village. Presently, Native Alaskans from surrounding villages, many with deep roots on the river, use the Alagnak for subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping activities.

The Alagnak is rich in cultural history, physical beauty, and natural resources. Here, evidence of past and present people intermingles along the banks of rolling tundra and among diverse populations of fish and wildlife. Today, the Alagnak is used by visitors and residents for recreational and subsistence activities—primarily fishing and angling, camping, gathering, rafting, paddling, and hunting. The Alagnak River provides a rare opportunity to connect with history and the surrounding landscape.

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This information is abbreviated and adapted from "Alagnak Wild River, An Illustrated Guide to the Cultural History of the Alagnak Wild River." Read the full text here.