History & Culture

Subsistence Opportunities

The subsistence program at Denali helps protect the opportunity for qualified local rural residents to continue traditional subsistence activities. The program ensures management of park resources to be consistent with conservation of unimpaired ecosystems and natural and healthy populations of fish and wildlife. Management incorporates traditional ecological knowledge with scientific data and principles. Learn more about subsistence use of animals and the land in Denali.

Understanding and Protecting the Human History of Denali

The Cultural Resources program at Denali documents and shares the stories of people and the land, now and in the past, and helps preserve places and objects with special history. People have made their homes on lands now within park boundaries for perhaps as long as 12,000 years.

 

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  What Are We Gonna Do If We Don't Live Off The Land?

  Members of the communities of Nikolai and Nondalton share what a subsistence lifestyle means to them. Audio description for this video was supported by Alaska Geographic.

  Duration:

  19 minutes, 20 seconds

 

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  Alaskan Elders: Timeless Tales From the Trail (Open Captioned)

  Elders share stories of what it meant to live in remote Alaskan communities in the days before snowmobiles, when sled dogs provided the only reliable means of travel during winter. The history of mushing in Alaska is long and rich and is deeply intertwined with Denali National Park and Preserve’s tradition of mushing to protect and preserve park resources.

  Duration:

  4 minutes, 14 seconds

 

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  Alaska Youth: Mushing with Pride (Open Captioned)

  Mushing in rural Alaska isn't just an opportunity to form a life-long bond between musher and sled dogs; it's a chance for Alaska Native youth to stay in touch with part of their heritage and history.

  Duration:

  4 minutes, 57 seconds

 

Design Guidelines: Mount McKinley National Park

To protect the historic look of the park's historic headquarters district, a design document provides guidance and recommended treatments for work on historic structures in the Mt. McKinley Headquarters Historic District. Download Denali's Historic Design Guidelines.

National Historic Preservation Act

A requirement of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 process is that the public be aware of projects happening in parks, and their NHPA Assessment of Effect. If you have any questions, concerns, or would like any additional information about the NHPA assessment of effect for any of the projects listed in the documents below, please contact Denali's Section 106 Coordinator.

2026 NHPA Assessment of Effects for proposed projects at Denali
2025 NHPA Assessment of Effects for proposed projects at Denali
2024 NHPA Assessment of Effects for proposed projects at Denali

 

Culture & History Topics

Archeology

Learn about Denali's archeology program.

Traditional Use of the Land

Subsistence

Discover how people use this land from Alaska Natives in and near Denali to the early explorers that first came here.

Park History

Read up on park history.

Museum Collections

Delve into Denali's museum collection.

Protecting Cultural Resources

Find out how we protect Denali's cultural resources from buildings and bridges to the National Historic Register.

Wilderness

Two million acres of designated wilderness preserve wilderness character, cultural resources, and a vast, intact ecosystem.