SEWARD’S FIRST PEOPLE

UNEGKURMIUT
SEWARD’S FIRST PEOPLE

Objectives
1. Understand Seward’s rich history
extends for thousands of years
2. Learn who these First People were
3. Learn how they survived here so
long ago
4. Learn why and where they left to
CHUGACH ALUTIIQ
LEGEND • There was an old village where a
man with his twelve sons and 5
nephews lived
• The man died, leaving his sons and
nephews to fight over his belongings
• With no resolution, they decided to
split up and settle all over the Sound
• This is how the different villages
started
SEWARD
• There is evidence of human use of the
marine resources from at least 3,000
years ago
• Recent studies suggest there may have
been coastal migrations starting 17,000
years ago
• Scientists believe that the Seward area
was settled approximately 700-800 years
ago
SEWARD

• No written history of the

people that lived here
• How do we know that people
occupied this area?
• Oral History
• Archeological Sites
ARTIFACTS IN
KENAI FJORDS
AREA

• Artifacts found in
the Kenai Fjords
area
• Slate Blade
• Spear Head
• Fishhooks
• Barbed Darts
ARTIFACTS IN
KENAI FJORDS
AREA

• Artifacts found in
the Kenai Fjords
area
• Arrowhead Points
• Stone Lamp
• Double-Edged Knife
SEWARD

• Most settlements were abandoned by

1880
• Why?
• Earthquakes (1170)
• Volcanoes (1277-1401)
• Russian Settlement in the area (1700s)
UNEGKURMIUT
• Scientists believe that the area was settled by a
group called Unegkurmiut which means “People
from Over There”
• Unegkurmiut were a part of the Pacific Alaska
Native group called Alutiiq which are further
divided regionally into a group called the
Sugpiaq or the “Real People”
UNEGKURMIUT
Alutiiq

Sugpiaq

Unegkurmiut
UNEGKURMIUT

• There were three villages in the Seward area

1. Kangiaq – Day Harbor
2. Qutatluq – Seward area
3. Kani Lik – “Two Boys” Seward area
 • This group lived and occupied the area of Prince
UNEGKURMIUT William Sound, the outer coast of the Kenai
Peninsula, and Kodiak
• Mobility was the key to survival
• They used kayaks to do their hunting and
fishing
• They moved seasonally, following the
different salmon runs
• Eventually they created permanent settlements in
Port Graham, Seldovia, and Nanwalek
KEY
QUESTIONS • What sort of clothing do you think they
wore?
• What did they eat to survive? How did they
acquire this food?
• What kind of homes did they live in? Where
did they build these homes?
• Why did they choose the Seward area to
live?
 Elder Quote:
KEY QUESTION “I have read somewhere that there are a million hairs per
square inch on a sea otter hide. Sea otter makes a nice hat,
What sort of clothing do you mittens, or parka because it is so warm. The nicest fur
around.” -Peggy McDaniel, Cordova
think they wore?
• Video
o https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNpC1tX
-kqJaSU7ZSxUWAfA
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continu
e=62&v=AaEAkErGqsA&feature=emb_logo

• Text
o http://chugachheritageak.org/resource-files/Th
e_Chugach_Eskimo_by_Kaj_Birket-Smith.pdf
(p 64-71)
o https://alutiiqmuseum.org/files/Ed%20Handout
s/26%20Clothing.pdf

KEY QUESTION
• What did they eat to survive?
How did they acquire this food?
Elder Quote:
“When resources became limited, people moved on. They took all of
their camp out. Then they would go back when resources returned.
Villages didn’t exist, there were seasonal camps. They always
traveled from fall to spring. That’s what is happening here, we’re not
moving.” – Nick Tanape Sr., Elder, Nanwalek, 2004

• Video
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWDehFm8w54
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG-KxiQvfqA
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozk_2_zqZ7g

• Text
o https://chugachheritageak.org/resource-files/Looking
_Back_on_Subsistance-Interviews_with_Elders_of_t
he_Chugach_Region.pdf
o https://www.nps.gov/articles/alutiiq-outer-kenai-coast
.htm
(Adapting to Survive)
o Round_HuntingLandMammal.pdf
 Elder Quotation:
KEY QUESTION “The Aleuts built sod houses. They built a wooden frame with
driftwood. The wooden frame was covered in grass, moss and mud. For
heat, they would have a fire in the middle and a hole on top to let the
• What kind of homes did they smoke out. The windows were made out of bear intestine. The size of
the house depends on how many people are going to stay in it.” -
live in? Where did they build Herman Moonin, Alexandrovsk, No.2, Page 53.
these homes?
• Video
o http://jukebox.uaf.edu/mp3s/nanpg/23507-01.mp3
o https://youtu.be/6oM9M8B_s8k
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9FbV68iOh4
&feature=youtu.be
(Starts at 2:50)
o https://chugachheritageak.org/heritage-kit-curriculu
m-lessons/traditional-place-names

• Text
o http://chugachheritageak.org/resource-files/The_Ch
 Elder Quotation:
KEY QUESTION “I remember my mom told me that the only thing that connects us all is
water, and if you’re ever alone all you have to do is put your hands in
the water, and you’re connected all the way around this world.” -Bill
• Why did they choose the Smith (Valdez/Cordova, Alaska)

Seward area to live?

• Video
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaayCO0S
t-E&feature=youtu.be
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnzsbD3N
YxU
o https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/videos/what-is-
an-estuary.html

• Text
o http://chugachheritageak.org/resource-files/Th
e_Chugach_Eskimo_by_Kaj_Birket-Smith.pdf
(p. 16-18)
ASSIGNMENT

• With your group, you will research

your Key Question either from the
resources provided or from personal
or school information books
• You will use your 3-D Graphic
Organizer to document your research
• You will present your research to your
classmates
 SEWARD’S FIRST PEOPLE

Objectives
1. Understand Seward’s rich history
extends for thousands of years
2. Learn who these First People were
3. Learn how they survived here so
long ago
4. Learn why and where they left to
REFERENCES

Chugachmiut Heritage Preservation. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://chugachheritageak.org/

Kenai Fjords National Park. (n.d.). Connected to the land: The Alutiiq of the outer Kenai coast.
Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/articles/alutiiq-outer-kenai-coast.htm
Seward Historic Preservation Plan, 2017, Retrieved from
https://www.cityofseward.us/home/showdocument?id=434
Unangan/Aleut, Sugpiaq/Alutiiq and Russian Conquest. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://sites.kpc.alaska.edu/jhaighalaskahistory/files/2018/02/Chapter-4-Unangan- and-Sugpiaq-.pdf
Yerden-Walker, M. (1994). The people left behind. Alaska Natural History Association.