ATNATANAS, OF ALASKA. 250 



greater than tliat of others of tlie Tiinieh family, but would astonish 

 one uot accustomed to the skill of natives in this respect. 



All the peoj)le of Copper liiver region were called by the linssians 

 Meduraskies (more properly Mednevtsi) and all, excei)ting" those at the 

 mouth, belong to the great Tinneh family which peoi)les the interior of 

 Alaska. Tiiose below the Tezlina Eiver, from their association with 

 fvussians, have adopted some abbreviated form of the same, such as 

 Minisky, j\Iuo(')sky, etc., whilst those above style themselves Tatlatans. 

 I think the name Atnatana, the Indian name for an inhabitant of Atna 

 ((.'o])])ei) Ifivtu- region, would be a fitting term for the people of both 

 tribes, which differ vei'y little from each other. To })articnlarize, how- 

 ever, I hav(; used the term iMiduoosliy for the i)eople south of the Tezlina, 

 including those living on the Ohittyna, and Tatlatan for those living 

 north of the Tezlina and south of the Alaskan Mountains. 



The entire number of natives on the riviu' and its tributaries is about 

 300, divided as follows: Men, 128; Avomen, 1)8; children, 110. 



Between Alagauik and Woods Canon, a distance of 110 mih\s, there 

 are no settlements, yet an occasional party goes down to Bremner llivci- 

 to hunt moose. On the Chittyna and its tributaries are about thirty 

 souls; on the headwaters of Tezliua and Lake Plavcznie, probably 

 twenty. The Tatlatans, including the settlemeiit at Lake Huslata, num • 

 ber 117. On the Copper, between Taral and the Tezlina, are 209, the 

 total number of Midnooskies. 



Nicotai is autocrat of the Chittyna and the fishing rendezvous Taral, 

 whilst between the latter ])lace and the Tezlina- this privilege is held 

 by Lisbigstag and Coueguanta, the former controlling the lower part, 

 the latter, with the largest following of any Atnatana, the ui)per. The 

 chief native among the Tatlatans is Jjabzulne^a, who is a shaman. 



As far as I am able to judge from the scanty records ot the L'ussians 

 and my own observations, I should say that the change in number of 

 these people has been very slight for many years. Their history, so far 

 as their records are concerned, will always be a sealed book. On both 

 banks of the river between Chittyna and the Klawahsina liiver, more 

 especially on the Uift bank, are frecpient excavations 2 to 4 feet deep, 

 indicating the sites of houses. The more recent of these show signs of 

 the attached bathhouses. In some older excavations spruces of largest 

 size are growing. 



The territory of the Atnatanas is included between the one hundred 

 and forty-second and one hundred and forty-seventh meridians and be- 

 tween the sixty atnlhalt and sixty-third i)arallels, representing an ai>- 

 l^roximate area of 2."), 000 square miles, all of which is drainiMl l)y the 

 (!opperand its tributaries. Practically excluded from the i est of the 

 world, it is but natural that they should be a conservative ])cople. Willi 

 mountains on all sides, their I'outes of travel are chielly confined to the 

 water courses winter and sumnicr. Were it ])ra(;ticablc to pass*iroui 

 Taral to the ui)per waters of the (Jopjjer by going nearly due north, 



