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Han (North American people)
Encyclopedia
The Han are a Northern Athabascan people who speak (or spoke) the Hän language
. Only a handful of fluent speakers remain. Their traditional land centered around a heavily forested area around the Yukon River
straddling what is now the Alaska
-Yukon Territory border. In later times, the Han population became centered around Dawson City, Yukon
and Eagle, Alaska
.
word hangʷičʼin for the Han literally meaning "people of the river". This word has been spelled variously as Han-Kootchin, Hun-koo-chin, Hong-Kutchin, An Kutchin, Han Kutchin, Han-Kutchín, Hăn-Kŭtchin´, Hän Hwëch'in, and Hungwitchin. The French traders called the Han Gens du fou, Gens de Fou, Gens de Foux, Gens des Foux, or Gens-de-fine. The name Gens de Foux (and variants) has also been used to refer to the Northern Tutchone, in which case the name Gens de Bois or Gens des Bois referred to the Hankutchin.
) entered Han territory, when he traveled from Fort Selkirk to Fort Yukon. However, it wasn't until 1873 and 1874 (after the US
purchase of Alaska
) when two trading posts were set up. One was established by Moses Mercier, a former employee of the Hudson's Bay Company
in Belle Isle
across the Eagle River
and the other, Fort Reliance
, was established on the Yukon
, just below the mouth of the Klondike River
, near Dawson
, by two Alaska Commercial Company
traders, Leroy N. McQuesten and Frank Bonifield. Contact with whites led to a shift from fishing-hunting economy to a fur trapping economy with increasing reliance on European goods (e.g., guns, clothing, canvas). From 1887 to 1895
Traditional religion started being supplanted when Bishop William Bompas established the first Anglican mission in Han territory.
Several epidemic diseases affected the population.
in August. Fishing tools included weirs
, traps, gill nets
, dip nets
, spears
, and harpoon
s. Salmon was dried and stored for winter consumption.
Between the salmon runs from June–September, the river camps were abandoned and other fish, moose, caribou, birds, bears, and other small game were sought after. Men hunted game (once after the salmon run and later for caribou in February and March) while women fished (for non-salmon fish).
Stone boiling in woven spruce-root baskets was a common cooking method.
A temporary domed house made of skin was used when traveling.
is most similar to Gwich’in
(Kutchin) and more distantly related to Upper Tanana and Northern Tutchone
. The language was used as a lingua franca
by Gwich’in
, Tutchone, Tagish
, and Upper Tanana peoples toward the end of the 19th century during the gold rush. The language is now the most endangered language
of Alaska with only a few speakers (all over sixty).
Hän language
The Hän language is a Native American endangered language spoken in only two places: Eagle, Alaska and Dawson City, Yukon. There are only a few fluent speakers left , all of them elderly....
. Only a handful of fluent speakers remain. Their traditional land centered around a heavily forested area around the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
straddling what is now the Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
-Yukon Territory border. In later times, the Han population became centered around Dawson City, Yukon
Dawson City, Yukon
The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the 2006 census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year...
and Eagle, Alaska
Eagle, Alaska
Eagle is a city located along the United States-Canada border in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. It includes Eagle Historic District, a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The population was 129 at the 2000 census...
.
Etymology
The name Han is a shortening of Hankutchin, which is the Gwich’inGwich’in language
The Gwich’in language is the Athabaskan language of the Gwich’in indigenous people. It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon of Canada, it is used principally in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort...
word hangʷičʼin for the Han literally meaning "people of the river". This word has been spelled variously as Han-Kootchin, Hun-koo-chin, Hong-Kutchin, An Kutchin, Han Kutchin, Han-Kutchín, Hăn-Kŭtchin´, Hän Hwëch'in, and Hungwitchin. The French traders called the Han Gens du fou, Gens de Fou, Gens de Foux, Gens des Foux, or Gens-de-fine. The name Gens de Foux (and variants) has also been used to refer to the Northern Tutchone, in which case the name Gens de Bois or Gens des Bois referred to the Hankutchin.
History
The Han were one of the last North Athabascan groups to have contact with European peoples. In 1851 the first white man, Robert Campbell, (from the Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
) entered Han territory, when he traveled from Fort Selkirk to Fort Yukon. However, it wasn't until 1873 and 1874 (after the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
purchase of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
) when two trading posts were set up. One was established by Moses Mercier, a former employee of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
in Belle Isle
Belle Isle (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Belle Isle is an uninhabited island just off the coast of Labrador and north of Newfoundland at the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle which takes its name...
across the Eagle River
Eagle River (Alaska)
There are three rivers named Eagle River in the U.S. state of Alaska.Eagle River in Anchorage flows northwest from Eagle Glacier to Eagle Bay in Cook Inlet, 15 km northeast of Anchorage. Its Dena'ina name was Yukla-hina. The Anchorage suburb of Eagle River is named after this river...
and the other, Fort Reliance
Fort Reliance
Fort Reliance is an abandoned trading post and military fort in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It is located on the east bank of the Yukon River, downstream of the town of Dawson City...
, was established on the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, just below the mouth of the Klondike River
Klondike River
The Klondike River is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada that gave its name to the Klondike Gold Rush. The Klondike River has its source in the Ogilvie Mountains and flows into the Yukon River at Dawson City....
, near Dawson
Dawson City, Yukon
The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the 2006 census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year...
, by two Alaska Commercial Company
Alaska Commercial Company
The Alaska Commercial Company is a company that operated retail stores in Alaska during the early period of Alaska's ownership by the United States. From 1901 to 1992, it was known as the Northern Commercial Company . In 1992, it resumed business as the Alaska Commercial Company under the...
traders, Leroy N. McQuesten and Frank Bonifield. Contact with whites led to a shift from fishing-hunting economy to a fur trapping economy with increasing reliance on European goods (e.g., guns, clothing, canvas). From 1887 to 1895
Traditional religion started being supplanted when Bishop William Bompas established the first Anglican mission in Han territory.
Several epidemic diseases affected the population.
Food
Historically, fish, especially salmon, was the main part of the Han diet. King salmon was caught along the Yukon River in June and chum salmonChum salmon
The chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is a Pacific salmon, and may also be known as dog salmon or Keta salmon, and is often marketed under the name Silverbrite salmon...
in August. Fishing tools included weirs
Fishing weir
A fishing weir, or fish weir, is an obstruction placed in tidal waters or wholly or partially across a river, which is designed to hinder the passage of fish. Traditionally they were built from wood or stones. They can be used to trap fish...
, traps, gill nets
Gillnet
Gillnetting is a common fishing method used by commercial and artisanal fishermen of all the oceans and in some freshwater and estuary areas. The gillnet also is used by fisheries scientists to monitor fish populations. Because gillnets can be so effective their use is closely monitored and...
, dip nets
Hand net
A hand net, also called a scoop net, is a net or mesh basket held open by a hoop. It may or may not be on the end of a handle. Hand nets have been used since antiquity and can be used for scooping fish near the surface of the water, such as muskellunge or northern pike.A hand net with a long handle...
, spears
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
, and harpoon
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
s. Salmon was dried and stored for winter consumption.
Between the salmon runs from June–September, the river camps were abandoned and other fish, moose, caribou, birds, bears, and other small game were sought after. Men hunted game (once after the salmon run and later for caribou in February and March) while women fished (for non-salmon fish).
Stone boiling in woven spruce-root baskets was a common cooking method.
Housing
A square semisubterranean house was made of wooden poles and moss insulation (called a moss house) and served as the main type of housing.A temporary domed house made of skin was used when traveling.
Language
The Han languageHan language
Han language may refer to:* Hän language, an endangered Native American language spoken in Eagle, Alaska and Dawson City, Yukon.* Chinese language...
is most similar to Gwich’in
Gwich’in language
The Gwich’in language is the Athabaskan language of the Gwich’in indigenous people. It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon of Canada, it is used principally in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort...
(Kutchin) and more distantly related to Upper Tanana and Northern Tutchone
Northern Tutchone
The Northern Tutchone are a First Nations people living mainly in the central Yukon in Canada. The Northern Tutchone language, originally spoken by the Northern Tutchone people, is a variety of the Tutchone language, part of the Athabaskan language family...
. The language was used as a lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
by Gwich’in
Gwich’in
The Gwich’in , literally "one who dwells" or "resident of [a region]", are a First Nations/Alaska Native people who live in the northwestern part of North America mostly above the Arctic Circle...
, Tutchone, Tagish
Tagish
The Tagish or Tagish Khwáan are a group of Athabaskan First Nation people that lived around Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake, in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Tagish people intermarried heavily with Tlingit people from the coast and the Tagish language is almost extinct...
, and Upper Tanana peoples toward the end of the 19th century during the gold rush. The language is now the most endangered language
Endangered language
An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language"....
of Alaska with only a few speakers (all over sixty).