Eyak

This article is about the ethnic group. For the language, see Eyak language. For the community, see Eyak, Alaska.

The Eyak are an Alaska Native people historically located on the Copper River Delta and near the town of Cordova, Alaska. They are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast. Today, Eyak people live in Cordova, Yakutat, across Alaska, and the U.S.

Eyak

Pre-contact distribution of Eyak
Regions with significant populations
Alaska, United States	428[1]
Languages
English, Eyak (historical)
Religion
Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Tlingit, Ahtna, Chugach Sugpiaq

Many Eyak descendants do not qualify to be tribal members in the Native Village of Eyak, a federally recognized Alaska Native tribe which was established through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971. This is due to the enrollment qualifications that extend tribal citizenship only to those who reside in the town of Cordova for the majority of the year.

Name

Their Eyak name is ʔi·ya·ɢdəlahɢəyu·, which translates literally to "inhabitants of Eyak Village at Mile 6"^[2])

The now-common name Eyak for both the ethnic group and its language is an exonym and comes from the Sugt'stun (Alutiit'stun) dialect of Chugach Sugpiaq, a group of Sugpiaq ("real people," better known as Alutiiq) for an Eyak village as Igya'aq' at the mouth of the Eyak River.^[3]

The Eyak refer to themselves as DAXunhyuu ("the people") and the present-day Eyak Native Village as IiyaaGdaad' ("at Eyak Native Village") – but the now officially recognized tribe as IiyaaGdAlahGAyuu ("People from Eyak Native Village"), as the tribe consists of descendants of Chugach Sugpiaq, Eyak, and Tlingit.^[4]

Territory

Historical Eyak territory reached from present-day Cordova east to the Martin River and north to Miles Glacier.

There were four main villages:

• Alaganik, near Mile 21 of the present-day Copper River Highway
• Eyak, located near Mile 5.5
• unnamed, 800 yards south of Eyak
• Orca, located within present-day Cordova

In addition to these villages the Eyak would seasonally occupy fish camps at Point Whitshed and Mountain Slough.^[5]

History

The Eyak initially moved out of the interior down the Copper River to the coast. There they harvested the rich salmon fishing grounds. When the Russians arrived they recognized the Eyak as a distinct culture and described their territory on their maps. They also traded with the Eyak and sent them missionaries. Because of their small population, they were often raided and their territory boundaries were under pressure from the Chugach to the west. The Tlingit on the east side, had better relations with the Eyak leading to intermarriage and the assimilation of most Eyak. The Eyak's territorial boundary was pushed further contributing to the Eyak's decline. When the Americans arrived they opened canneries and competed with the Eyak for salmon. The integration and novel diseases which were introduced by non-Native settlers led to the further decline of the Eyak.

As populations decreased the remaining Eyak began to congregate near the village of Orca.^[6] In 1880 the population of the village of Alaganik was recorded at 117 and by 1890 it had declined to 48.^[7] In 1900 total population was estimated at 60. As more settlers arrived the last village became the town of Cordova. As of 1996, there were 120 partial Eyak descendants in the town.^[6] The last full-blood Eyak, Marie Smith Jones, died on January 21, 2008.^[8]

Language

Main article: Eyak language

The Eyak spoke a distinct language closely related to the Athabaskan languages. Pressure from neighboring ethnic groups and the spread of English resulted in a decline of the Eyak language. Marie Smith Jones (1918–2008) was the last native speaker. Michael Krauss was known first and foremost as an Eyak language specialist.

Notable Eyak people

• Marie Smith Jones, last first-language speaker of the Eyak language