Historical Populations in Western Alaska and Migration Theory

In 1962, Wendell H. Oswalt, an anthropology professor, wrote an ethnographic account - a study of cultures - of the Middle Kuskokwim. The paper is based Oswalt’s observations and that of other white outsiders, including Russian explorer Zagoskin. Oswalt did not include any information from Alaska Native people who resided in the region.

According to Oswalt, “First, the area was jointly settled by Eskimos and Athapaskans, and secondly the Athapaskans were more closely akin to their Yukon River counterparts than to the Tanana or Tanaina. The Indians in this sector, from Kolmakoff Redoubt to Sleetmiut, are known to the surrounding Eskimos as Yohwalingoot or Yugelenut as recorded in the literature by Zagoskin (1847). The Kuskokwim segment of this population occupied mainly the George River system and adjacent areas of the Kuskokwim River and will be termed Georgetown or Yugelenut Ingalik. Their Kuskokwim settlements were scattered among those of Eskimos.”

Citation:
Oswalt, W. H. (1962). Historical populations in western Alaska and migration theory. University of Alaska.