EYAK

The Eyak traditionally occupied the Copper River Delta and the area west to Cordova. Their territory changed over time, especially in the historical period. When de Laguna and Birket-Smith did their ethnography of the Eyak in the 1930s, informants told them that Eyak territory extended from Cordova Bay to the Martine River in the east, and to the Miles and Childs glaciers in the north. De Laguna suggests that the Eyak did not expand into the Copper River Delta and Cordova area until the early 19th century.

Traditionally there were four Eyak villages: Alaganik, near Mile 21 of the present day Copper River Highway; Eyak, located near Mile 5.5; an abandoned village site at the Fort, about 800 yards south of Eyak; and Orca located within the boundaries of present-day Cordova. In addition to these villages, the Eyak seasonally occupied fish camps at Mountain Slough and Point Whitshed. The date of first contact between the Eyak and Europeans is unknown. Europeans often confused the Eyaks with other groups, especially the Chugach, even though the Eyak spoke a language more closely related to Athabascan. The Eyak wore fur clothing similar to the Chugach, and relied upon salmon and small seals for food. They lived in wooden plank houses and used wooden dugout canoes rather than the skin boats preferred by the Chugach.

The Eyaks had a small population before they suffered extensive depopulation due to diseases introduced by Europeans. A Russian census in 1818 recorded 117 Eyaks. Other estimates later in the 19th century placed the number of Eyaks at 1560. The residents of Alaganik abandoned their village in 1892-1893 following a major epidemic. Most of the survivors moved to the Old Town section of Cordova where two canneries provided employment. By 1899, 59 Eyak were ethnographic study in 1933, they found only 38 people of Eyak descent and only 19 were pure Eyak. In 1992 there was only one speaker of the Eyak language.

Although small in population, the Eyak played a pivotal role during the 1800s in aboriginal trade linking coastal and interior areas. In 1868, after a measles epidemic resulted in a feud between the Chugach and Ahtna Athabaskan of the Copper River valley, the Eyak acted as middlement in the exchange of goods between the other two groups. The Ahtna used several trade routes over the Chugach Mountains to the coast. One was up to the Klutina River and over the Valdez Glaciers, the same route used later by prospectors during the 1898-1899 gold rush. This route was used until 1868, when the hostilities broke out between the Chugach and Ahtna. After 1868, Ahtna trader descended the Copper River in March, while the river was frozen, and in May and September, when the water was low, to Alaganik where they traded copper, furs and other goods with the Eyak.

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