About 20 percent of Alaska’s 650,000 residents are Native or have Native descent, but there was a time when their cultures dominated this vast land. As the state continues to grow, Alaska’s Natives are finding it more important than ever to celebrate their heritage and educate residents and visitors about Alaska’s first peoples.

The following is a short primer on the breakdown on the five major cultural groupings found in Alaska. A good source for further information is the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, which features exhibits and programs on all of Alaska’s Native cultures. The Alaska Native Heritage Center makes a great starting point for your cultural visit to Alaska, with informative displays on each of Alaska’s cultural groupings.

In general, there are three groups of Alaska Natives – Indian, Eskimo and Aleut. The terms “Inuit” and “Native American” are sometimes used in place of “Eskimo” and “Indian” in an effort to be politically correct, but in Alaska, Eskimo and Indian are not considered derogatory terms. Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts pride themselves on their heritage.

Within the three categories, Native culture is further divided into five cultures based on similarities in tradition, language and proximity. At the Alaska Native Heritage Center, there are houses representing each of the five cultures, and visitors to the Center can learn how the different Native groups lived.