Kutcha-Kutchin Indian Tribe Location

Kutcha-kutchin. Signifying "those who dwell on the flats," called Yukon Flats

 Kutchin by Osgood (1936).

They have also called as follows, but the Eskimo terms are applicable to any Kutchin:

Fort Indians, Ross (MS).

Ik-kil-lin, Gilder quoted by Murdoch (1892).

Itchali, 11th Census, Alaska, p. 154.

It-ka-lya-ruin, Dall (1877, p. 30); Nuwukmiut Eskimo name.

Itkpe'lit, Petitot (1876, Vocab., p. 42).

Itku'dliñ, Murdoch (1892).

Lowland people, Whymper (1868, p. 247).

Na-Kotchpô-tschig-Kouttchin, Petitot (1891, p. 361).

O-til'-tin, Dawson (1888, p. 202B).

Youkon Louchioux Indians, Ross (MS.)

Connections. The Kutcha-kutchin were a tribe belonging to Kutchin division of the northern section of the Athapascan linguistic family.

Location. Along the valley of the Yukon from the widening of the river a few miles above Circle to about Birch Creek below Fort Yukon.

Villages. One at Fort Yukon and one at Senati, on the middle Yukon.

History. The history of all the Kutchin tribes had best be treated in one place. They were first brought into contact with Europeans when Alexander Mackenzie met some of them in 1789 during descent of the river which bears his name. This became more intimate with the establishment of the first Fort Good Hope in 1847. Until Alaska passed into the hands of the United States practically all of the relations which the Kutchin tribes had with Europeans were through the Hudson's Bay Company. Since then influences from the west have been more potent. The discovery of gold in the Klondike region and the rush which followed marked the opening of a new era for these people, but one in which the bad for a long time outweighed the good.

Population. Mooney (1928) estimated that there were about 500 of these Indians in 1740. The Kutcha-kutchin and the Tranjikkutchin may be put together as Kutchin in the census of 1910, which enters 359. The Hudson's Bay Co.'s census of 1858 gave 842 Kutchin belonging to six tribes as resorting to Fort Yukon. Osgood (1936), who quotes this, believes that the entire Kutchin population at that date might be set down at 1,200. (See Ahtena.)

Connection in which they have become noted. The Kutchin tribes were noted for their greater energy and more warlike character, as compared with neighboring Athapascans, and for a peculiar three-caste system in their social organization. 

Notes About the Book:

Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output.

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