The Gift of the Middle Tanana

Book excerpt: The Middle Tanana Valley in Alaska remains one of the most important regions of the continent for archaeological research. In The Gift of the Middle Tanana: Dene Pre-Colonial History in the Alaskan Interior, Gerad Smith explores the history, ethnography, and archaeological record of the Native people in this region during the late Holocene. Smith creates an interpretive framework informed by Alaskan Native traditions, focusing on traditional place names and the deep-play rituals of reciprocity. Smith sets forth the case that the local themes and oral traditions of the potlatch are better understood not as singular ceremonial events but as a mechanism of regional social cohesion that dictated everyday life. The Gift of the Middle Tanana illustrates how the role of reciprocal deep-play shaped a traditional society that has lasted over a thousand years.