Natives comprise almost 16% of the population of Alaska. There are four major cultural groups: the Northwest Coast Indians, including the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian; the Aleuts; the Athabascans; and the Eskimos, including the Yup'ik, Cup'ik, and Inupiaq. Each group has its own distinct language (or languages), arts, and social structure; each has its own traditions and ways of living.

The Aleuts were relative newcomers to Alaska, settling in approximately 3,000 years ago-still millennia before the first Europeans arrived. They migrated to the southern and southwestern parts of the state, and in particular to the 1,300-mile-long archipelago that was later named for them.

Water determined their way of life. Their food (salmon and halibut, shellfish, seal and sea lion, and octopus, along with deer and caribou) came mainly from the ocean and rivers; their clothing, made of tightly-sewn skin, had to be waterproof.

Aleuts lived in oblong, semi-subterranean houses made with wooden or whale bone rafters covered with grass. The entrances were holes in the roofs with ladders. Settlements were typically coastal villages, ideally with gravelly beaches well suited to landing boats. They traveled in qayaqs, (baidarkas, in Russian), or in large skin boats called angyaqs, or baidars.

Aleut men wore elaborate hunting costumes designed, in part, to honor the spirits of the animals. Fur tassels, feathers and beads ornamented his skin kamleika, or robe. The shape of his wooden hat indicated a man's status, and sea lion whiskers attested to his hunting prowess.

The Athabascans, nomadic hunters and fishermen who migrated around the same time as the Northwest Coast Indians, settled primarily in Alaska's Interior region from Fairbanks to Central Alaska near Anchorage.

The Athabascans built winter base camps and summer fish camps and lived and traveled in small groups of between 20 and 40 people. In their matrilineal system, clan elders made the important decisions for the group, and the core unit was often a woman and her brother with both of their families. The mother's brother still frequently takes charge of educating her children in clan lore and tradition.

Because resources were seasonal, Athabascan men engaged heavily in trade with other communities. They used canoes made of birch bark and moose hide, as well as sleds and dogs, to transport goods. Clothing was also resource-based; moose and caribou hides were used for tunics, moccasins, and other articles.

The large indigenous population known as Eskimos comprises a number of diverse Native groups, including the Yup'ik/Cup'ik and the Inupiaq. Eskimos are spread out along the entire Alaskan coastline, from the south (except for the Aleutians and Southeast Alaska) all the way north into the Arctic tundra.

Many Eskimo groups still live a subsistence lifestyle, hunting, fishing and gathering food for survival. They developed sophisticated technologies and equipment using available resources, and traded with inland communities for food and materials they couldn't harvest locally.

Housing styles and the materials used to build them vary from group to group, but semi-subterranean huts with underground tunnels for entrances were common, particularly in the more northern communities. Among the Yup'ik and Cup'ik, males old enough to leave their mothers lived with the men in a qasgiq, or men's house, which also served as a community center. Women lived in an ena, where the cooking and child rearing was done.

Socially, villages were organized around extended family groups, and rank was determined by the skills an individual offered the community. Shamans played-and still play-an important role in many villages, healing the sick and praying for good hunting or weather.

The Tlingit and Haida were among the first groups to migrate from Siberia over a huge land bridge, revealed during an Ice Age tens of thousands of years ago, that connected Asia with North America. They settled throughout the Southeast and in parts of British Columbia.

Dependent on their environment, the Tlingit and Haida used the surrounding water for their food and transportation, and wood from the tall trees of the rainforest for their houses and tools. They were accomplished boatmen and traders, and built long canoes out of cedar for traveling. They fished for salmon and halibut, gathered sea plants and berries, and hunted moose, deer, and mountain goat.

Social systems are highly complex. Each group is organized into two equal halves, or moieties, which consist of several clans. The clans are matrilineal, meaning that children inherit through their mother. Traditionally, marriages were arranged outside of one's own group.

The Tlingit and Haida built permanent winter settlements, usually a row of plank houses facing a river or saltwater beach. Clans often lived together, with up to 50 people in one house. Seasonal camps were built as needed, near sources of food and water.

The Northwest Coast Indians are talented craftspeople. Intricate weaving techniques are used to create both functional and beautiful pieces-from baskets for cooking and storage to ceremonial robes, floor mats and room dividers to clothing and hats. Their carving can be seen on totems and canoes, as well as utensils and ceremonial objects.

Today, Alaska Natives live in both rural villages and big cities; they hunt and fish and they head giant corporations. They teach their children ancient traditions with storytelling, dance, and crafts; and they surf the Internet.