- Taku people
ethnic group
group=Taku
poptime=
popplace=USA (Alaska )
rels=
langs=Tlingit, English
related=Tlingit The Taku are an American Native people, now generally included with or known as the
Tlingit . The Taku lived along the northwestern coast ofNorth America , in the area that is now theAlexander Archipelago ofAlaska .History
The main village of the Taku people was located up the
Taku River in what is nowCanada . From this main winter village they dispersed to their clan subsistence areas during the spring, summer, and fall.cite web | title=Background - Native Culture | work=Historic Preservation Program, Juneau History, City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska (Juneau Public Libraries, 2003) | url=http://www.juneau.org/history/Preservation_Plan/backgd.php | accessdate=2007-05-19] Having a keen appreciation of the advantages of their position for trade, the Taku held possession of the main river in the area that is nowJuneau and compelled the natives of the interior territories to use them as middle-men, instead of allowing trade directly with the white settlers.cite web | title=Travels in Alaska | author=Muir, J | work=www.kcd.com (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915) | url=http://kcd.com/eaglebb/travels1.htm | accessdate=2007-05-19]In the early 1840s, the
Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post calledFort Durham in Taku Harbor. This fort was built to take advantage of the trade route up and down the Taku River. With the establishment of the fort, the Taku people abandoned their traditional winter village and moved to the area around the fort. Although Fort Durham was abandoned by 1843 as unprofitable, the Taku stayed in the area of the fort until 1880 whengold was discovered in Juneau. The Taku people then moved to the area around Sheep Creek to work with the miners for wages.ee also
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Tlingit
*Taku River References
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