The twelve Alaska Native regions

Each card lists the region, its peoples, and a few traditional harvest resources, plus a simple regional favorite for the current season (see other seasons for the rest of the year). Every family and community has its own way of making these.

• Arctic Slope Home region

  Iñupiat

  Traditional harvest: Bowhead whale, caribou, fish

  Languages: Iñupiaq (North Slope dialect)

  Climate: Fall in Utqiagvik averages highs near 25°F and lows near 16°F; sea ice returns along the coast, and the sun sets for the winter in mid-November.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteCaribou soup

  Ingredients

  • Caribou meat with bones
  • Onion
  • Carrots and celery
  • Rice or macaroni
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Cover caribou and bones with water and simmer about two hours with onion, salt, and pepper.
  2. Add carrots and celery and simmer another hour.
  3. Stir in rice or macaroni and cook until tender.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteGoose soup

  Ingredients

  • 1 goose, cleaned and cut in pieces (gizzard and liver too)
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Rice
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Boil the goose pieces with onion, salt, and pepper until tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
  2. Stir in rice and simmer 20 minutes more.
  3. Serve hot with plenty of broth.

  Summer favoritePan-fried Arctic char

  Ingredients

  • Fresh Arctic char (Dolly Varden), filleted
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter or oil

  Steps

  1. Dust the fillets in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
  2. Fry in butter over medium heat, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until the flesh flakes.

  Winter favoriteQuaq with seal oil

  Ingredients

  • Whole frozen whitefish or Arctic cisco
  • Seal oil
  • Salt (optional)

  Steps

  1. Let the frozen fish sit a few minutes, just until a knife can cut it.
  2. Peel off the skin and slice thin curls of the frozen meat off the bone.
  3. Dip in seal oil, with a pinch of salt if you like, and eat while still frozen.

• NANA

  Iñupiat

  Traditional harvest: Caribou, sheefish, seal

  Languages: Iñupiaq (Malimiut, including Kobuk and Noatak; North Slope at Kivalina)

  Climate: Fall in Kotzebue averages highs near 31°F and lows near 22°F; Kotzebue Sound usually freezes over in late fall.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteBoiled caribou ribs

  Ingredients

  • Caribou ribs, cut in sections
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Cover the ribs with water and bring to a boil, skimming the foam.
  2. Add onion, salt, and pepper and simmer about two hours, until the meat pulls from the bone.
  3. Serve the ribs with cups of the hot broth.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteBaked sheefish

  Ingredients

  • Sheefish fillets
  • Butter
  • Onion, sliced
  • Salt and pepper
  • Lemon (optional)

  Steps

  1. Lay the fillets in a buttered pan and top with onion, pats of butter, salt, and pepper.
  2. Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fish flakes.
  3. Squeeze lemon over the top and serve.

  Summer favoriteSourdock in seal oil

  Ingredients

  • Young sourdock leaves, picked before the plant flowers
  • Water
  • Seal oil

  Steps

  1. Boil the leaves a few minutes until soft, then drain and cool.
  2. Pack in a clean jar and cover with seal oil.
  3. Keep cold; serve as a side with dried or frozen fish and meat.

  Winter favoriteAkutuq

  Ingredients

  • Caribou or moose fat
  • Seal oil
  • A little water or snow
  • Salmonberries, blueberries, or crowberries
  • Boiled, flaked sheefish (optional)

  Steps

  1. Melt the fat gently and let it cool until just soft.
  2. Whip the fat with seal oil until light and fluffy, adding water a little at a time.
  3. Fold in the berries, and flaked fish if using.
  4. Freeze and serve cold.

• Bering Straits

  Iñupiat, Yup'ik, St. Lawrence Island Yupik

  Traditional harvest: Walrus, seal, fish

  Languages: Iñupiaq (Bering Strait, Qawiaraq, Malimiut); Yup'ik (Norton Sound); St. Lawrence Island Yupik

  Climate: Fall in Nome averages highs near 36°F and lows near 25°F; Norton Sound begins to freeze in November.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteBoiled fish with seal oil

  Ingredients

  • Whitefish, tomcod, or sheefish
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Seal oil for dipping
  • Onion and potatoes (optional)

  Steps

  1. Boil the fish in salted water until the meat lifts from the bone.
  2. Add onion and potatoes if you like and cook until tender.
  3. Serve warm with a small bowl of seal oil for dipping.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteBearded seal (ugruk) stew

  Ingredients

  • Bearded seal meat, cut in chunks
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Potatoes
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Simmer the meat in salted water for about an hour, skimming as needed.
  2. Add onion and potatoes and cook until tender.
  3. Season and serve with a little seal oil on the side.

  Summer favoriteBoiled murre eggs

  Ingredients

  • Fresh murre eggs
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Seal oil or butter (optional)

  Steps

  1. Cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a gentle boil.
  2. Cook about 12 minutes, then cool in cold water.
  3. Peel and serve with salt, seal oil, or butter.

  Winter favoriteBoiled king crab

  Ingredients

  • Fresh king crab caught through the ice
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Melted butter or seal oil

  Steps

  1. Bring a big pot of well-salted water to a boil.
  2. Add the crab and boil 15 to 20 minutes, until bright red.
  3. Crack the legs and serve with melted butter or seal oil.

• Calista

  Yup'ik, Cup'ik

  Traditional harvest: Seal, salmon, waterfowl

  Languages: Yup'ik (General Central Yup'ik); Cup'ik (Hooper Bay–Chevak); Cup'ig (Nunivak)

  Climate: Fall in Bethel averages highs near 38°F and lows near 26°F; the Kuskokwim River usually freezes in late October or November.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteAkutaq with blackberries

  Ingredients

  • Whitefish, boiled, deboned, and squeezed dry
  • Shortening
  • Sugar
  • Blackberries (crowberries)
  • A little seal oil (optional)

  Steps

  1. Whip the shortening by hand until fluffy, adding a little seal oil if you like.
  2. Mix in the flaked whitefish and sugar.
  3. Fold in the blackberries; freeze or keep cold and serve chilled.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteDuck soup

  Ingredients

  • 1 to 2 ducks, cleaned and cut in pieces
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Rice or macaroni
  • Potatoes (optional)
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Boil the duck pieces with onion for about 45 minutes.
  2. Add potatoes, rice, or macaroni.
  3. Simmer about 20 to 30 minutes until tender, then season to taste.

  Summer favoriteSalmon fish soup

  Ingredients

  • Fresh salmon, cut in small pieces
  • Water
  • Potatoes, sliced
  • Rice or macaroni
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Bring the water to a boil and add the salmon.
  2. Add potatoes and rice or macaroni and simmer 20 to 25 minutes.
  3. Season to taste and serve hot.

  Winter favoriteBoiled blackfish

  Ingredients

  • Fresh blackfish
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Seal oil (optional)

  Steps

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
  2. Drop in the whole blackfish and cook about 10 minutes.
  3. Serve hot with seal oil; the broth is good to drink too.

• Doyon

  Athabascan

  Traditional harvest: Moose, caribou, salmon

  Languages: Denaakk'e (Koyukon), Gwich'in, Tanana, Tanacross, Upper Tanana, Hän, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk, Upper Kuskokwim

  Climate: Fall in Fairbanks averages highs near 34°F and lows near 17°F; first snow often falls by October, and daylight shrinks fast.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteMoose soup

  Ingredients

  • Moose meat, with bones if you have them
  • Onions
  • Carrots and potatoes
  • Rice or macaroni
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Simmer the moose in water for about an hour and a half.
  2. Add onions, carrots, and potatoes.
  3. Add rice or macaroni and cook until everything is tender.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoritePan-fried whitefish

  Ingredients

  • Fresh whitefish fillets
  • Flour or cornmeal
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil or butter

  Steps

  1. Season the fillets and dredge them in flour or cornmeal.
  2. Fry in hot oil, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until golden and flaky.

  Summer favoriteHalf-dried salmon

  Ingredients

  • Fresh king or chum salmon
  • A drying rack in a shady, breezy spot
  • Water
  • Butter or seal oil (optional)

  Steps

  1. Cut the salmon into strips and hang them to dry for two or three days, until the outside is firm but the inside is still moist.
  2. Boil the half-dried strips about 15 minutes.
  3. Serve hot, plain or with butter.

  Winter favoriteSnowshoe hare stew

  Ingredients

  • 1 or 2 snowshoe hares, cut in pieces
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Carrots and potatoes
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Simmer the hare in salted water for about 45 minutes.
  2. Add onion, carrots, and potatoes.
  3. Cook until the meat and vegetables are tender, then season to taste.

• Ahtna

  Ahtna Athabascan

  Traditional harvest: Copper River salmon, moose, caribou

  Languages: Ahtna

  Climate: Fall in Gulkana (near Glennallen) averages highs near 35°F and lows near 17°F; freeze-up and first snow come early.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteCaribou stew

  Ingredients

  • Caribou meat, cubed
  • Flour for dusting
  • Onions
  • Carrots and potatoes
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Dust the meat with flour and brown it in a heavy pot.
  2. Add water to cover with onions, salt, and pepper and simmer about 1 1/2 hours.
  3. Add carrots and potatoes and cook until tender.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoritePan-fried lake trout

  Ingredients

  • Lake trout fillets
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter

  Steps

  1. Season the fillets and dust them in flour.
  2. Fry in butter over medium heat until golden and the flesh flakes, about 4 minutes a side.

  Summer favoriteDried salmon strips

  Ingredients

  • Fresh Copper River sockeye
  • Salt (optional)
  • A drying rack in a shady, breezy spot
  • Light alder smoke (optional)

  Steps

  1. Fillet the salmon and cut it into strips, leaving the skin on.
  2. Hang the strips on racks out of direct sun to dry in the breeze.
  3. A light, cool smoke helps keep insects away; store once firm and dry.

  Winter favoriteBurbot soup

  Ingredients

  • Burbot caught through the ice, skinned and cut in chunks
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Potatoes
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Boil the potatoes and onion in salted water until nearly tender.
  2. Add the burbot and simmer gently about 10 minutes, until the fish is white and firm.
  3. Season and serve hot.

• Cook Inlet Region

  Dena'ina Athabascan and many peoples who call the region home

  Traditional harvest: Berries, salmon, moose

  Languages: Dena'ina (Upper Inlet and Kenai dialects)

  Climate: Fall in Anchorage averages highs near 42°F and lows near 31°F; the wettest season, about 6.1 inches, with first snow often by late October.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteLowbush cranberry sauce

  Ingredients

  • 2 cups lowbush cranberries
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
  • Orange zest (optional)

  Steps

  1. Bring the water and sugar to a boil.
  2. Add the berries and simmer until they pop, about 10 minutes.
  3. Cool; serve with moose, salmon, or bannock.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteFried hooligan

  Ingredients

  • Fresh hooligan (eulachon), rinsed
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil

  Steps

  1. Pat the hooligan dry and toss them in seasoned flour.
  2. Fry a few at a time in hot oil until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes.
  3. Drain and eat whole, while hot.

  Summer favoriteBaked sockeye

  Ingredients

  • Fresh sockeye fillet
  • Butter
  • Onion, sliced thin
  • Salt and pepper
  • Lemon

  Steps

  1. Lay the fillet skin-side down in a buttered pan and top with onion, salt, pepper, and pats of butter.
  2. Bake at 400°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until it just flakes.
  3. Serve with lemon.

  Winter favoriteSmoked salmon chowder

  Ingredients

  • Smoked salmon, flaked
  • Potatoes, diced
  • Onion
  • Milk or cream
  • Butter, salt, and pepper

  Steps

  1. Soften the onion in butter, then add the potatoes and water to cover.
  2. Simmer until the potatoes are tender.
  3. Stir in the milk and smoked salmon and heat through without boiling; season to taste.

• Chugach

  Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, Eyak, Dena'ina

  Traditional harvest: Seal, salmon, clams and shellfish

  Languages: Sugpiaq/Alutiiq (Chugach dialect), Eyak

  Climate: Fall in Cordova averages highs near 47°F and lows near 33°F; the wettest season, about 31 inches of precipitation.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteBaked silver salmon

  Ingredients

  • Fresh silver (coho) salmon fillet
  • Butter
  • Onion
  • Salt and pepper
  • Lemon

  Steps

  1. Lay the fillet in a buttered pan and top with sliced onion, salt, pepper, and butter.
  2. Bake at 400°F about 15 minutes, until the fish flakes.
  3. Serve with lemon.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteBoiled bidarki (chitons)

  Ingredients

  • Fresh bidarki (black katy chitons)
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Melted butter or seal oil (optional)

  Steps

  1. Only harvest from beaches tested for shellfish poisoning (PSP).
  2. Drop the bidarki into boiling salted water for a minute or two.
  3. Pull off the shell plates and the tough girdle, then slice and eat plain or with butter.

  Summer favoriteAlder-grilled red salmon

  Ingredients

  • Fresh red (sockeye) salmon fillet, skin on
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter
  • Alder wood for the fire

  Steps

  1. Build a fire of alder and let it burn down to hot coals.
  2. Season the fillet and grill it skin-side down over the coals until the flesh turns opaque.
  3. Brush with butter and serve.

  Winter favoriteSteamed butter clams

  Ingredients

  • Fresh butter clams
  • Clean salt water
  • A little water for steaming
  • Melted butter
  • Lemon

  Steps

  1. Only harvest from beaches tested for shellfish poisoning (PSP).
  2. Let the clams sit in clean salt water to purge sand.
  3. Steam a few minutes, just until the shells open.
  4. Serve right away with melted butter and lemon.

• Koniag

  Alutiiq/Sugpiaq

  Traditional harvest: King and sockeye salmon, halibut, deer

  Languages: Sugpiaq/Alutiiq (Koniag dialect)

  Climate: Fall in Kodiak averages highs near 49°F and lows near 37°F; stormy and wet, about 24 inches of precipitation.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteVenison stew

  Ingredients

  • Deer meat, cubed
  • Flour for dusting
  • Onions
  • Carrots and potatoes
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Dust the deer meat with flour and brown it in a heavy pot.
  2. Cover with water, add onions, salt, and pepper, and simmer about 1 1/2 hours.
  3. Add carrots and potatoes and cook until tender.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoritePan-fried halibut

  Ingredients

  • Fresh halibut, cut in pieces
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter or oil
  • Lemon

  Steps

  1. Season the halibut and dust it with flour.
  2. Fry in butter over medium-high heat, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until white all the way through.
  3. Serve with lemon.

  Summer favoriteSalmon perok (fish pie)

  Ingredients

  • Pie crust for top and bottom
  • Partially cooked rice
  • Fresh sockeye or king salmon
  • Sautéed onion and cabbage
  • Hard-boiled eggs and butter

  Steps

  1. Line a 9 by 13 inch pan with crust and a layer of rice.
  2. Layer salmon, vegetables, sliced egg, and pats of butter, then more rice.
  3. Top with crust and bake about one hour at 350°F. Serve warm.

  Winter favoriteDried fish with seal oil

  Ingredients

  • Dried salmon or halibut (put up in summer and fall)
  • Seal oil
  • Water for softening (optional)

  Steps

  1. Cut or tear the dried fish into strips.
  2. If it is very hard, soak a few minutes in warm water to soften.
  3. Dip in seal oil and enjoy as a snack or with a meal.

• Bristol Bay

  Yup'ik, Dena'ina, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq

  Traditional harvest: Sockeye salmon, caribou, moose

  Languages: Yup'ik (General Central, Egegik); Dena'ina (Iliamna, Inland); Sugpiaq/Alutiiq (Koniag dialect)

  Climate: Fall in King Salmon averages highs near 44°F and lows near 29°F; the wettest season, about 7.4 inches, with strong wind.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteDried redfish

  Ingredients

  • Spawned-out sockeye (redfish), taken in late fall
  • A drying rack in a cool, breezy spot
  • Seal oil for dipping

  Steps

  1. Split the fish open along the back, leaving the tail attached.
  2. Hang on the rack to air-dry in the cold fall weather until firm.
  3. Break off pieces and eat with seal oil.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteHerring spawn on rockweed

  Ingredients

  • Fresh herring spawn on rockweed (or salted, soaked overnight)
  • Water
  • Seal oil

  Steps

  1. Rinse the spawn-covered rockweed well.
  2. Dip it briefly in boiling water, just until the eggs turn white.
  3. Serve warm with seal oil for dipping.

  Summer favoriteSmoked sockeye strips

  Ingredients

  • Fresh sockeye salmon
  • Salt, for a brine
  • Alder or cottonwood for smoke
  • Brown sugar (optional)

  Steps

  1. Cut fillets into strips 1 to 2 inches wide.
  2. Soak in a salt brine, rinse, and hang until the surface is tacky.
  3. Cold-smoke over a small, steady fire until firm; keep it cool so the fish does not cook.

  Winter favoritePtarmigan soup

  Ingredients

  • 2 or 3 ptarmigan, cleaned and cut in pieces
  • Water
  • Onion
  • Potatoes
  • Rice
  • Salt and pepper

  Steps

  1. Simmer the birds in salted water with onion for about an hour, until tender.
  2. Add potatoes and rice and cook 20 to 25 minutes more.
  3. Season and serve hot.

• Aleut

  Unangax̂

  Traditional harvest: Seabirds and eggs, halibut, seal

  Languages: Unangam Tunuu (Eastern and Western dialects)

  Climate: Fall in Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) averages highs near 49°F and lows near 39°F; a stormy season with strong wind, about 20 inches of precipitation.

  A regional favoriteFall favoriteMossberry jam

  Ingredients

  • 4 cups mossberries (crowberries), picked after the first frost
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups sugar
  • Lemon juice (optional)

  Steps

  1. Simmer the berries and water until soft, about 10 minutes.
  2. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and boil, stirring, until the jam thickens.
  3. Pour into clean jars and cool.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteFresh sea urchin roe

  Ingredients

  • Fresh green sea urchins from clean water
  • A sturdy knife or shears
  • Salt water for rinsing

  Steps

  1. Only harvest from clean beaches; shellfish poisoning (PSP) can affect urchins too.
  2. Cut a circle around the mouth on the underside and pour out the liquid.
  3. Rinse in salt water and scoop out the orange roe with a spoon; eat fresh.

  Summer favoriteHalibut fish spread

  Ingredients

  • Cooked halibut, flaked
  • Cream cheese
  • Mayonnaise
  • Chopped onion and celery
  • Garlic, salt, and pepper

  Steps

  1. Mix the flaked halibut with cream cheese and a spoonful of mayonnaise.
  2. Stir in onion, celery, and seasonings.
  3. Chill and serve with crackers or on a sandwich.

  Winter favoriteBoiled octopus

  Ingredients

  • Fresh octopus, cleaned
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Seal oil or butter (optional)

  Steps

  1. Rub the octopus with salt and rinse well to remove the slime.
  2. Simmer in salted water until tender, 45 minutes to an hour.
  3. Slice and serve plain, or with seal oil or butter.

• Sealaska

  Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian

  Traditional harvest: Salmon, herring eggs, deer

  Languages: Lingít (Tlingit), X̱aad Kíl (Haida), Sm'algyax (Tsimshian)

  Climate: Fall in Ketchikan averages highs near 51°F and lows near 42°F; the wettest season, about 50 inches of rain.

  A regional favoriteFall favoritePan-fried venison

  Ingredients

  • Deer steaks or backstrap, sliced
  • Onions, sliced
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter or oil

  Steps

  1. Season the meat and dust it lightly with flour.
  2. Brown the onions in butter, push them aside, and fry the venison a few minutes a side.
  3. Serve with the onions and pan juices.

  See other seasons

  Spring favoriteHerring eggs on kelp

  Ingredients

  • Herring eggs on kelp
  • Water
  • Seal oil or hooligan oil
  • Or soy sauce and butter

  Steps

  1. Rinse the eggs; soak a few hours if they were salted.
  2. Dip in boiling water once or twice, just until barely warmed.
  3. Serve with seal oil, hooligan oil, or soy sauce. Overcooking makes them rubbery.

  Summer favoriteWhipped soapberries

  Ingredients

  • 1 cup soapberries, fresh or put up
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • Sugar or a few other berries, to taste

  Steps

  1. Use a clean, grease-free bowl; any oil keeps the berries from foaming.
  2. Whip the berries and water by hand or with a mixer until pink and fluffy.
  3. Sweeten to taste and serve right away.

  Winter favoriteDried fish with hooligan oil

  Ingredients

  • Dried or smoked salmon or halibut, put up in summer
  • Hooligan (eulachon) oil or seal oil
  • Boiled potatoes (optional)

  Steps

  1. Cut the dried fish into bite-size pieces.
  2. Dip in a little hooligan oil.
  3. Serve as a snack, or with boiled potatoes for a winter meal.