Inuit are the descendants of what anthropologists call the Thule people, who emerged from western Alaska around 1000 AD. They had split from the related Aleut group about 4000 years ago and from northeastern Siberian migrants. They spread eastwards across the Arctic.
There are 3 major Indian tribes in Alaska, the largest tribe with some 12,000 members in the Athabascan. They live in Interior Alaska and canada, in arguably the harshest environment in the state. In the South central coast near Juneau and off shore islands live the Tlingit tribe with some 10,000 members. Also the Canadian constitution recognizes 3 groups of Aboriginial peoples: Indians (more commonly referred to as First Natives), Inuit and Metis.
