Chief John Silas' Cabin

Chief John Silas' Cabin. . , For years this cabin was the property of Athabascan Chief, John Silas. It was built at the original Chena Indian Village, just downstream on the Tanana River. The Binkley family acquired the cabin in the 1980's as the old village had become abandoned and the cabin was in danger of being swallowed by the river. In 1986 this great piece of history was disassembled, loaded onto the deck of the Discovery I and brought to this site where it was reassembled., Until the arrival of Westerners, the Athabascan people were semi-nomadic, following the herds of large game and living off the land. With the arrival of fur traders, the discovery of gold and the use of riverboats the people settled in small villages and resided in more permanent log structures like this cabin., The John Silas cabin was built in the early 1900s and is a slightly more primitive structure than many of the other cabins seen around the village today. It is quite small, has minimal windows and only a dirt floor. The roof is also an early design, using just sheets of spruce bark, laid over the top of spruce poles, that act as large shingles to shed the elements., Chief John Silas lived during a remarkable time; he witnessed and experienced the Athabascan's cultural transition from their ancient ways to a Western lifestyle. This cabin is here to honor Chief John Silas and to serve as a monument to that pivotal point in the history of the Alaska Natives.