Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve. There are four distinct Alaska Native groups with ties to the lands of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Historically, the Ahtna and Upper Tanana Athabascans resided in the interior of the park. The Eyak and the Tlingit lived in villages on the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. No one knows for sure when humans first reached the Copper River Basin of Interior Alaska, but by 8,000 years ago, caribou hunters began visiting Tangle Lakes, located at the head of the Gulkana River, fifty miles northwest of the park boundary. As glacial ice retreated, humans eventually entered the Wrangell Mountains. Archaeological evidence has established a record of continuous human presence in the middle Copper Basin for the past 1,000 years, although it was probably occupied much earlier. Some believe that the area was originally settled by the Eyak. The Ahtna, however, replaced them long ago. Human History - Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)