Langdon Says....

In Steve J. Langdon's book, "The Native People of Alaska: Traditional Living in a Northern Land", he explains that at the time of Russian contact, there were an estimated 11,000 Athabaskans. These people were not just in one area and counted. The population of these people was broken down into groups and location.
The main groups consisted of the riverine, upland, and pacific subdivisions. Deghitan, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Tanana, and Tanacross are all riverine groups. The upland Athabaskans were Gwich'in, Han, Upper Tanana, and Upper Kuskokwim. Pacific settlements were Atna' and Dena'ina.
Since Athabaskan settlement was somewhat nomadic, archeologically speaking, the groups are not confined to a specific place, rather areas along rivers and the coast. This differentiation in climate and land corresponds to different sources of food and shelter.
The basket-style fish trap had to be adaptive to the environment as well. Weirs, fencing, and trap size were all different dependent on location. The same idea was used for the insidious fish trap, but there are small differences that make it effective.