if an Upper Tanana man kills a wolf, he should never touch it until he formally apologizes and explains that his family needs it. The taboos (Tanacross , Upper Tanana ) are animistic forbidden. In addition to adhering to a code of behavior, people observed a variety of taboos designed to prevent misfortune or bad luck. Many of these taboos were associated with hunting or some other aspect of the food gathering process, thus underscoring the importance of these activities for survival of the group. Ravens, cranes, wolverines, foxes, otters, and dogs must never be eaten. The heads of caribou, moose, and Dall sheep may not be fed to the dogs; to do so would bring the hunter poor luck. Neither the bones nor the carcasses of fur-bearing animals may be fed to dogs, but must be cached in a safe place. Should the dogs get them the hunter will take no more fur. Women of child-bearing age did not eat bear (Grizzly or Alaskan brown bear and black bear). Young boys could not eat fat from around an animal's eye until adulthood. No animals except dogs could be brought up as pets. Christianity The Interior Athabaskans for the most part were contacted and missionized by Roman Catholic (for Koyukon Athabaskans), Russian Orthodox (for Dena'ina, Ahtna, Deg Hit'an, Holikachuk, Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskans), and Anglican missionaries (for Gwich'in, Hän, Tanana Athabaskans). Christian missionaries of the Episcopal Church established churches and missions in the area of Tanana Athabaskan beginning in the early 1900s. In 1905 the Episcopal Church, which had missionaries in Alaska, built the St. Mark's Episcopal mission and Tortella (Toghotili, nowadays Nenana) School a short distance upriver. The boarding school taught about 28 children of various ages at a time. Hudson Stuck, the Archdeacon of the Yukon, regularly visited the settlement, part of the 250,000 square-acre territory of the Interior he administered. Native Athabaskan children from other communities, such as Minto, also attended school in Nenana. Potlatches The Athabaskan potlatch (Tanacross , Upper Tanana ) or the gathering-up ceremony is a mid-winter ceremonial activities of traditional potlatch among Athabaskan peoples. This was one event at which people from different local and even regional bands met. The several regional bands attending a potlatch might have spoken slightly different dialects which were nonetheless close enough to each other to be mutually intelligible. The importance of potlatches in establishing friendly ties with outside