John Fredson

John Fredson circa 1913

John Fredson (born 1896, as Neetsaii Gwich'in - August 22, 1945), was a tribal leader born near Table Mountain in the Sheenjek River watershed of the state of Alaska, United States. He is most noted for gaining federal recognition for the Venetie Indian Reserve in 1941, then the largest reservation in Alaska, and containing approximately 1.4 million acres (5,700 km2). This was before Alaska was admitted as a state.

As a youth, Fredson had taken part in Hudson Stuck's expedition to climb Denali, and served as base camp manager. Afterward Stuck sponsored him for college, and he attended Sewanee, The University of the South, becoming the first Alaska Native to graduate from college. Fredson returned to Alaska, where he worked in a hospital and as a teacher, becoming a leader and political activist.