[[Iliamna, Alaska|Iliamna]], [[Tyonek, Alaska|Tyonek]], [[Susitna, Alaska|Susitna]]"},"population":{"wt":"1,000{{Cite web |url=http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages/stats/index.xml |title=Alaska Native Language Center : Alaska Native Languages / Population and Speaker Statistics |access-date=2013-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109101111/http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages/stats/index.xml |archive-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=dead }}"},"popplace":{"wt":"United States ([[Alaska]])"},"langs":{"wt":"[[English language|English]], [[Denaʼina language|Denaʼina]]"},"rels":{"wt":"[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], [[Animism]]"},"related":{"wt":"[[Ahtna people|Ahtna]], [[Deg Hitʼan]], other [[northern Athabaskan]] peoples"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBg">Ethnic group
Total population | |
---|---|
1,000 [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
United States (Alaska) | |
Languages | |
English, Denaʼina | |
Religion | |
Orthodox Christianity, Animism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Ahtna, Deg Hitʼan, other northern Athabaskan peoples |
Person | Dena |
---|---|
People | Denaʼina |
Language | Denaʼinaqʼ |
Country | Dena'ina Ełnena |
The Denaʼina ( /dɪˈnaɪnə/ dih-NY-nə; Inland Denaʼina: [dənʌʔɪnʌ] ; Upper Inlet Denaʼina: [dənʌ͡ɪnʌ] ; Russian : денаʼина), or formerly Tanaina (Russian : танаина, кенайцы), are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people. They are the original inhabitants of the south central Alaska region ranging from Seldovia in the south to Chickaloon in the northeast, Talkeetna in the north, Lime Village in the northwest and Pedro Bay in the southwest. The Denaʼina homeland (Denaʼina Ełnena) is more than 41,000 sq mi (110,000 km2) in area. [2] They arrived in the south-central Alaska sometime between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago. They were the only Alaskan Athabaskan group to live on the coast. The Denaʼina have a hunter-gatherer culture and a matrilineal system. The Iditarod Trail's antecedents were the native trails of the Denaʼina and Deg Hitʼan Athabaskan Native Alaskans and the Inupiaq Inuit. [3]
Their neighbors are other Athabaskan peoples and Yupik peoples: Deg Hitʼan (northwest), Upper Kuskokwim (central north), Koyukon (northeast), Lower Tanana (a little part of northeast), Ahtna (east), Pacific Yupik (Ułchena/Ultsehaga, 'slaves'; Chugach Sugpiaq, south-southeast from Kenai Peninsula to Prince William Sound, and Koniag Alutiiq, south on Kodiak Archipelago and the Alaska Peninsula), and Central Yupik (Dudna, 'down-river people', west and southwest). [4]
The name "Dena’ina" comes from two parts: dena meaning "person" and ina, the human plural marker in Dena’ina language means "the people", and is related to the autonym for the Southern Athabaskan Navajo people "Diné." The Denaʼina name for Cook Inlet is Tikahtnu meaning "Big Water River", "Ocean River" or Nuti meaning "Saltwater."
The Denaʼina are the only Northern Athabascan group to live near saltwater which allowed them to have the most sedentary lifestyle of all Northern Athabascans. The Denaʼina were organized in regional bands or Ht’ana ("people of [a place or area]"), which were composed of local bands. The regional bands had several villages or qayeh, each containing multi-family dwellings called Nichił. Each Nichił was led by a qeshqa ("rich man" or "leader") who Russian and American traders and religious referred to as "Chiefs." Men and women in villages belong to their mother's clan. The clans were grouped into two sides or "moieties." Villagers could only marry outside of their own clan and moiety, maintaining diversity in the gene pool and strength in the village lineage. [5] Archaeological work suggests that the Dena'ina have occupied the Upper and Outer Cook Inlet areas for the last 1,000 years, migrating from the Mulchatna and Stony River areas, where they had lived for thousands of years prior. [6]
Their traditional language, Denaʼina (Dena’ina Qenaga), currently has about 70-75 fluent speakers out of a total population of about 1,400. Denaʼina is one of eleven Alaska Athabascan languages. There are four primary dialects of Denaʼina (grouped with regional bands, local groups and today's tribal names): [7]
Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CIRI) [13] ("Upper Inlet" and "Outer Inlet / Kenai Denaʼina"-speaking bands)
Alexander Creek, Incorporated ("Upper Inlet Denaʼina"-speaking bands)
Calista Corporation [22] ("Inland / Lake Clark Denaʼina"-speaking bands)
Bristol Bay Native Association [23] ("Inland / Lake Clark Denaʼina" and "Iliamna Denaʼina"-speaking bands)
Pedro Bay Corporation [25] ("Iliamna Denaʼina"-speaking bands)
Kuskokwim Corporation [26] ("Inland / Lake Clark Denaʼina"-speaking bands)
The city of Anchorage chose to honor the Denaʼina by naming the city's new convention center the Denaʼina Civic and Convention Center.
Kenai Peninsula Borough is a borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,799, up from 55,400 in 2010. The borough seat is Soldotna, the largest city is Kenai, and the most populated community is the census-designated place of Kalifornsky.
Nanwalek, formerly Alexandrovsk and later English Bay, is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States, that contains a traditional Alutiiq village. The population was 254 at the 2010 census, up from 177 in 2000. There is one school located in the community, attended by 76 students.
Ninilchik is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 883, up from 772 in 2000.
Iliamna is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 108 at the 2020 census, slightly down from 109 in 2010.
Nondalton is a town on the west shore of Six Mile Lake in the Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 133, down from 164 in 2010.
Knik River is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located 15 miles southeast from Palmer along the Knik River, it is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 792 at the 2020 census, up from 744 in 2010.
Denaʼina, also Tanaina, is the Athabaskan language of the region surrounding Cook Inlet. It is geographically unique in Alaska as the only Alaska Athabaskan language to include territory which borders salt water. Four dialects are usually distinguished:
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina, who historically inhabited the area. They called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen.
Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles (290 km) from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its southern end, it merges with Shelikof Strait, Stevenson Entrance, Kennedy Entrance and Chugach Passage.
Peter Kalifornsky was a writer and ethnographer of the Dena'ina Athabaskan of Kenai, Alaska.
The Ahtna are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. The people's homeland called Atna Nenn', is located in the Copper River area of southern Alaska, and the name Ahtna derives from the local name for the Copper River. The total population of Ahtna is estimated at around 1,427.
The Matanuska River (Dena'ina: Ch'atanhtnu; Ahtna: Ts'itonhna’) is a 75-mile (121 km) long river in Southcentral Alaska, United States. The river drains a broad valley south of the Alaska Range eponymously known as the Matanuska Valley.
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve in southwest Alaska, about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Anchorage. The park was first proclaimed a national monument in 1978, then established as a national park and preserve in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The park includes many streams and lakes vital to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, including its namesake Lake Clark. A wide variety of recreational activities may be pursued in the park and preserve year-round. The park protects rainforests along the coastline of Cook Inlet, alpine tundra, glaciers, glacial lakes, major salmon-bearing rivers, and two volcanoes, Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna. Mount Redoubt is active, erupting in 1989 and 2009. The wide variety of ecosystems in the park mean that virtually all major Alaskan animals, terrestrial and marine, may be seen in and around the park. Salmon, particularly sockeye salmon, play a major role in the ecosystem and the local economy. Large populations of brown bears are attracted to feed on the spawning salmon in the Kijik River and at Silver Salmon Creek. Bear watching is a common activity in the park.
Knik Arm is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches of Cook Inlet, the other being Turnagain Arm. Knik Glacier empties into the Knik Arm. The Port of Anchorage is located on the arm.
Iliamna Lake or Lake Iliamna is a lake in southwest Alaska, at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, between Kvichak Bay and Cook Inlet, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Seldovia, Alaska. It shares a name with the Iliamna River, which flows into it, and the nearby community of Iliamna, Alaska.
Ahtna or Ahtena is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy.
Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) is one of thirteen Alaska Native regional corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Cook Inlet Region, Inc. was incorporated in Alaska on June 8, 1972. Headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, CIRI is a for-profit corporation, and is owned by more than 7,300 Alaska Native shareholders of Athabascan and Southeast Indian, Inupiat, Yup’ik, Alutiiq and Aleut descent.
James Kari is an American linguist and Professor Emeritus with the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) specializing in the Dene of Alaska. He served on the faculty of UAF from 1973 to his retirement in 1997.