Denaʼina Explained

Group:Denaʼina
Population:1,000[1]
Popplace:United States (Alaska)
Langs:English, Denaʼina
Rels:Orthodox Christianity, Animism
Related:Ahtna, Deg Hitʼan, other northern Athabaskan peoples
Person:Denaʼina
People:Denaʼina
Language:Denaʼina / Tanaina
Country:Dena'ina Ełnena

The Denaʼina (; Inland Denaʼina: pronounced as /dənʌʔɪnʌ/; Upper Inlet Denaʼina: pronounced as /dənʌ͡ɪnʌ/; Russian: денаʼина), or formerly Tanaina (Russian: Танаина, кенайтце), 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 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]

Name

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."

Culture

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]

Language and bands

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]

Dena’ina Alaska Native Regional Corporations/Alaska Native village corporations

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)

Namesakes

The city of Anchorage chose to honor the Denaʼina by naming the city's new convention center the Denaʼina Civic and Convention Center.

Notable Denaʼina people

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alaska Native Language Center : Alaska Native Languages / Population and Speaker Statistics . 2013-05-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121109101111/http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages/stats/index.xml . 2012-11-09 . dead .
  2. Patricia H. Partnow 2013. Denaʼinaqʼ Huchʼulyeshi: The Denaʼina Way of Living . Anchorage Museum.
  3. The Iditarod National Historic Trail Seward to Nome Route: A Comprehensive Management Plan, March 1986. Prepared by Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage District Office, Anchorage, Alaska.
  4. Web site: The Map of Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska . 2014-03-20 . https://archive.today/20121210214824/http://www.uafanlc.arsc.edu/data/Online/G961K2010/anlmap.png . 2012-12-10 . dead .
  5. https://cf.denali.gov/Data/attachments/Family%20Matters-5-2-2018.pdf Dena’ina, Bands, Clans, & Moieties
  6. Book: Smith . Gerad . Ethnoarchaeology of the Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska . 2020 .
  7. James Kari, James A. Fall, Shem Pete, Mike Alex: Shem Pete's Alaska: The Territory of the Upper Cook Inlet Dena'ina, University of Alaska Press, page 28,
  8. https://www.nps.gov/lacl/learn/historyculture/upload/Nanutset-Gaul-508.pdf National Park Service – U.S. Department of the Interior Lake Clark National Park and Preserve - NANUTSET ch’u Q’udi Gu BEFORE OUR TIME AND NOW AN ETHNOHISTORY OF LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK & PRESERVE
  9. https://www.nps.gov/lacl/learn/historyculture/upload/Elnena_Complete_reduced.pdf Denaʼina Ełnena
  10. http://denaina.anchoragemuseum.org/multimedia/denaina/map.html Dena’inaq’ Huch’ulyeshi: The Dena’ina Way of Living - The Dena’ina cultural landscape of Anchorage
  11. http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/histcomm/docket/Attachment%201.pdf The Ch’u’itnu Traditional Cultural Landscape: A District Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
  12. "Wasilla" was named after the Qeshqa of Benteh ("Among the Lakes") Chief Visilla (Wasilla), the anglicized spelling of the chief's Russian-given name, Васи́лий Vasilij, which corresponds to the English name Basil meaning "royal, kingly"
  13. Web site: Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CIRI) . 2020-03-27 . 2020-03-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200327002502/https://citci.org/about/who-we-are/tribal-affiliations/ . dead .
  14. http://www.chickaloon-nsn.gov/ Chickaloon Village Traditional Council
  15. http://eklutna-nsn.gov/ Native Village of Eklutna
  16. https://www.kenaitze.org/ Kenaitze Indian Tribe
  17. https://kniktribe.org/ Knik Tribal Council
  18. https://ninilchiktribe-nsn.gov/ Ninilchik Village Tribe
  19. http://www.salamatof.com/ Salamatof Tribal Council
  20. https://svt.org/ Seldovia Village Tribe
  21. http://www.tyonek.com/ Native Village of Tyonek
  22. https://www.calistacorp.com/shareholders/shareholder-overview/our-region/ Calista Corporation
  23. https://bbna.com/ Bristol Bay Native Association
  24. https://www.alaskapeninsulacorp.com/ Alaska Peninsula Corporation
  25. https://www.pedrobaycorp.com/ Pedro Bay Corporation
  26. https://kuskokwim.com/our-villages/ The Kuskokwim Corporation

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