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Sharing the dena ina language
The Dena'ina (/dᵻˈnaɪnə/ ; own name: in the Inland dialect [dənʌʔɪnʌ], in the Upper Inlet dialect [dənʌ͡ɪnʌ]) or formerly Tanaina are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. 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 Dena’ina homeland (Dena’ina Ełnena) is more than 41,000 square miles in area. They arrived in the Southcentral Alaska sometime between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago. They were the only Alaskan Athabaskan group to live on the coast. Dena'ina culture is an hunter-gatherer culture and have a matrilineal system. The Iditarod Trail's antecedents were the native trails of the Dena'ina and Deg Hit'an Athabaskan Indians and the Inupiaq Eskimos.
Contents
- Sharing the dena ina language
- Dena ina dance group
- Name
- Culture
- Language
- Namesakes
- Notable Denaina people
- References
![Dena'ina denainahomelandcommunitiesjpg](https://alchetron.com/cdn/denaina-30fe319c-f69f-4f19-b2c1-193976b8b0c-resize-750.jpeg)
Their neighbors are other Athabaskan-speaking and Yupik Eskimo peoples: Deg Hit'an (northwest), Upper Kuskokwim (central north), Koyukon (northeast), Lower Tanana (a little part of northeast), Ahtna (east), Chugach Sugpiaq (south-southeast), Koniag Alutiiq (south), and Yup'ik (west and southwest).
![Dena'ina httpsiytimgcomvig36oIvod2khqdefaultjpg](https://alchetron.com/cdn/denaina-35bbe081-19f8-4012-93f6-ca656391cba-resize-750.jpeg)
Dena ina dance group
Name
![Dena'ina Microkhan by Brendan I Koerner](https://alchetron.com/cdn/denaina-4127fd14-ee68-405e-92c3-dc9631f64ed-resize-750.jpeg)
The name means "The people," and is related to the autonym for the Southern Athabaskan Navajo people "Diné." The Dena'ina name for Cook Inlet is Tikahtnu meaning "Big Water River" or Nuti meaning "Saltwater."
Culture
![Dena'ina Rediscovering the Dena39ina Green amp Gold News](https://alchetron.com/cdn/denaina-ebdfcb2a-8957-455d-becc-dde2613ed15-resize-750.jpeg)
The Dena'ina are the only Northern Athabascan group to live on saltwater and this allowed them to have the most sedentary lifestyle of all Northern Athabascans.
Language
![Dena'ina Anchorage Museum Presents quotThe Dena39ina Way of Livingquot AK on the GO](https://alchetron.com/cdn/denaina-89355738-0f36-453e-9ef6-8d9318edaf4-resize-750.jpeg)
Their traditional language, Dena'ina, currently has about 70-75 fluent speakers out of a total population of about 1,400. Dena'ina is one of eleven Alaska Athabascan languages. There are four primary dialects of Dena'ina: Inland, Iliamna, Upper Inlet, and Outer Inlet.
Namesakes
The city of Anchorage chose to honor the Dena’ina by naming the city's new convention center the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center.