Dena'ina
From NativeWiki
The Dena’ina (also Tanaina) are an Alaska Native people, an extended tribe of American Indian lineage. They are the original inhabitants of the southcentral Alaska region ranging from Seldovia in the south to Talkeetna in the north, Lime Village in the Northeast and Pedro Bay in the Southwest.
The name means "The people," and is related to the prefered name for the Navajo people "Dene". The Dena'ina name for Cook Inlet is Tikahtnu meaning "Big Water River" or Nuti meaning "Saltwater." The Dena'ina are the only Athabascan group to live on saltwater and this allowed them to have the most sedentary lifestyle of all Northern Athabascans.
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Language
Their traditional language, Dena’ina, currently has about 75-95 speakers out of a total population of about 900. Dena'ina is a subset of the larger language group of Athabascan Indian dialects, which extends from south coastal Alaska through Northwest Canada into the eastern prairie provinces of Canada.
Convention Center
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.
