Ahtna

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Ahtna

Ahtna (also Ahtena ) or Copper River Athabasken are a tribal group of the Alaska Athabasken or Alaska Dene in southeast Alaska , whose original tribal area 'Atna' Nene ' ("land along the Copper River, ie land of the Ahtna") is the river basin of the Copper River (Atna River) ( 'Atna'tuu - "River of the Ahtna") and its tributaries (Chitina River, Slana River, Chistochina River, Gulkana River, Gakona River, Tazlina River, Klutina River, Tonsina River, Tiekel River) and the Upper Susitna River ( Sasutna - "Sandy River") and Nenana River ( Ninae Na ' - "Nomadic River") extending into the Cook Inlet ( Danse' - "in the forward direction") and the Gulf of Alaska . Together with the neighboring Dena'ina, which are also Athabaskan , they are often referred to as Southern Alaska Athabaskans (Southern Alaskan Athabaskans) or Southern Alaska Dene due to cultural adaptations , as both tribal groups culturally resemble the Tlingit living in the south and other peoples.

In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act regulated the territorial claims of the indigenous peoples of Alaska and transferred real estate rights to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations ( local authorities ) and over 200 corporations at the level of the so-called Alaska Villages . Similarly, the Canadian Inuit and First Nations that are recognized as separate peoples, the rights and self-administration distinguish the indigenous peoples of Alaska against the tribal sovereignty (self-government) recognized at the federal level strains (so-called. Federally Recognized Tribes ) of the Indians in the rest of the USA .

Today there are eight Alaska Native tribal entities or Alaska Villages of the Ahtna (Cantwell, Chistochina, Chitina, Copper Center, Gakona, Gulkana, Mentasta and Tazlina), which are also legally recognized at the federal level (the so-called Federally Recognized Tribes ). Seven of the eight Alaska Villages ( Cantwell (Yidateni Na) , Chistochina (Tiis 'Na or Tsiistl'edze' Na ') , Copper Center (Kluti-Kaah or Tl'aticae'e) , Gakona (Ggax Kuna') , Gulkana (C. 'ulc'e Na') , Mentasta Lake (Mendaesde) and Tazlina (Tezdien Na) ) have merged to form one of the thirteen local authorities - Ahtna, Inc. , only Chitina (Tsedi Na ') remained independent as a Chitina Native Corporation .

Origin of name

The tribal names common today as Ahtna , Ahtena or Copper River Athabasken are an Anglicization of the autonym of one of the four regional Ahtna bands as Atna Hwt'aene / Atnahwt'aene ("People on the 'Atna' River, ie on the Copper River"), the Meaning is usually wrongly given as "ice people". However, this group / band name refers to the residential area of ​​only one regional band who had their territory along the Copper River ('Atna' tuu) ("River of the Ahtna"). All Ahtna bands initially saw themselves as an independent group / band that was mostly firmly connected to a village or river and named themselves after it, so the band names mostly consist of Koht'aene [kote-an-eh] / Hwt'aene (" Inhabitants of a region ”,“ people along, from, from ... ”) as well as the village, mountain or river together.

Other spellings of the name: Atnatana , Ahtnakotana , Ahtna-Khotana or Ahtna-Kohtaeneda .

Sociopolitical Organization

The Ahtna were divided into semi-nomadic regional bands with fixed tribal areas, each of which spoke different but mutually understandable dialects. These bands were in turn divided into several local groups , which were composed of one or more matrilocal and matrilineal extended families .

Most of the time, the Ahtna identified themselves - like most athabasks due to the principle of kinship and especially their strong individualism - according to the affiliation of their regional band / group as Koht'aene [kote-an-eh] / Hwt'aene - "residents of a region" or "People along, from, from ..." to determine the affiliation to a regional band / group by specifying a place (e.g. a river name or village name) . Atnahwt'aene

Geographically, linguistically and sometimes also culturally, a distinction is usually made today between the following groups, which in turn comprised several bands:

  • Lower (Copper River) Ahtna or Atna Hwt'aene / Atnahwt'aene ("people on the 'Atna' River, ie on the Copper River"): lived at the mouth of the ('Atna') Copper River in the Gulf of Alaska , from Copper Center southwards to Chitina.
  • Central Ahtna , Middle Ahtna or Dan'ehwt'aene (Copper Center up to Gakona-Chistochina)
  • Western Ahtna or Tsaay Hwt'aene / Dze Ta Hwt'aene ("People in the midst of the mountains, the Nutzotin Mountains ") or Hwtsaay Hwt'aene / Hwtsaay hwt'aene ("Small Tree People" or "Small Timber People"): inhabited the highlands called Hwtsaay Nene ' (“small timber land”) along the Upper Gulkana and Upper Susitna Rivers, from Tazlina Lake to Cantwell
  • Upper (Copper River) Ahtna or Tatl'a Hwt'aene / Tatl'ahwt'aene / Taa'tl'aa Denae ("People from the upper reaches of the ('Atna') Copper River") (Chistochina to Mentasta Lake)
    • Sanford River (HwdinndiK ‟ełt‟ aeni) / Chistochina (Tsiistl ‟edze‟ Na ‟) Band - today: Cheesh-Na Tribe (formerly: Native Village of Chistochina (Tsiis Tl'edze 'Caegge) ;“ Cheesh-Na ”means“ Blue-Ocher-River ". Population (2010 Census): 97; Current population (2018): 88)
    • Slana (Stl'aa Caegge) / Batzulnetas (Nataełde) Band - today: part of the Native Village of Mentasta (Mendaesde)
    • Mentasta (Mendaesde) Band - today: Native Village of Mentasta (Mendaesde) ("shallow lake". Population (2010 Census): 112; Current population (2018): 128)

language

Their language is usually also called Ahtna (Athena) and is a language that is seriously threatened with extinction , as currently only around 30 to 80 tribal members speak it as native speakers . They themselves simply refer to their language as Atnakenaege ' ("Language of Ahtna"). A distinction is made between four dialects and eight regional bands (tribal groups), which are understandable among each other : Other names for the language that are historically and in some cases still used today in specialist literature are: Ahtena, Nabesna, Tanana, Ah-tena, Atna, Copper River, Mednovskiy .

"Lower Ahtna" includes the settlements of Chitina, Lower Tonsina, Chistochina and some in the Copper Center area, "Upper Ahtna" is spoken in the region around Mentasta Lake, "Central Ahtna" settlements can be found in the area around Tazlina, Gulkana, Gakona and Copper Center, “Western Ahtna” settlements are Cantwell, Mendeltna , Sutton-Alpine , Tyone Village, Chickaloon , Valdez Creek and some residents of Talkeetna also speak this dialect.

  • Lower Ahtna or Atnahwt'aene
    • Chitina (Tsedi Ná) / Taral (Taghaelden) band
    • Tonsina (Kentsii Cae'e or Kentsii Na ‟) / Klutina (Tl‟ atii Na ‟) Band
  • Central Ahtna / Middle Ahtna or Dan'ehwt'aene
    • Gulkona (C ‟ulc‟ e Na ‟) / Gakona (Ggax Kuna‟) band
  • Western Ahtna or Tsaay Hwt'aene
    • Tyone ("Chief") / Mendeltna (Bendilna) band
    • Cantwell (Yidateni Na ') / Denali (Dghelaayce' e) band
  • Upper Ahtna or Tatl'ahwt'aene
    • Sanford River (HwdinndiK ‟ełt‟ aeni) / Chistochina (Tsiistl ‟edze‟ Na ‟) Band
    • Slana (Stl'aa Caegge) / Batzulnetas (Nataełde) band
    • Mentasta (Mendaesde) band

See also

List of North American Indian tribes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lower and Central Athna dialect: 'Atna' and Upper Athna dialect: K'etna ' - "Copper River"
  2. ^ Ahtna Place Names Lists
  3. ^ Ahtna, Inc. (Ahtna) - Ahtna Villages
  4. ^ Chitina Native Corporation
  5. ^ Chitina Native Corporation
  6. ^ Copper River Native Association
  7. ↑ Native Village of Kluti-Kaah
  8. ^ Native Village of Gakona
  9. ↑ Copper River Native Places - A report on culturally important places to Alaska Native tribes in Southcentral Alaska ( Memento from July 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Native Village of Tazlina (Tezlende)
  11. ↑ Kahtnuht'ana Qenaga: The Kenai Peoples Language - Dena'ina Territory and Place Names
  12. ↑ Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium (Kelt'aeni) - Tribal consortium of two federally recognized Tribes of Chistochina and Mentasta Lake
  13. ↑ Ahtna language, Chistochina Dialect
  14. ^ Native American Tribal Arts & Architecture, SUBARCTIC ARTS ( Memento from September 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ Ahtna language, Chistochina Dialect ( Memento from November 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )