Dena'ina Athabascan Culture

"Our culture has all the tool passed on from our ancestors: we are meteorologists, diplomats, artists, architects, linguists, botanists, biologists, midwives, and astronomers. The essence of being Native is ingenuity and creativity."

—Dena'ina Steering Committee quote from "Dena'ina Ełnena, A Celebration," page 32.

Ways of Knowing

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Duration:: 12 minutes, 1 second

Traditional ecological knowledge gained over generations has helped the Dena’ina people come to know this area in a way that few others ever will. Learn how western and native science understand the brown bears of Lake Clark.

"They used to tell us how to take care of the animals,
bones and stuff like that.
Even the trees, we didn’t knock down trees for nothing,
if we did we limbed it right to the end
and pile the boughs, not scatter it all over the woods.
This is so it’s not wasted.
Anything that’s alive,
we see leaves growing, same with trees,
anything alive need to be treated with respect.
A tree is like a person,
when it gets old it falls down, bends over,
just like a person, when they get old,
then they’re gone.
That’s why you got to treat the things that are growing
with respect."
–Agnes Cusma

More to explore:

Watch a video about the Dena'ina way of making birch bark baskets.
Read about how Nondalton women fought fire with baskets in 1953.
Unearth a 4,000 year old hearth near Port Alsworth
Know the reason why glass beads were so valuable for trade at Qizjeh.
Learn the early history of Dena'ina people.
Join NPS anthropologists and tribes in preserving archeological sites and cultural landscapes.

Quk' Taz'un

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Duration:: 18 minutes, 39 seconds

Quk' Taz'un, 'The Sun Is Rising', is a Dena'ina outdoor learning camp that encourages youth to engage with Dena'ina history and culture. The Dena’ina people have called Qizhjeh Vena, also known as Lake Clark, home for thousands of years. The camp takes place near the ancestral site of Kijik or in Dena’ina - Qizhjeh- ‘a place where people gather’. Through language classes, archeology, and traditional crafts, the camp passes cultural knowledge to future generations.

Sharing a Living Culture: Ethnography

Cultural anthropologists and historians identify, document, and interpret ethnographic resources and so much more.

River at sunset with mountains in background.

Meanings of Dena’ina Tinitun (Trails)

The cultural value of tinitun (trails) have deep, multilayered meanings and uses in inland Dena’ina tradition.

Dena'ina Stories, People and Places

Story of a Photo
A Grateful Heart

Read how this historic photo demonstrates the abundance from the land and Dena’ina values revolving around gratitude.
Alaska Park Science
Dena'ina Perspective: Respecting Ełnena

An Alaska Park Science article that presents the Dena'ina perspective of Lake Clark's wilderness.
A Special Place
Kijik National Historic Landmark

A special Dena'ina place that is now designated as a National Historic Landmark.
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Dena'ina Ełnena, A Celebration

Dena'ina Ełnena, A Celebration: Voices of the Dena'ina
Skilled Craftsmanship
Athabascan Snowshoes

Learn the history of these snowshoes and the craftsman who built them.
Alaska Park Science
Nondalton Knowledge of Freshwater Fish

An Alaska Park Science article about Nondalton village's traditional subsistence use and knowledge of freshwater fish.
Traditional Uses
Dena'ina Animal Snares

Dena'ina girls were taught how to set snares for ground squirrels among other chores so they never had to depend on others for food.
A Special Place
Ancestral Telaquana Trail

The Ancestral Telaquana Trail is a ancestral Dena'ina Athabascan route from Telaquana Lake to Kijik Village.
A Window to the Past
Katie Trefon Wilson

Discover Katie Trefon Wilson's perspective of growing up in the early 1900s at Tanalian Point, in rural Alaska.