Anchorage and the greater Matsu Valley sits on Dena’ina Elnena traditional homelands. The Dena’ina Athabascan people are one of many of Alaska’s distinct diverse Indigenous groups. The Native people of the Knik are the K’enaht’ana, members of the Eydlughet (Eklutna) and K’enakatnu (Knik) tribes. Like many places in our country the original names used by the Indigenous groups have been changed and morphed over the history of colonization and westward expansion. 

The translation for Dena’ina is ‘the people’ and is one of eleven Athabascan groups in Alaska. The term also refers to the language which is subdivided into four dialects: inland Dena’ina, Iliamna Dena’ina, Outer Cook Inlet and Upper Cook Inlet Dena’ina.  

The upper cook inlet regions between the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains have been the home for the Dena’ina and have long provided abundant fishing, hunting and gathering grounds, and the Anchorage area is filled with significance and historical importance to the Dena’ina life. 

Modernization of the 20th century brought the construction of the Alaska Railroad and significant disruption of Dena'ina life, compounded by the 1918 influenza epidemic which devastated the local Dena’ina communities. Today, residents of Anchorage and members of the Dena’ina community preserve the culture through the Alaska Native Heritage Center,

The Anchorage Museum, and through traditional subsistence activities like berry picking in the Chugach Mountains or fishing the Turnagain Arm, public art installations around the Cook Inlet, live performances, and arts and crafts hand made by modern Dena’ina artists. 

The blend of Indigenous culture, Russian trade and settlers, gold rush prospectors and pioneer history have created a complex community that is Anchorage today. We here at Northern Sun Tours recognize we live and work on Dena’ina land, and are committed to working collectively to undo Native invisibility, anti-Blackness, and to finding ways to support the community and reconcile the past. For more information on the diverse Indigenous cultures here in Alaska we highly encourage those who visit to make time in their schedule for the Anchorage Museum. It is the best place to start as you educate yourself on the life and cultures that call Alaska home.