Geolinguistic Evidence of Ahtna/Dene Presence at High-water Levels of Glacial Lake Atna

Speaker: James Kari, Emeritus Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks

A group of about 20 Ahtna place names termed “The Nen’ Yese’ Ensemble” are very informative of the geology and hydrology at the Tyone Spillway in the Copper River Basin. Seven or eight patterned duplications indicate rule-driven spatial-temporal seriation at high water levels of Glacial Lake Ahtna. These names appear to have been coined by Dene-Ahtna eye-witnesses during the 11th millennium before present when the Susitna River-to-Copper River drainage shift occurred in less than 400 years. Dene geo-linguistic data can broaden interdisciplinary discussions of Beringian prehistory as well as of the Dene-Yeniseian Hypothesis.

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References

The Web Atlas of Alaska Dene Place Names

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