Ahtna Place Names for officially unnamed features in and around Glacial Lake Atna

Speaker: James Kari, Emeritus, Alaska Native Language Center

Kari’s 2019 article presents geolinguistic evidence that a group of about 20 names called “The Nen’ Yese’ Ensemble” were coined by eyewitnesses to the Susitna R-Copper R drainage shift in the first half of the 11th millennium. Kari is preparing a selection 17 Ahtna place names for unnamed features as a batch place name submission. Six of the names are in the Tyone River area. Other names can be viewed along the surrounding highway system. The batch name proposal can be time-effective and informative for various state and federal agencies, for Ahtna Inc. and the local Ahtna communities, or for researchers who specialize in the Alaska landscape. Learning how to say and to analyze some these names can be rewarding as well.