Nagh Nduninyu! Welcome to Dena’ina Qenaga
The Dena’ina Qenaga website is a web-based resource for the Dena’ina Athabascan language. This site is designed to provide information about the Dena’ina language, including information about language structure (grammar, pronunciation, spelling, etc.); information about learning the Dena’ina language (phrases and conversations, stories, etc.); and information about community language revitalization programs. This phase of website development is very much in its initial, beginning stages. We welcome ideas for additional content.
Dena’ina Qenaga Digital Archive
One of the primary goals of this site is to provide access to Dena’ina archival materials currently housed at the Alaska Native Language Archive. The need for access to materials was stated quite eloquently by Andrew Balluta (b. 1930, d. 2011) at a language workshop held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in February 2004.
“You know, all these recordings … if we don’t get it out and learn about it, where are we going to learn from? These are old recordings. We want to get it out and teach our younger children what the elder people are talking about. I think that’s a very good idea for getting it free so we can listen to them.”
The web-based archive currently provides access to a database of more than two hundred documents and more than two hundred audio recordings relating to the Dena’ina language. Original copies of these materials are housed at the Alaska Native Language Archive. Digital copies of some of this material can be downloaded directly from this site. In some cases, access restrictions prohibit web-based access to digital materials. However, digital copies may still be available directly from the Alaska Native Language Center.
Initial development of this site was supported by the Dena’ina Archiving, Training and Access (DATA) project, funded by US National Science Foundation grant NSF-OPP. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. See About this Site for additional information.
