Sharing the Dena'ina Language

The Alaska Office of the Smithsonian's Arctic Studies Center hosted the Dena'ina Language Institute from October 4-8, 2010 at the Living Our Cultures exhibit gallery located in the Anchorage Museum. Elders Helen Dick and Gladys Evanoff shared their knowledge about Dena'ina heritage objects in the Smithsonian collections, using the objects as tools to teach the Dena'ina Athabascan language. They worked with language learners, linguists and museum staff to script and record new language learning videos for a series published on YouTube (link at http://qenaga.org/). The Dena'ina program initiated Recovering Voices -- an international Smithsonian program to assist indigenous communities with language preservation and education -- at the Arctic Studies Center in Anchorage.

For more information, go to http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/alaska.htm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• smithsonian
• arctic studies center
• language
• Dena'ina

[daybreakwarrior]

“A̜a̜” sounds like “yeah,” in Navajo. We'd say it the same way. “Ninił’an” seems like “níníł’í” or “look at this” in Navajo. I wonder if “heyiłchin” means “caribou leg skins,” because the way she pronounces it sounds like “kéłchí” or “moccasins,” in Navajo. “sheł dini,” or “say it again,” could be like “shił diní,” not grammatically correct in Navajo but the words look similar. I also wonder if “yihghiłdeł” means putting things in. It almost sounds like Navajo for things falling inside.