Ahtna Language

Ahtna Language

Ahtna or Ahtena is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy. There are 80 speakers out of a population of 500, and the language is facing extinction but many younger people are learning it to try to keep it from extinction. The Ya Ne Dah Ah School in Chickaloon, Alaska teaches the Ahtna language as a part of its curriculum.

The Ahtna language consists of four different dialects, three of the four are still spoken today. Ahtna closely related to Dena'ina.

The similar name "Atnah" occurs in the journals of Simon Fraser and other early European diarists in what is now British Columbia as a reference to the Tsilhqot'in people, another Northern Athapaskan group.