A Dena’ina language Web site allows visitors to explore the Kenai Peninsula’s Native tongue with interactive pages including peninsula maps. Native place names on the map link to pictures of local places and audio recordings of how to pronounce the Native place names.
Patrice Kohl
Redoubt Reporter
People have spoken Dena’ina on the Kenai Peninsula longer than any other language, but the chances of hearing anyone speak Dena’ina on the peninsula today are slim to none. Fewer than 50 Dena’ina speakers remain, and the last speaker of the Kenai dialect of Dena’ina, Fred Mamaloff, died in 2006.
Of the few remaining Dena’ina speakers, most live west of Cook Inlet in the Nondalton area. All but one are over 60 years old. Having lost its last speaker, the Kenai dialect of Dena’ina — Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga — faces the threat of being forgotten, but Kenai Peninsula College, Kenaitze Tribe and Cook Inlet Tribal Council have launched a project to help preserve Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga.
The project has opened access to Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga study guides and archived audio files on a newly created Web site, http://qenaga.org/kq. Audio files include pronunciation samples, vocabulary and stories. For words that may appear daunting, such as niłqun qegh’utda (meaning, day after tomorrow), audio samples help open Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga up to peninsula residents and others wanting to learn more about the area’s Native tongue.
To English speakers, Dena’ina dialects, including Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga, often sound slurred due to a sound frequently used in Dena’ina, but not present in the English language. The sound, written as “Ł,” is pronounced similar to the way the English letter “L” is pronounced, but without vocalization. The difference between the English “L” and Dena’ina “Ł” is similar to the difference between the English “B,” which is vocalized, and English “P,” which is not vocalized.
Differences between languages go beyond sound and deep into the human psyche, which is one of the reasons linguists and archeologists deeply lament the rapid disappearance of languages around the world.
“The analogy is, it’s like losing a species,” said Alan Boraas, professor of anthropology at Kenai Peninsula College’s Kenai River Campus. “When a species goes extinct, what’s the tragedy? The tragedy is that we lose genetic diversity. When we lose a language, we lose cognitive diversity, because imbedded in the grammar are patterns of thought.”
The way Dena’ina addresses plurals, for example, suggests a pattern of thought strongly emphasizing partnerships and alliances. In Dena’ina, plural nouns describe three or more and a singular noun may be used to describe one or two.
“That’s a different way of looking at life,” Boraas said. “It really enhances the concept of partnerships and alliances rather than opposites, which is what the English language and most other languages emphasize by singular being one.”
For Kenaitze tribal members, studying Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga is an important part of understanding the tribe’s history and connection to the peninsula, said Sasha Lindgren, cultural and educational program director for the Kenaitze Tribe.
“The language ties directly to place,” she said. “Place names are not named after people. They’re named after distinguishing characteristics of the land. … So by learning our language we become even more connected to the land and our history, and it explains things to us.”
Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga Web site helps reveal this connection in a series of interactive maps of the peninsula on which places are labeled by their Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga names. By clicking on a place name on one of the maps, visitors can see a photo of the place, listen to an audio clip pronouncing the Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga name, read an English translation of the place name and see the name commonly used for the place today.
The place peninsula residents now know as Naptowne Rapids, for example, was known as Ht’ehq’eghdnilnisht in Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga, which translates to “where the boats get snagged” in English.
Interest in knowing more about Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga should extend beyond the Kenaitze Tribe’s members to anyone who lives on the peninsula or wants to better understand the peninsula, Boraas said.
“The language gives a window to the place, because it’s been the language of the place for thousands of years,” he said.
The Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga Web site can be found entering Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga in an Internet search engine, by visiting www.kenaitze.org and clicking on the link labeled Kahtnuht’ana Qenaga, or by entering http://qenaga.org/kq in a Web browser.
