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Explore Place Names & Maps
Explore Bristol Bay in a new way with our GIS web mapping tool. Look at a map view with filters for land status, or a topographical view of the landscape of Bristol Bay. Zoom in to check out village locations, lakes, rivers and other geographic features. Learn their place names, with an audio guide to pronunciation. Some places have been named in multiple languages, so you might learn the Yup’ik, Dena’ina, Russian, or English version of the same location. One click shows you the GPS coordinates of any place on the map. Other tools allow you to measure area or distance (as the crow flies) between one point and another.
People & Languages of Bristol Bay
Sugpiaq/Alutiiq/Aleut refers to people belonging to a distinct Alaska Native cultural grouping who have lived and existed since time immemorial throughout coastal Alaska, specifically the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Archipelago, Kenai Peninsula, and Prince William Sound regions. The term Sugpiaq is the traditional Sugt’stun (Sugpiaq language) word for the people; it literally means – Suk (person) + -piaq (real); Real Person. Alutiiq is also a widely used and accepted self-describer and the term Alutiiq is the Sugpiat way of saying Aleut, a term which was introduced during the Russian colonization of Alaska and broadly applied to Sugpiat, Unangan/s, and other coastal groups the Russians encountered. Today, many Sugpiat refer to themselves as Sugpiaq, Alutiiq, or Aleut.
Dena’ina The Dena’ina (literally, ‘the people’), are an Athabascan indigenous people who have inhabited southcentral and southwest Alaska for thousands of years. The term ‘Dena’ina’ refers to both the people as well as their language. Dena’ina is a part of the larger Dene language family. There are currently 4 main groups and/or dialects of Dena’ina, including those of the Upper Cook Inlet, Outer Cook Inlet (Kenai area), Inland (west of the Alaska Range), and Lake Iliamna areas. The Bristol Bay region is home to both the Inland Dena’ina and the Lake Iliamna Dena’ina. Dena’ina people are most often referred to as either Dena’ina or Dena’ina Athabascan.
Sugt’stun (or Sugcestun) is the name for the language of the Sugpiat/Alutiit (plural). You may also see the language referred to as Alutiit’stun or the Sugpiaq/Alutiiq language. Linguistically, Sugt’stun/Sugcestun belongs to the Inuit – Yupik – Unangan language family and shares close ties with the Yup’ik language (Yugtun/Yugcetun). There are two major dialects – the Chugach dialect encompasses the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound regions and the Koniag dialect encompasses the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Archipelago regions. Within the Alaska Peninsula region, there are two known varieties – Peninsula Sugt’stun and Perryville Sugt’stun.
Yupiaq is the traditional word for the Yup’ik people of Alaska. The term Yuk refers to a person, and Yupiaq means “real human,” which is similar to the Sugpiaq and Inupiaq peoples. Yup’ik is the anglicized version of Yupiaq, and Yup’ik is the more widely used term. Yugtun and Yugcetun are the terms for the Yup’ik language and mean, “like a Yup’ik person.” The terms Yugtun and Yugcetun are used interchangeably.
Yugcetun (or Yugtun) There are many dialects within Yugcetun, and the main dialects are Central Yup’ik, Naukan, and Siberian Yup’ik. The people of Bristol Bay speak Central Yup’ik. The Yugcetun language can look different from village to village, though it is generally mutually intelligible between communities.