Alaska Native Place Names Workshop draws attendees from Alaska and beyond “You can’t lose your culture as long as you are learning place names in your native language.” – Athabascan elder…

Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis – “ancient grazer of the Colville River” In September, the University of Alaska Fairbanks announced the discovery of a new kind of duck-billed dinosaur, a hadrosaur that lived in…

Denali – “the high one” In August, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell decreed that Mt. McKinley would be officially named Denali, a Koyukon Athabascan word meaning “the high one.” The…

Tlax_satanjín – “idle hands” In March, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially recognized a peak near Juneau as Tlaxsatanjín, a decision for the record books. It’s the first geographic feature…