Vocabulary from Tenas Charley

Historical Background

This recording is part of a collection comprised of audio recordings, field notes, correspondence, published works and photographs of renowned anthropologist, Federica De Laguna.  De Laguna produced an unparalleled body of research during a career that spanned 75 years. She made significant contributions to the study of circumpolar art, Arctic and Alaskan archaeology, and Northwest coast ethnology.  While working with the Tlingit, the tribe adopted de Laguna as a member of their Gineix Kwaan and Luknaxadi Raven Moiety clans. De Laguna received the tribal name of Kuxaankutaan and composed a song based upon the golden-crowned sparrow to her friends.

The De Laguna Collection is primarily housed at the National Anthropological Archives in Washington, D.C., with selected copies of the materials also housed at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

For decades, the Ahtna traditional cultural expressions recorded through De Laguna's field work were lost to the Ahtna Dene of Alaska due to her work being donated to Western institutional repositories outside of the state of Alaska.  For the purpose of bringing this traditional cultural knowledge home to Alaska and to perpetuate Ahtna cultural knowledge and traditions, digital surrogates of these materials have been obtained by the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council's Cultural and Historic Preservation Department with the support of the American Philosophical Society and are made readily available to Tribal citizens, broader Ahtna Dene communities and the public.

Recording Content

The recording includes an interview conducted between Federica De Laguna and Ahtna Elder, Tenas Charley, in Copper Center.  Throughout the recording, Tenas Charley provides the Ahtna translations for a variety of animals that are both indigenous and non-Indigenous to Alaska.