This is Dena’ina Ełnena

The local congregation of St. Mary’s in Anchorage lives, works, and gathers for worship on Dena’ina Ełnena, the unceded homeland of the K’enaht’ana Dena’ina people. We are are grateful for their centuries of care for this land, and for the knowledge they have to share about how to live in right relationship with our environment, and each other, today.

We respect and appreciate the wisdom and leadership of the Dena’ina and other Alaska Native people. We acknowledge the trauma and oppression they have experienced at the hands of the United States government and of the Episcopal Church. We are committed to learning from Native elders and traditions, to growing in our understanding as individuals and as a congregation, and to working for meaningful healing and change.

Click here to read a small part of Aaron Leggett’s experience of being Dena’ina, from Gunhti Stsukdu’a : Ki Nch’uk’a “Tanaina” Ghayele’ (This Is My Story: “Tanaina” No More).

Learn the sounds and some vocabulary from the Dena’ina language at Kenai Keywords.

Image: Lake Eklutna. Photo 🅭2017 Enrico Blasutto, CC BY-SA 4.0