Alaska Native Language Center - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Alaska Native Language Center, established in 1972 in Fairbanks

Fairbanks

Fairbanks may refer to:Places in the United States*Fairbanks, Alaska, city*Fairbanks, California, unincorporated community in El Dorado County*Fairbanks, Mendocino County, California, former settlement*Fairbanks, Indiana, unincorporated community...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, is a research center focusing on the research and documentation of the Alaska's Native languages. It publishes grammars, dictionaries, folklore collections and research materials, as well as hosting an extensive archive of written materials relating to Eskimo, North Athabaskan

Northern Athabaskan languages

Northern Athabaskan is a geographic sub-grouping of the Athabaskan language family spoken in the northern part of North America, particularly in Alaska and the Yukon...

and related languages. The Center provides training, materials and consultation for educators, researchers and others working with Alaska Native languages

Alaska Native languages

At the time of statehood in 1959 there were twenty indigenous languages spoken within the boundaries of the state of Alaska. Within Alaska today these languages are generally referred to as Native languages. Most of these languages belong to one of two large language families: Eskimo-Aleut and...

. The closely affiliated Alaska Native Language Program offers degrees in Central Yup'ik

Central Alaskan Yup'ik language

Central Alaskan Yup'ik or just Yup'ik is a Yupik language of the Eskimo language family, in turn a member of the Eskimo–Aleut language group, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska. Both in ethnic population and in number of speakers, Central Alaskan Yup'ik is the largest of the languages...

and Inupiaq

Inupiat language

The Inupiat language, also known as Inupiatun, Inupiaq, Iñupiaq, Inyupiaq, Inyupiat, Inyupeat, Inyupik, and Inupik, is a group of dialects of the Inuit language, spoken in northern and northwestern Alaska. The Iñupiaq language is a member of the Eskimo languages group. There are roughly 2,100...

at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as Alaska or UAF....

, and works toward the documentation and preservation of these languages.

New Language Map

In 1974, Michael Krauss published a language map of Alaska, which he later updated in 1982. It has remained the standard since then. In the summer of 2011, the Alaska Native Language Center made an update to Krauss's map. One of the biggest reasons for this update was that some of the names of these languages had changed over the years. While there was not a dramatic change in the updated map, the new edition is entirely digital.

Alaska Native Languages

Language	Population	Speakers	Percent Speakers
Ahtna Ahtna language Ahtna or Ahtena is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy...	500	80	%
Aleut Aleut language Aleut is a language of the Eskimo–Aleut language family. It is the heritage language of the Aleut people living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, and Commander Islands. As of 2007 there were about 150 speakers of Aleut .- Dialects :Aleut is alone with the Eskimo languages in the...		300	%
Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Alutiiq language The Alutiiq language is a close relative to the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language spoken in the western and southwestern Alaska, but is considered a distinct language...		400	%
Dena'ina	x	x	x
Deg Xinag	275	40	%
Eyak Eyak language Eyak is an extinct Na-Dené language that was historically spoken by the Eyak people, indigenous to southcentral Alaska, near the mouth of the Copper River.The closest relatives of Eyak are the Athabaskan languages...	50	0	%
Gwich'in Gwich’in language The Gwich’in language is the Athabaskan language of the Gwich’in indigenous people. It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon of Canada, it is used principally in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort...		300	%
Haida Haida language The Haida language is the language of the Haida people. It contains seven vowels and well over 30 consonants.-History:The first documented contact between the Haida and Europeans was in 1774, on Juan Pérez's exploratory voyage. At this time Haidas inhabited the Queen Charlotte Islands, Dall...	600	15	%
Hän Hän language The Hän language is a Native American endangered language spoken in only two places: Eagle, Alaska and Dawson City, Yukon. There are only a few fluent speakers left , all of them elderly....	50	12	%
Holikachuk Holikachuk language Holikachuk is a highly endangered Athabaskan language formerly spoken at the village of Holikachuk on the Innoko River in central Alaska. In 1962 residents of Holikachuk relocated to Grayling on the lower Yukon River. Holikachuk is intermediate between the Deg Xinag and Koyukon languages,...	200	12	%
Inupiat Inupiat language The Inupiat language, also known as Inupiatun, Inupiaq, Iñupiaq, Inyupiaq, Inyupiat, Inyupeat, Inyupik, and Inupik, is a group of dialects of the Inuit language, spoken in northern and northwestern Alaska. The Iñupiaq language is a member of the Eskimo languages group. There are roughly 2,100...			%
Koyukon Koyukon language Koyukon is an Athabaskan language spoken along the Koyukuk and middle Yukon River in western interior Alaska. It has about 300 speakers - generally older adults bilingual in English - from an ethnic population of 2,300....		300	%
Tanana Tanana languages The Tanana languages are Athabaskan languages that include two languages which are Lower Tanana and Upper Tanana . They are spoken in Canada and Alaska. About 30 people speak Lower Tanana and 100 people speak Upper Tanana. Mostly the elders speak it but many young people are trying to learn it to...	380	30	%
Tanacross Tanacross language Tanacross is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken by fewer than 60 persons in eastern Interior Alaska.- Overview :The word Tanacross Tanacross (also Transitional Tanana) is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken by fewer than 60 persons in eastern Interior Alaska.- Overview :The word...	220	65	%
Tlingit Tlingit language The Tlingit language ) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada. It is a branch of the Na-Dené language family. Tlingit is very endangered, with fewer than 140 native speakers still living, all of whom are bilingual or near-bilingual in English...		500	%
Tsimshian Tsimshianic languages The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in southern Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. About 2,170 people of the ethnic Tsimshian population in Canada still speak the Tsimshian languages; about 50 of the 1,300 Tsimshian people living in...		70	%
Upper Kuskokwim	160	40	%
Upper Tanana Upper Tanana language Upper Tanana is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, mainly in the villages of Northway, Tetlin, and Tok, and adjacent areas of Canada's Yukon Territory...	x	x	x
Yup'ik, Central Alaskan			%
Yupik, Siberian			%

Information in this table was retrieved from the Alaska Native Languages Center. http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages/

External links

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New Language Map

Alaska Native Languages

See Also

External links