Koyukon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The Koyukon are an Athabaskan Native people living along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers in interior Alaska ; Koyukon is also the Athabaskan language traditionally spoken by that people
2. An Indigenous group of Athabaskan descent inhabiting the interior of Alaska along the Koyukuk River ; the Athabaskan tongue that members of this community have traditionally spoken
3. A Native American nation of the Alaskan interior whose members share Athabaskan roots ; the indigenous language of the same people, belonging to the Athabaskan family

Etymology: The name comes from the Koyukuk River in interior Alaska, along which this Athabaskan people have lived for centuries. Russian traders and explorers in the late 1700s and early 1800s recorded a term, "Koyukukhotana," for the people of that river. The "-hotana" ending is an Athabaskan word meaning roughly "people" or "people of," and over time the name was shortened to the form used today. The people's own name for themselves is "Dinaa," meaning roughly "the people" or "the human beings," a common pattern among Athabaskan groups. Their language, also called Koyukon, is one of the Athabaskan languages of Alaska and northwestern Canada, and it is still spoken by some elders today.