Matanuska

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The Matanuska River and its valley in southern Alaska ; a glacier and the surrounding area that bears the same name in that region
2. A river flowing through a broad valley in south-central Alaska ; a large glacier and nearby locality sharing this name in the state
3. The name of a river and its valley in southern Alaska ; a glacier and associated locale in that northern American state

Etymology: In 1935, during the Great Depression, the federal government moved about 200 farm families from the Midwest to the valley this river drains, in what became the Matanuska Colony near present-day Palmer, Alaska. Many of the settlers had been chosen for their farming experience, and the project, one of the New Deal's more ambitious resettlement schemes, struggled with short growing seasons, poor soil, and harsh winters. Its surviving legacy includes the valley's farming communities and the name now attached to a regional dairy. The river's own name comes from the Dena'ina, the Athabaskan people whose traditional lands surround Cook Inlet, and it reached English through the records of Russian-era explorers and traders. Its exact meaning is not reliably documented, so any translation offered for it should be treated with caution.