Pre-contact distribution of Ahtna (in red) and neighboring peoples (go to image link for names)

The Ahtna (also Ahtena, Atna, Ahtna-khotana, or Copper River) are one of the tribes of Athabaskan people in Alaska. Their language, also called Ahtna, is facing extinction. The tribe's homeland is located in the Copper River area of southern Alaska, and the name Ahtna derives from the local name for the Copper River.

The Ahtna were known to the Tlingit through Eyak intermediaries; the Tlingit called them the Ikhka Khwáan meaning roughly "copper digging people". They were the source of nearly all native copper traded along the Northwest Coast during precontact times.

The Ahtna people were semi-nomadic people who traveled according to their seasonal round, following their food source.

See also

• Ahtna, Incorporated, Alaska Native Regional Corporation is one of 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations established by Congress under terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.
• Native Village of Kluti Kaah

External links

• Copper River Native Association
• Ahtna, Incorporated
• Ahtna Athabascan Language (Alaska Native Language Center)

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