The great state of Alaska is influenced by people from all over the globe, and that means many hard to pronounce words. The history of the state reveals it as a melting pot, or perhaps a frozen lake, of those who crave wide open spaces without the constant presence of other people. Those who find the Arctic and the wild spaces irresistible despite the cold have settled down and put their mark on the linguistic map. Alaska also has a diverse history of indigenous cultures that thrive today throughout the state including Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabascan cultures. Names of places come from all of them as well as the Russian language, as Russia owned Alaska before it was a U.S. Territory.
With this rich history, place names are crazy combinations of Alaska native languages, tributes to Russian diplomats, and the names of prospectors and dance hall girls who came from all over the world. All this makes for a beautiful array of sounds that combine to form the language of Alaska. However, most of the words are pretty hard to pronounce. Newcomers will be spotted a mile away as soon as one of these words clunks off the tongue. If you know how to pronounce them all, you probably have been in Alaska for far too long.
This deceptively simple name is not complicated, it just sounds like the dessert. It is a beautiful seaside spot in southeastern Alaska and a secluded island where the traditional lifestyle is still popular.
On December 1, 2016, a city referendum went into effect renaming Alaska's northernmost city from Barrow to the City of Utqiaġvik. The return was to the traditional Iñupiaq name, Utqiaġvik, which means "place where the snowy owls are hunted".
This central Alaskan town is lively and popular with travelers and Alaskans alike. A hot spot for mountaineers as this town is used as the base camp for Mount Denali.
The name of a 1000-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome that happens every year in March. The race retraces the steps of a heroic journey whereby a series of mushers relayed a life-saving antitoxin serum across Alaska's wilderness. The people of Nome were saved from the diphtheria epidemic that was spreading through the community. The race every year is a celebration in both Anchorage at the start and Nome at the finish line.
A coastal village on the western coast of Alaska, below the Seward Peninsula right on the Bering Sea. The village is known for the abundant king crab harvests that they are blessed with annually.
Nuchalawoyya means "where two rivers meet" and is the name of a biennial gathering in the interior village of Tanana of Alaska Native communities from around the Interior. It is held in the village at the confluence of the Yukon and Tanana rivers.
Both a river in the interior and a village that lies along the banks an hour south of Fairbanks. It's just like "banana" with 'nee' instead of 'buh' at the beginning.
This Russian name is that of a town on the Kenai Peninsula of approximately 800 people. The area stills bears the history of Alaska's Russian past and the language is widely spoken, as well as the Russian Orthodox religion being popular.
A term used for newcomers to Alaska, or the Yukon, which was popularized during the Gold Rush. Once a greenhorn arrives in Alaska, they must complete some time in the arctic before they are considered a true part of the community. Some say it takes one winter, some say two, but after you have lived in the cold for long enough, the sourdoughs will stop calling you a cheechako and maybe trust you a little bit.
Tanana is the name of both a river and a village in the interior. The area is traditionally Koykukon Athabascan and is the traditional site of the Nuchalawoyya celebration.
