Eklutna (; Dena'ina: ''Idlughet'';

Ahtna The Ahtna (also Ahtena, Atna, Ahtna-kohtaene, or Copper River) are an Alaska Native Alaskan Athabaskans, Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan languages, Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. The people's homeland called Atna Nenn', is loca ...

: ''Zdlaaygha'') is a native village within the

Municipality of Anchorage A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the g ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

. The Tribal Council estimates the population at 70; many tribal members live in the surrounding communities.

About

Eklutna lies northeast of Anchorage near the intersection of Mi. 142 of the

Alaska Railroad Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and the Mile 26 of the

Glenn Highway The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a ...

from the mouth of the

Eklutna River The Eklutna River () is approximately long and is located in the Southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska. A portion of the river flows through a canyon up to deep, emptying into the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet approximately northeast of Anc ...

at the head of the Knik Arm of

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet ( tfn, Tikahtnu; Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its so ...

, at in the Anchorage Recording District. The Dena'ina

Athabascan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific ...

village of Eklutna is the last of eight villages that existed before construction of the

brought an influx of American colonists around 1915. First settled more than 800 years ago, it is the oldest inhabited location in the Anchorage area. Its Dena'ina name is ''Idlughet'' ("by the objects", referring to two nearby hills); the name "Eklutna" derives from ''Idluytnu'', the name for

, meaning "(plural) objects river".

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

arrived in the 1840s. The melding of Orthodox Christianity and native practices resulted in the brightly colored

spirit house A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The spirit house is normally in the form o ...

s which can be seen at the

Eklutna Cemetery Old St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, also known as the Eklutna Chapel, is a historic Russian Orthodox church in Eklutna, Alaska. It is about one mile inland from the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet. The church, built of hewn spruce logs, is ab ...

, in use since 1650 and now a historical park. The cemetery is probably the most photographed graveyard in Alaska, overshadowing other features of the village. An

siding and station house were built near the village Eklutna in 1918. The federal government operated a boarding school for native children near the village before World War II. The U.S. Army established a facility nearby in the mid-20th century; it is now gone. In 2014, a 160-acre homestead acquired in 1924 was donated to the Native Village of Dena’ina Athabascan country, where Alaska Native people have lived for thousands of years. For the most part, the land has remained untouched — and under a conservation easement, it will be maintained as a refuge for wildlife and protected from real estate development. Eklutna Spirit Houses

Virtually all residents of the Eklutna Village are either

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a num ...

or part Native; most are members of the federally recognized Native Village of Eklutna. For employment, most Tribal Members commute to work in

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

, nearby Eagle River, or the

Matanuska-Susitna Valley Matanuska-Susitna Valley () (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about north of Anchorage, Alaska. It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displaye ...

Demographics

Eklutna first appeared on the 1930 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. Of its 158 residents, 61 were Native, 49 were Creole (Mixed Russian & Native), 47 were White, and 1 was Asian. It continued to report on the census until 1970 and was annexed into Anchorage in 1975.

Education

Anchorage School District operates area public schools.

References

External links

Alaska Division of Community Advocacy - Community Information Summary

Eklutna, Inc.
(

ANCSA The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...

village corporation)
Native Village of Eklutna
{{Coord, 61.4580556, -149.3622222, type:city_region:US, format=dms, display=title Anchorage metropolitan area Denaʼina Neighborhoods in Anchorage, Alaska

About

Demographics

Education

See also

References

Further reading

External links