Chilkat place names
Jilkáat and Jilkoot Aaní, land of Chilkat & Chilkoot people The 2012 cultural atlas edited by Tom Thornton and Harold…
2020 | Richard Carstensen | geopdf, 17MB
In all my writing and cartography since publication of Haa L’éelk’w Hás Aani Saax’ú: Our grandparents’ names on the land (Thornton & Martin, eds. 2012), I’ve used Lingít place names whenever available, followed by their translation in italic, and IWGN (important white guy name) in parentheses. Euronames, however regal or preemptive, were afterthoughts.
Lingít place names in the downtown area.
Example: Kadigooni X’áat’, island with spring water (Spuhn Island). Where no place name is listed in Thornton & Martin (henceforth T&M, 2012), I may default to the IWGN. Increasingly, however, I’ve been trying to wean myself from some of the most ‘aggressive’ IWGNs, especially the ‘big three:’ Juneau, Mendenhall and Gastineau. You can reduce the number of times you pronounce these unfortunate names by instead saying: Downtown, The Valley, and The Channel. In Áak’w and T’aakú Aaní, everyone will know what you mean.
And as for the name of this website—JuneauNature—sorry! After 4 years of incubation, I guess it’s irrevocably ‘locked-in.’ If I were starting today, I’d probably name it something like SoutheastAlaskaNature, less beholden to IWGNs.
The essay Naming our home, linked below, summarizes what I’ve learned about the history of names, and the political realities of restoring original names to official maps. Meanwhile, for our own maps, free of bureaucratic constraints, let’s get down to it!
In this section
Glacial & cultural history of northern Lingít Aaní
A fireside presentation My talk at the Visitor Center in February, 2020 explored the past 20,000 years of glaciation and…
2020 | Richard Carstensen | 27 minutes
Mid-May on Shaa Tlaax
Goats, geology & zonation on Shaa Tlaax, moldy top (Mt Juneau) Video-journal of the flora, fauna, and geomorphology that hikers…
2019 | Richard Carstensen | 4 minutes
Kaxdigoowu Héen (Montana Creek): presentation for SEAL Trust
Slideshow in two parts Kaxdigoowu Héen, going back clearwater has been one of my favorite places since I first explored…
2019 | Richard Carstensen & John Hudson | slide show in 2 parts: 38 & 22 minutes
People on the land
The central chapter in my 2013 publication Natural history of Juneau trails, pages 29-36, is a summary of deep and…
2013 | Richard Carstensen | 7 pages (full publication, 72 pages)
Áak’w & T’aakú Aaní: the natural history of resilience
Presentation for Evening at Egan On November 9th, 2018, I gave the second in a series of 4 lectures for…
Nov, 2018 | Richard Carstensen | 36 minutes
Why do we live here?
Factors in village site selection People on the land, yesterday, today and tomorrow. In early 2013, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation (GHF),…
2014 | Richard Carstensen | 63 pages
1999 fall newsletter: No Name Bay and other misnomers
My feature essay explores native and non-native places names in Southeast Alaska. Another piece by Kathy Hocker discusses the importance…
Fall 1999 | Richard Carstensen | 4 pages
Naming our home
Name as story; name as narcissism Over the past decade, I’ve grown increasingly interested in cultural differences in the way…
2013: update 2020 | Richard Carstensen | 5 pages
Our grandparents’ names on the land
Haa L’éelk’w Hás Aani Saax’ú: Our grandparents’ names on the land. Sealaska Heritage Institute; University of Washington Press. Cultural atlas…
2012 | Thornton & Martin, eds | 232 pages