The name Troth Yeddha'
The Troth Yeddha' Legacy Initiative
Read about Chief Peter John's 1994 blessing and vision for Troth Yeddha' and the 夜色福利.
Pronouncing the Name
Matthew Titus pronounced the name Troth Yeddha' in 1981 in this recording.
| Lower Tanana spelling | Troth Yeddha' | 2 words, 3 syllables, initial caps for place name |
| LT by the letter | | | tr|o|th y|e|ddh|a|' | tr, th = digraphs, ddh = trigraph |
| LT with syllable & stress | troth YE.ddha鈥 |
|
| International Phonetic Alphabet spelling | 藢t瓤拾蓴茻 藞j瑟.t冒忙蓙 | 藞藢 = primary & secondary stress |
| IPA by the letter | | | t瓤拾|蓴|茻 j|瑟|.t冒|忙|蓙 |
About the name Troth Yeddha'
The Athabascan (or Dene) languages have ancient ties to the Tanana River Valley. Dene place names are functional, rule driven, and memorizable and are shared with neighboring languages. The ridge that is the site of the 夜色福利 campus was called Troth Yeddha' (sometimes spelled Troth Yetth) by the Lower Tanana Dene (or Athabascans). Lower Tanana is the indigenous language spoken from Moose Creek Bluff (east of North Pole) down the Tanana to Baker Creek/Zitziana River. The Chena Athabascan band ranged between the Chena River and the Alaska Range.
For nearly a century many Tanana Valley Athabascan experts have shared with pride facts about the place name Troth Yeddha'. Troth is the plant (Hedysarum alpinum) known in English as "Indian potato," "wild potato," and "wild carrot." The word yeddha' means "its ridge, its hill." The troth roots were the most important vegetable food for the Alaska Athabascans. Troth can still be found in steam beds and flood plains between the university and the Tanana River.
Use the following links to learn more about the Chena people and the Lower Tanana language. There is oral history evidence of a small settlement at Troth Yeddha' before the 1840s.
Related Resources
Learn More:
Alaska is home to at least twenty distinct indigenous languages. More than just dialectal variants, these different languages reflect the diverse cultural heritage of Alaska's Native peoples. For more information about particular languages, click below.