Region
Alaska, Hawaiʻi and the US Pacific
21 nations of Alaska, Hawaiʻi and the US Pacific, each with its own name first and checked facts with sources.
21 nations
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Ahtna
Also known as Ahtna Athabascan
Lands Copper River basin and the upper Susitna and Nenana river areas, Alaska, United States
A comprehensive Ahtna dictionary was published in 1990, building on language documentation that began in 1973.
Source: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Alutiiq/Sugpiaq
Also known as Sugpiaq
Lands Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska Peninsula, outer Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States
At the Alutiiq Museum, fluent speakers, learners and linguists work together to record Sugt'stun and teach it to a new generation of speakers.
Source: Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository (opens in a new tab) Checked
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CHamoru
Also known as Chamorro
Lands Guam (Guåhan) in the Mariana Islands, a United States territory
Guam's Department of Chamorro Affairs works to preserve, develop and promote CHamoru heritage, with a division devoted to language and culture.
Source: Department of Chamorro Affairs, Government of Guam (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Cup'ik
Also known as Chevak Cup'ik
Lands Chevak and the nearby Bering Sea coast of southwest Alaska, United States
In Chevak the people and their language are called Cup'ik, and on Nunivak Island the related form is Cup'ig, each used in place of the word Yup'ik.
Source: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Deg Hit'an
Also known as Deg Xinag (the language)
Lands Shageluk, Anvik and Holy Cross on the lower Yukon River, Alaska, United States
Deg Xinag is one of ten Doyon region languages for which Doyon Languages Online is creating introductory online lessons.
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Dena'ina
Also known as Kahtnuht'ana Dena'ina (Kenaitze)
Lands Cook Inlet region of Southcentral Alaska, including the Kenai Peninsula and the Anchorage area, United States
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe states its vision as assuring that the Kahtnuht'ana Dena'ina thrive forever.
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Eyak
Lands Cordova, the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States
The Native Village of Eyak in Cordova is a federally recognized tribe that unites Eyak, Chugach Region, Tlingit and Athabaskan peoples.
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Gwich'in
Also known as Kutchin (older term)
Lands Northeast Alaska, including Fort Yukon, Venetie and Arctic Village, plus northern Yukon and the Northwest Territories in Canada
Dinjii Zhuh K'yaa, the Gwich'in language, is one of ten Doyon region languages for which Doyon Languages Online is creating introductory online lessons.
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Haida
Also known as Kaigani Haida
Lands Southern Prince of Wales Island, including Hydaburg, Kasaan and Craig, and Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska, United States
Kasaan's 'Láa Náay Justice System works to keep the peace and promote wellness by addressing problems through culturally appropriate methods.
Source: Organized Village of Kasaan (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Hän
Lands Eagle, Alaska, United States, and Dawson, Yukon, Canada, along the upper Yukon River
Hän is one of ten Doyon region languages for which Doyon Languages Online is creating introductory online lessons.
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Iñupiat
Also known as Iñupiaq (singular, and the language)
Lands Northwest and Arctic Alaska, from Norton Sound to the North Slope and the Canadian border, United States
Iḷisaġvik College in Utqiaġvik was founded to teach from an Iñupiaq cultural foundation, and in 2006 it became the first and only federally recognized tribal college in Alaska.
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Koyukon
Also known as Denaakk'e speakers
Lands Villages along the Koyukuk River and the middle Yukon River, Interior Alaska, United States
Doyon Languages Online is creating introductory online lessons for Denaakk'e and nine other Doyon region languages; its first courses came out in summer 2019 and are free.
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Lower Tanana Dene
Also known as Lower Tanana Athabascans
Lands Nenana, Minto and the Fairbanks area along the Tanana River, Interior Alaska, United States
Benhti Kenaga', the Lower Tanana language, is one of ten Doyon region languages for which Doyon Languages Online is creating introductory online lessons.
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Native Hawaiians
Also known as Kānaka Maoli
Lands The Hawaiian Islands (Hawaiʻi), United States
Education taught entirely in Hawaiian now runs from preschool to doctoral level, growing from the first Pūnana Leo preschool in Kekaha, Kauaʻi, in 1984.
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Samoans
Also known as Samoan people of American Samoa
Lands Tutuila, Aunuʻu and the Manuʻa Islands of American Samoa, a United States territory in the Samoan Islands
In American Samoa, land is held communally under the guidance of village chiefs, the matai, and the national park there sits on land leased from local villages.
Source: U.S. National Park Service, National Park of American Samoa (opens in a new tab) Checked
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St. Lawrence Island Yupik
Also known as Siberian Yupik
Lands Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, Alaska, United States; close relatives live on the Chukchi Peninsula across the Bering Strait
St. Lawrence Island Yupik is almost the same language as the one spoken just across the Bering Strait, at the tip of Siberia's Chukchi Peninsula.
Source: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Tlingit
Also known as Lingít
Lands Coastal Southeast Alaska from Yakutat south to Ketchikan, United States, with citizens living worldwide
Sealaska Heritage Institute says young people who learned Lingít and other Southeast Alaska languages, once nearly lost to oppression, now teach them with help from fluent Elders.
Source: Sealaska Heritage Institute (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Tsimshian
Also known as Alaska Tsimshian
Lands Metlakatla on the Annette Islands Reserve, Southeast Alaska, United States; Tsimshian homelands continue in British Columbia, Canada
In 1977 Metlakatla adopted a standard practical spelling system for the Tsimshian language, also meant for Coast Tsimshian communities in Canada.
Source: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Unangax̂
Also known as Unangan (eastern plural)
Lands Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands and the western Alaska Peninsula, Alaska, United States
Students in APIA's 2025 Unangam Tunuu Summer Language Intensive learned from Unangax̂ Elders, and APIA holds a weekly Unangam Tunuu Community Night in Anchorage.
Source: Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Upper Tanana
Also known as Upper Tanana Athabascans
Lands Northway, Tetlin and Tok in eastern Interior Alaska, United States, with a small community across the border in Canada
Née'aaneegn', the Upper Tanana language, is one of ten Doyon region languages for which Doyon Languages Online is creating introductory online lessons.
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Yup'ik
Also known as Central Yup'ik
Lands Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and nearby coasts and rivers of southwest Alaska, United States
In the Calista Region along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering bind communities together and are part of who people are.