Pre-contact distribution of Ahtna (in red) and neighboring peoples (go to image link for names)
This article is about the Athabaskan Indian people. For other uses of the name, see Ahtna (disambiguation).
The Ahtna (trans. ice people) (also Ahtena, Atna, Ahtna-khotana, or Copper River) are one of the tribes of Athabaskan people in Alaska. Their language, also called Ahtna, is facing extinction. The tribe's homeland is located in the Copper River area of southern Alaska.
The Ahtna were known to the Tlingit through Eyak intermediaries; the Tlingit called them the Ikhka Khwáan meaning roughly "copper digging people". They were the source of nearly all native copper traded along the Northwest Coast during precontact times.
The Ahtna people were semi-nomadic people who traveled according to their seasonal round, following their food source.
