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“Climate, Language and Indigenous Perspectives” was an informal workshop on how linguistic knowledge can form a link between scientific inquiry and indigenous perspectives of climate that was sponsored by the Alaska Native Language Center at University of Alaska Fairbanks from Aug. 13-15.

Here are some excerpts of comments by some of the elders on climate change:

• Mary Rose Agnes, Kaltag

Deeyuh zoonee’ ts’e haadeenh.

We don’t know what to tell you.

Edeto ent’aa eey nenkkokk’e huyee neełdo hotaaldlet.

The world is changing; it’s a mess.

Denaak’e k’elaageyoo eesee yoodon ees de hedegheenee’,

“Do’oo hoonolk’uh.”

Our ancestors used to say “The world is gonna be warm.”

Yoonaan hełde edzoo hootolaał hedegheenee’.

Outside it will be cold.

Mary Rose said there’s a change in the weather.

“Our elders used to say our weather will get warm here, and it will get cold Outside. I see changes. This spring, when the ice went out, there was low water. Usually, there’s high water at breakup time. Then the current is big, and the river is powerful as the ice crashes down. When the river is low, there is no current, and the ice is barely going.

“After the king salmon run, we were catching humpies. We never catch humpies. Then we see different birds.”

Eesee kk’udaa.

That’s all.

Maasee’.

Thank you.

• Eliza Jones

K’ekk’utl ełdeyonh. “The cold weather has aged.”

“The winter is not as cold as it used to be. The cold spell has aged; it has gotten old.”

Eliza used to hear her grandfathers talking about their grandfathers’ time when it was so cold. The families used to follow the caribou for food and clothing. If they were caught in a cold spell when they were traveling, it used to be so cold the tails of the dogs would fall off. These are stories from a long time ago.

“This world is always changing. It’s a natural phenomenon to change, and we need to learn how to adapt.”

The Athabascan Word of the Week appears every Saturday on page A3 of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The words are provided by Susan “K’etsoo” Paskvan of Yukon-Koyukuk School District. She is originally from the village of Koyukuk on the Yukon River in Interior Alaska. She is Tleeyegge Hut’aane, which is Koyukon Athabascan. She seeks stories and phrases from both Denaakk’e (Koyukon Athabascan) and Denak’a (Lower Tanana Athabascan), which are languages spoken in the Yukon-Koyukuk School District region.

Yukon-Koyukuk School District serves the villages of Allakaket, Hughes, Huslia, Koyukuk, Nulato, Kaltag, Ruby, Manley Hot Springs and Minto. The Board of Education places a priority on teaching the Native languages within the district.