Koyukon

American  

[koi-yoo-kon, kah-] / ˌkɔɪ yuˈkɒn, ˌkɑ- /

noun

1. a member of a North American Indian people living in the Yukon River valley in west-central Alaska.

2. the Athabascan language of the Koyukon.

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Etymology

Origin of Koyukon

Respelling, after the Koyukuk and Yukon Rivers, of earlier Co-Youkon, from Russian kuyukantsy (plural), derivative of Kuyukak “the Koyukuk River,” ultimately derived from Inupiaq kuiyuk

Example Sentences

In 2015, then-President Barack Obama redesignated the mountain Denali, a name long championed by Alaskans, which roughly translates to “the great one” in Koyukon Athabascan, a Native Alaskan language.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2025

The games all have origins in Native villages and go beyond living memory, explains Kalloch, who is of Koyukon Dena and Creole descent.

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2023

That name, meaning “the great one” or “the high one” in the Alaska Native language Koyukon, pays tribute to the state’s Indigenous population.

From New York Times • Jun. 13, 2022

Denali, the mountain’s federally recognized name since 2015, is a Koyukon word that meaning “the tall one” that has been in use for 10,000 to 12,000 years by many Athabascan peoples, an Alaska Native group.

From Scientific American • Apr. 22, 2022

The 211-mile road to the Ambler Mining District in northwest Alaska would cross the Koyukon, Tanana Athabascans and Iñupiat native lands, the department said in a statement.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 22, 2022