Doyon Foundation is pleased to announce that a language-learning course focused on Hän is now available in Doyon Languages Online. The online course is available for free to all interested language learners; find more information and sign up at doyonfoundation.com/dlo. 

These lessons were created in the hope that they will be enjoyed by all those interested in learning to speak and understand the ancestral language of the Hän Gwich’in of Eagle Village, Alaska.

About the course

The Conversational Hän course includes 10 units with up to six lessons per unit. On completion of the course, learners will gain an awareness and an understanding of how to speak Hän conversationally and in cultural contexts. The course includes an alphabet lesson, conversational videos, practice activities in speaking, listening, reading and writing, as well as information on Hän grammar and culture.

About Hän

Hän is a Dene Athabascan language spoken in the Alaska village of Eagle and in the Yukon Territory at Dawson City and Moosehide. A writing system was established in the 1970s, and considerable documentation has been carried out at the Alaska Native Language Center as well as at the Yukon Native Language Centre in Whitehorse.

Hän is one of 47 languages in the Athabascan language family, which is part of the larger Na-Dené family, and is most closely related to Gwich’in and Upper Tanana. The name of the language is derived from the name of the people, “Hän Hwëch’in,” which in the language means “people who live along the (Yukon) river.”

About the course developers

The Foundation extends its deepest appreciation to the developers of the Hän Doyon Languages Online course: Ruth Ridley and John Ritter, with contributions from Ethel Beck, Bertha Ulvi, Adeline Juneby Potts and Tyrese Roberts.

Additional thanks go to the community of Eagle Village; Doyon Foundation staff Allan Diton Hayton, Nathaniel Feemster, Myles Creed, Doris Miller and Tiffany Simmons; as well as Transparent Language, 7000 Languages, and Doyon, Limited. This project was funded by the Administration for Native Americans, grant # 90NL0626.

About Doyon Languages Online

Through Doyon Languages Online, Doyon Foundation is working to increase the number of people who can speak the endangered Native languages of the Doyon region.

Hän is the latest offering in Doyon Languages Online, joining courses in Benhti Kokhut’ana Kenaga’ (Lower Tanana), Holikachuk, Denaakk’e (Koyukon), Dinjii Zhuh K’yaa (Gwich’in), and a special Hän course based on the work of the late Isaac Juneby.

Courses in Deg Xinag, Dihthaad Xt’een Iin Aanděeg’ (Tanacross), Dinak’i (Upper Kuskokwim), and Nee’aanèegn’ (Upper Tanana) are in the final testing stages and are expected to be available soon.

Doyon Languages Online courses are available for free to all interested learners. Students can sign up and access the courses from a desktop or laptop computer, or via the Transparent Language app available for both Apple and Android mobile devices and tablets.

For more information on the Doyon Languages Online project and upcoming course releases, please visit doyonfoundation.com/dlo or contact 907.459.2048 or foundation@doyon.com. For assistance signing up for or using Doyon Languages Online, view the instructional video series on YouTube.

Mähsį̀ʼ!