Alsek
Ałsêxh – (Tlingit name) – Alsek River
Southern Tutchone
Dazhän tágà Älǖr k’è Àłsêxh ùye ch’e. ‘‘Dän ghànadäghwè yū’’ kwäni älǖr k’è. Dazhų̄ kwädǟn k’e Shäwshe Chù ùye. Ätl’a map kay jänä̀tl’ä̀t k’e tágà Titl’àt Mǟn kay ts’än kį̀įlį keyèni hą Alsek keyèni. Äju uk’è ch’äw keni gúch’än.
Kwädą̄y ch’äw Älǖr yè dän dazhän tágà dāy ts’etläw ts’än nä̀nadä̀l kwä̀ch’e tth’ay. Ń-łäyè shų̄ nä̀nadä̀l nų.
English
The Tlingit name Ałsêxh may mean ‘place where people rest’. Originally Ałsêkh referred to the river running past Shäwshe (Dalton Post) to the Pacific. The upper part of the original Ałsêkh is called Shäwshe Chù in Southern Tutchone and Tatshenshini in English. On maps the Alsek River now runs from a little south of Dakwäkằda (Haines Junction), to the Pacific.
People lived and traveled along the Alsek until the mid 1800’s. At that time, Nałudi (Lowell Glacier) blocked the river for several years, creating a huge lake that even covered the area where Dakwäkằda (Haines Junction) is now located.