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18-822: Formed by the confluence of its east and south forks, the Matanuska River flows generally southwest to the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet . Downstream of its source, the river is joined by meltwater from Matanuska Glacier in the northern Chugach Mountains . From there it continues through the Matanuska Valley, between the Chugach Mountains to the south and the Talkeetna Mountains to the north. Population centers along its course include Chickaloon , Sutton , Palmer , and Butte . It enters

36-472: A qeshqa ("rich man" or "leader") who Russian and American traders and religious referred to as "Chiefs." Men and women in villages belong to their mother's clan. The clans were grouped into two sides or "moieties." Villagers could only marry outside of their own clan and moiety, maintaining diversity in the gene pool and strength in the village lineage. Archaeological work suggests that the Dena'ina have occupied

54-586: A Russian term spelled in various ways, including "Matanooski" and "Mednoviska", and meaning "copper river people", perhaps referring to an implied route from Cook Inlet to the Copper River . Knik Arm Knik Arm ( Dena'ina : Nuti ) is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska . It is one of two narrow branches of Cook Inlet , the other being Turnagain Arm . Knik Glacier empties into

72-505: A tributary, Caribou Creek, that flows past Matanuska Glacier and is rated Class II to IV (very difficult). Hazards along the main stem include swift, cold water; big standing waves and holes along some sections; overhanging or submerged vegetation on the lower reaches, and upriver winds. The indigenous Dena'ina Athabascan name for the river is Ch'atanhtnu , based on the root -tanh "trail extends out", meaning literally "trail comes out river". The English place name Matanuska derives from

90-440: The Knik Arm of Cook Inlet about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) southwest of Palmer and about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Anchorage. The Glenn Highway runs roughly parallel to the river for much of its length. Highway bridges over the river, listed from source to mouth, include Glacier Park Bridge, Chickaloon River Bridge, King River Bridge, Old Glenn Highway Bridge, and Glenn Highway Bridge. An Alaska Railroad bridge crosses

108-663: The Alaska Peninsula), and Central Yupik ( Dudna , 'down-river people', west and southwest). The name "Dena’ina" comes from two parts: dena meaning "person" and ina , the human plural marker in Dena’ina language means "the people", and is related to the autonym for the Southern Athabaskan Navajo people "Diné." The Denaʼina name for Cook Inlet is Tikahtnu meaning "Big Water River", "Ocean River" or Nuti meaning "Saltwater." The Denaʼina are

126-593: The Knik Arm. The Port of Anchorage is located on the arm. The Dena'ina name for Knik Arm is Nuti , meaning "salt water". The name "Knik" comes from igniq , the Iñupiaq word for "fire". It has been written Kinik, Kneep, Kneik, Kook, Knuyk, and Kweek. Knik Arm begins at the Inlet's northern edge, near Anchorage , before heading north and east. It is about 15 miles (24 km) long, and at its upper end, receives

144-753: The Susitna River, is drained by the Little Susitna. The upper part of Knik Arm merges into the delta of the Knik and Matanuska rivers, which unite just above tide limits. Knakatnuk and Nitak (or Nitakh) were historic native villages on the arm's shore. The 1964 Alaska earthquake destroyed or significantly damaged most of the Anchorage neighborhoods adjacent to the Arm, including the downtown area. The proposed Knik Arm Bridge would measure approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) from Point MacKenzie on

162-1128: The Upper and Outer Cook Inlet areas for the last 1,000 years, migrating from the Mulchatna and Stony River areas, where they had lived for thousands of years prior. Their traditional language, Denaʼina (Dena’ina Qenaga) , currently has about 70-75 fluent speakers out of a total population of about 1,400. Denaʼina is one of eleven Alaska Athabascan languages. There are four primary dialects of Denaʼina (grouped with regional bands, local groups and today's tribal names): Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CIRI) ("Upper Inlet" and "Outer Inlet / Kenai Denaʼina"-speaking bands) Alexander Creek, Incorporated ("Upper Inlet Denaʼina"-speaking bands) Calista Corporation ("Inland / Lake Clark Denaʼina"-speaking bands) Bristol Bay Native Association ("Inland / Lake Clark Denaʼina" and "Iliamna Denaʼina"-speaking bands) Pedro Bay Corporation ("Iliamna Denaʼina"-speaking bands) Kuskokwim Corporation ("Inland / Lake Clark Denaʼina"-speaking bands) The city of Anchorage chose to honor

180-660: The break-out of a natural reservoir on Granite Creek. The minimum recorded flow of 234 cubic feet per second (6.6 m/s) occurred on April 25, 1956. The river is a popular destination for whitewater enthusiasts who float mainly in rafts or kayaks. Accessible at several bridges and other points along the Glenn Highway, the Matanuska varies from Class II (medium) to III (difficult) on the International Scale of River Difficulty . Expert paddlers sometimes run

198-523: The glacial braided river has damaged roads, farms, houses, and houses for decades. The United States Geological Survey operates a stream gauge near Palmer. Mean monthly discharge at this gauge varies from 500 cubic feet per second (14 m/s) in March to 13,000 cubic feet per second (370 m/s) in July. The maximum recorded flow was 82,100 cubic feet per second (2,320 m/s) on August 10, 1971, after

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216-781: The only Alaskan Athabaskan group to live on the coast. The Denaʼina have a hunter-gatherer culture and a matrilineal system . The Iditarod Trail 's antecedents were the native trails of the Denaʼina and Deg Hitʼan Athabaskan Native Alaskans and the Inupiaq Inuit. Their neighbors are other Athabaskan peoples and Yupik peoples : Deg Hitʼan (northwest), Upper Kuskokwim (central north), Koyukon (northeast), Lower Tanana (a little part of northeast), Ahtna (east), Pacific Yupik ( Ułchena/Ultsehaga , 'slaves'; Chugach Sugpiaq, south-southeast from Kenai Peninsula to Prince William Sound, and Koniag Alutiiq, south on Kodiak Archipelago and

234-404: The only Northern Athabascan group to live near saltwater which allowed them to have the most sedentary lifestyle of all Northern Athabascans. The Denaʼina were organized in regional bands or Ht’ana ("people of [a place or area]"), which were composed of local bands. The regional bands had several villages or qayeh , each containing multi-family dwellings called Nichił . Each Nichił was led by

252-429: The original inhabitants of the south central Alaska region ranging from Seldovia in the south to Chickaloon in the northeast, Talkeetna in the north, Lime Village in the northwest and Pedro Bay in the southwest. The Denaʼina homeland ( Denaʼina Ełnena ) is more than 41,000 sq mi (110,000 km ) in area. They arrived in the south-central Alaska sometime between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago. They were

270-628: The river parallel to the Glenn Highway Bridge at Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge . Mantanuska Glacier State Recreation Site is along the highway where Glacier Creek enters the river; King Mountain State Recreation Site is near Chickaloon, and Kepler – Bradley Lakes State Recreation Area is near Palmer. In addition to the glacier, named and unnamed streams that drain the Talkeetna and Chugach ranges feed into

288-465: The river. These include Glacier, Hicks, Purinton, Caribou, and Coal creeks, and the Chickaloon and King rivers, and many others. The main stem is silty with glacial run-off from spring through fall but at lower flows beneath winter ice, it runs relatively clear. The Matanuska Valley is one of the most settled regions of Alaska and one of the few areas in the state to support agriculture. Erosion by

306-534: The waters of the Matanuska River . West of Knik Arm is the delta of the Susitna River , the largest stream emptying into the inlet. At the head of Knik Arm, at the mouth of Knik River , was the village (ghost town) of Knik . Knik Arm's other major tributaries are Ship Creek , Eagle River , Peter's Creek, Eklutna River and Fish Creek. The greater part of the plain, lying between the Knik Arm and

324-812: The west in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to Anchorage on the east. The Knik Arm ferry was a proposed year-round passenger and auto ferry across the arm which was to use the M/V Susitna SWATH / barge convertible expedition craft. 61°12′00″N 150°13′00″W  /  61.2000°N 150.2167°W  / 61.2000; -150.2167 Dena%CA%BCina The Denaʼina ( / d ɪ ˈ n aɪ n ə / dih- NY -nə ; Inland Denaʼina : [dənʌʔɪnʌ] ; Upper Inlet Denaʼina: [dənʌ͡ɪnʌ] ; Russian : денаʼина ), or formerly Tanaina ( Russian : танаина, кенайцы ), are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people. They are

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