Dghelisha | Mount Susitna

Traditional Name: Dghelishla (Dena’ina)

USGS listed name: Mount Susitna

Colloquial Name: The Sleeping Lady

This familiar view to many in southcentral Alaska is commonly known as “The Sleeping Lady” or Mount Susitna. Susitna is the anglicized version of Suyitnu, meaning “Sand River” in Dena’ina, a reference to the nearby Susitna River. The Dena’ina name for the mountain is Dghelishla meaning "Little Mountain," in contrast to Dghelay Ka’a “Big Mountain” – also known as Denali. There are numerous Dena'ina traditions associated with the Dghelishla area. Dena’ina Athabaskan elder Shem Pete (1900 – 1989) describes Ch'chihi Ken (“Ridge Where We Cry"), the sloping ridge south of Mt. Susitna, the so-called sleeping lady’s “hair” as:

"That big ridge going downriver from Dghelishla all the way to Beluga, they call Ch'chihi Ken. They would sit there. Everything is in view. They can see their whole country. Everything is just right under them. They think about their brothers and their fathers and mothers. They remember that, and they just sit down there and cry. That's the place we cry all the time, 'cause everything just show up plain. That's why they call it Ch'chihi Ken."

Source | See (and hear!) more Dena’ina place names here.