Kennan Ward (DENA 5197)

Nenana River

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PEOPLE and THE LAND

Learn more about the language and culture of the people who gave Denali its name and shaped its landscape.

"The Nenana Project: Providing young people with the tools to learn language and songs" offers audio recordings of 10 songs and dozens of photographs of the people of the Lower Tanana River area.

The site was created as a virtual communication tool to strengthen the community.

NPS Photo / NEIL BLAKE

Phyllis Hassinger, Kent Miller, and Superintendent Paul Anderson

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VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTIONS RECOGNIZED

Superintendent Paul Anderson has presented the Harry Hassinger Award for the top volunteer in the entire Alaska region to Kent Miller. Phyllis Hassinger, whose husband is named in the award, traveled 86 miles to the presentation from her 20th season as a volunteer campground host at Wonder Lake.

Miller is an accomplished professional photographer and photojournalism professor at Central Michigan University. During June and August 2008, he traveled to Alaska and donated 19 days of his time to the park. Working 15-hour days on a routine basis, Miller shot more than 14,000 images all told. After further editing and processing, he gave park officials more than 1,400 photographs to use and distribute without restriction. Miller's gift has brought new life to the collection of images that the park uses in web pages and online products, brochures, bulletin boards and ranger programs. Clearly, the impact of his time in the park will be felt for many years to come.

Miller and his university are also entering into a new partnership to send talented SCA media interns to work in Alaska each summer. The first, Neil Blake, completed media projects for several park divisions, from a new online video about the park kennels, to documentation of mine reclamation efforts, to subsistence activities at a remote fish camp.

CLICK HERE to visit Denali: New Expeditions