Troth Yeddha'

'wild potato hill'

The land now occupied by the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus was called Troth Yeddha' by the Tanana Athabascans. Tanana Athabascan is the indigenous language of the Middle Tanana Valley, spoken from Salcha (Sol Chaget) to Chena Village (Ch'eno') to Nenana (Nina No') to Minto (Menhti).

The word troth refers to the plant known in English as "Indian potato," "wild potato," or "wild carrot" (Hedysarum alpinum). The word yeddha' means "its ridge" "its hill." Linguistically, it can be analyzed as the word yetth "ridge" plus the possessive suffix -a' (the change from tth to ddh in the possessed form is part of a regular phonological process). Thus the name Troth Yeddha' can be literally translated into English as "Indian Potato Ridge." The apostrophe at the end of the word yeddha' is a meaningful symbol which represents the glottal stop in the Tanana Athabascan language.

Other areas now on and around the UAF campus also have original Athabascan names. Some examples include:

Ch'eno' Chena River
Sresr Ddhela' Ester Dome (literally: 'black bear mountain')
Tr'exwghodegi Troth Yeddha' Bena' Smith Lake
(literally: 'upper Indian potato ridge lake')
Tr'exwghotthigi Troth Yeddha' Bena' Ballaine Lake
(literally: 'lower Indian potato ridge lake')

More Athabascan place names in the Fairbanks area can be found in Lower Tanana Listening and Writing Exercises by Jim Kari.

Describing the UAF campus, Chief Peter John of Minto said:

"Our people used to come to this hill to pick troth. They would paddle up the creek, Troth Yeddha' No' (Noyes Slough), and camp by the Lake Troth Yeddha' Mena' (Ballaine Lake). Troth Yeddha' was important, a meeting place. The grandfathers used to come to talk and give advice to one another about what they were going to do. When they learned this place would be used for a school, the university, they came here one last time, to decide what they should do. They decided that the school would be good and would carry on a very similar traditional use of this hill (a place where good thinking and working together would happen). They placed an eagle feather on a pole. This was to let all the people know that the Dena would no longer be using the ridge for a meeting place or to pick wild potatoes. They were also giving a blessing so their grandchildren would be part of the new school."

While Troth Yeddha' was probably not a permanent settlement, the archaelogical, linguistic, and oral history records indicate the importance of Troth Yeddha' to the Athabascan people. Troth can still be found growing wild on the UAF campus, and to this day people continue to come to Troth Yeddha' to harvest troth, the roots of which form an important traditional food. The usage of troth is described by Father Jules Jetté in the Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary:

"The [troth] is good only during the winter, when the natives gather it, digging for it under the snow. It is then round and full, juicy and tender. After the thaw it loses its qualities, becomes hard, woody, and tasteless. It is also used as a substitute for tea or coffee. For this purpose, the root is sliced transversely in segments 1 to 2 inches long; these are divided longitudinally, by separating the fibers, and these are cut again across in small portions, which are afterwards dried and roasted in a frying pan. They are used as tea, in an infusion, and sometimes as a decoction. The beverage thus prepared is said to taste like chocolate."

compiled by Gary Holton [at] uaf.edu

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