The Ahtna (also Ahtena, Atna, Ahtna-kohtaene, or Copper River) are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group.

[1] Their neighbors are other Na-Dené-speaking and Yupik peoples: Dena'ina (west), Koyukon (a little part of northwest), Lower Tanana (north), Tanacross (north), Upper Tanana (northeast), Southern Tutchone (southeast, in Canada), Tlingit (southeast), Eyak (south), and Chugach Sugpiaq (south).

About 2,000 years ago the Ahtna people moved into the area of the Wrangell Mountains and the Chitina Valley.

A US military expedition led by Henry Tureman Allen in 1885 explored the Copper River and surrounding area.

714,240 acres were allocated, consisting of eight villages:[8] In the summertime the Ahtna used temporary rectangular dwellings made of spruce and cottonwood.

The tumpline was made of animal skin or cloth and was slung across the forehead or chest to support a heavy load on the back.

[3] Traditionally the Ahtna hunted many different types of animals such as the moose, caribou, mountain sheep, and rabbits.

A central figure in their mythology, the Ahtna might prop up killed wolves and feed ceremonial meals to them.

Trade meetings would take place three times a year at Nuchek on the Prince William Sound.