[3] 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 the Alaska Peninsula), and Central Yupik (Dudna, 'down-river people', west and southwest).

The regional bands had several villages or qayeh, each containing multi-family dwellings called Nichił.

Each Nichił was led by a qeshqa ("rich man" or "leader") who Russian and American traders and religious referred to as "Chiefs."

[5] Archaeological work suggests that the Dena'ina have occupied 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.

[6] Their traditional language, Denaʼina (Dena’ina Qenaga), currently has about 70-75 fluent speakers out of a total population of about 1,400.