WHERE WE ARE

“What I like about Mentasta is the view of that mountain right there!”

 ABOUT MENTASTA

The northernmost Ahtna community on the Tok Cutoff Highway is Mentasta Lake, home to the “headwaters people,” who have been stewards of the Upper Copper River lands for centuries. Located 40 miles south of Tok, Mentasta Lake is connected to the Tok Cutoff from the Richardson Highway by a 6-mile spur road.

The Slana River that drains into the Copper River and its tributaries are at the heart of the community’s homeland. These rivers are spawning grounds for salmon and whitefish and the mountains and lowland forest are habitat for Dall sheep, moose, and migratory caribou. Nearby spruce and birch forests are a source of berries, bark, wood, roots, and many plants essential to a traditional Native way of life. 

The village’s best-known resident is the late Katie John, whose advocacy for Alaska Native rights, including customary and traditional (subsistence) fishing and hunting rights, still impacts Alaska today. Mentasta Lake Katie John School, a K-12 campus serving community students, is named in her honor.