The Dena'ina Athabascan people are the indigenous people of Tikatinu (Cook Inlet) and southwestern Alaska. There are four distinct dialects of Dena'ina: Upper Tikahtnu, Outer Tikahtnu, Lakes region, and Interior (middle Kuskokwim; near the Stony River). The lands and waters of Upper Tikahtnu: Anchorage, Eklutna, Knik, Wasilla, Palmer, Girdwood, and Chickaloon fall within Dena’ina Etnena (Qena'ne Country). Specifically, it is home to the Kenaht’ana, the indigenous people of Nuti (Knik Arm), who today are members of Eklutna (Idlughet) and Knik (K'enakatnu) Tribes. Following the recession of the glaciers in Tikahtnu, a large valley was created and fed by many rivers. The Matanuska and Knik Rivers today come together at their confluence with Knik Arm; however, it is probable that at one time they joined as one river, discharging into Tikahtnu at the strait between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie. Subsequent earthquakes, landslides, flooding, and erosion have widened the channel between the two points, creating Knik Arm.

Before contact, the Dena'ina people, like all peoples in Alaska, were self-sufficient, living in communal hunter-gatherer villages. The Dena'ina cultures in Alaska were especially thriving and expanding with every generation up until first contact with Western culture. That happened when the British, in 1778, Captain James Cook's Expedition reached the shores of Tikahtnu, which now bears his name: Cook Inlet. Shortly thereafter, Russian trading companies established the first posts on the Kenai Peninsula, Kasilof (Fort St. George) in 1787, and Kenai (Fort St. Nicholas) in 1791.

The Dena'ina trappers, traders, and guides were invaluable during the Russian fur trade. Most trade funneled through Dena'ina traders, enabling most Dena'ina communities to remain largely independent from direct Russian control and influence for a short time at least. The most influential aspect of Western culture has become an enduring part of many Dena'ina lifestyles today. The Russian traders also brought many new items to Alaska and Tikahtnu, such as sugar, tea, salt, flour, foods, and alcohol. The traders also brought technology, such as guns, medicines, metal tools, and writing. Worst of all, these invaders brought diseases; one example of this was a smallpox epidemic from 1895 to 1845, in which at least half the Dena'ina population perished. Another consequence of population loss and the influx of Western medicine created a willingness to convert to Christianity, following the establishment in 1845 of the Russian Orthodox Church in Kenai. Over the next several decades, priests traveled to visiting Dena'ina villages. And gradually most Dena'ina became followers of Orthodox Christianity, blending traditional Dena'ina spirituality and Russian Orthodox traditions. In the 1880s, the Russian missionaries completed a census and reported a total of 142 Dena'ina Athabascans in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley (Peter, Louise, Early days in Wasilla), after only 100 years of contact with Western culture.

The Russians tried many different business ventures including coal, copper and other mineral exploration, but none was as successful as the fur trade. After hunting sea-otters and fur seals to almost extinction, the Russians, thinking there was no other economic benefits in Alaska sold their trading interests to the United States in 1867, before the English usurped the Russian claim in Alaska.

The discovery of gold in Alaska brought a new breed of Euro-Americans and along with these new Americans, came new technologies and new diseases. The Dena'ina population was greatly reduced during this time, due to the influx of new diseases. During the gold rush era, the Dena'ina had been involved with Western culture for at least 100 years. They were familiar with trading with foreigners and Western culture and technology. The Dena'ina culture adapted but still maintained traditional hunting and fishing methods, while using current technology. The Dena'ina at this time continued to trap and trade, but some held jobs, became guides, or entrepreneurs.

In 1915, the federal government started to build a railroad that cut straight through the Dena'ina territory into the interior of Alaska. Anchorage was selected as the headquarters. Many Dena'ina helped build the railroad, especially during the time between World War I and World War II. In 1918, a large influx of railroad workers brought with them a fatal influenza epidemic. This epidemic hit Southcentral Alaska especially hard, and as a result, almost fifty percent (50%) of the Dena'ina people perished in a short period of time; the second viral epidemic to devastate the Dena'ina.

The Dena'ina that survived slowly became engulfed and expropriated by an ever-increasing number of settlers. Following the “founding” of Anchorage in 1975, and with the two military installations built during World War II, public and private development, the dwindling Dena'ina became enveloped in modern Western culture.

During and following the war years, the Dena'ina lost most of their traditional hunting and fishing areas and were denied their subsistence hunting and fishing rights by the State of Alaska. Traditional use areas were turned into homesteads, agricultural areas; or were cut by railroads and highways. The Dena'ina Tikahtnu territory became predominantly non-native. The Dena'ina lost important subsistence gathering places, but they still practiced their traditional and cultural customs of harvesting land and gathering resources. With Alaska becoming a state in 1959, the Dena'ina had to conform and abide by state laws and regulations. Some, not having subsistence fishing rights, became commercial fishermen for their needs. The Tikahtnu Dena'ina soon felt like strangers in their own territory. They had lost all of their traditional use areas to explosive development radiating from the newly established town of Anchorage.

Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA), two Upper Tikahtnu Dena'ina tribes were recognized; Knik Tribal Council (KTC) was formally recognized as a tribe in 1989, and in 1982 the Native Village of Eklutna (NVE) became formally recognized. With the passing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, the State of Alaska conveyed lands to the Dena’ina who were forced to form a regional native corporation: Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated (CIRI), and two village corporations; Knikatnu, Inc. and Eklutna, Inc.. The Dena'ina lost approximately 98% of their traditional use areas, but they received close to 22,000 acres based on economic value and not necessarily on traditional use areas. Although the Dena'ina are land owners, they must now comply with state and federal hunting and fishing regulations. The tribal governments must now apply for educational and ceremonial harvesting permits to hunt and fish. Since time immemorial, the Dena'ina have lived in harmony within these traditional territories, now as federally recognized tribes, tribal members have no sovereignty to practice traditional lifestyles. 

ANCSA created a corporate structure that was formed to manage tribal allocated land to be used by all indigenous people in Alaska. The Dena'ina of Upper Tikahtnu have some governmental authority as federally recognized tribes, but no land or population base to assert that authority. As of 2010, there were approximately 90 Dena'ina descendants enrolled in Knik Tribal Council, and a little over 300 enrolled in the Native Village of Eklutna.

The Knik Tribal Council (KTC) is a federally recognized tribal government founded by 28 original members who voted to establish the council and its mission of service. Comprising of over 1,500 tribal citizens, Knik Tribe (KT) has grown into a thriving organization, employing over 100 individuals and providing millions of dollars in essential services to its tribal members and all other Native Americans and Alaska Natives within its service area. The tribal government includes the following departments: Housing/Community Services Department, Tribal Development Department, Finance Department, Information Technology Department, and Administration Department. Knik Tribe serves the six thousand Alaska Natives or Native Americans living within the Knik service area.