ATHAPASCANS

Athapascan, pronounced ath-uh-PAS-kun and sometimes spelled Athapaskan, Athabascan, or Athabaskan, refers to a family of Indian languages, one of the most widespread language families in western North America. The Athapascan language family is part of the Na-Dene language phylum, which includes language isolates of the HAIDA and TLINGIT.

As is the case with the term Algonquian, Athapascan is commonly used to refer to a particular tribe—in this case, a band of CHIPEWYAN—as well as a language family. Athapascan was a derogatory term, probably applied by Algonquians. And just as the term Algonquian is usually used to group together eastern ALGONQUIANS to the exclusion of western Algonquians, Athapascan is generally used in reference to northern Athapascans as separate from southern Athapascans.

The southern Athapascans broke off from the other Athapascans and migrated southward before Europeans came to North America. Migrations may have first occured as early as A. D. 850 or as late as 1400. They came to be known as APACHE and NAVAJO and played an important part in the history of the American Southwest.

Other Athapascans dispersed from the original group in the north and ended up in the midst of peoples speaking different languages. For example, the SARCEE lived as northern PLAINS INDIANS. The STUWIHAMUK settled among PLATEAU INDIANS. The HUPA, TOLOWA, and other Athapascan tribes migrated down the Pacific Coast and are grouped among CALIFORNIA INDIANS. The UMPQUA and other Athapascan tribes are classified as NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS.

The northern Athapascans—the Indians to whom the name is usually applied and who call themselves Tinneh or Dene, for “the people”—are classified as part of the Subarctic Culture Area (see SUBARCTIC INDIANS). Subarctic refers to the territory of the taiga, or the great northern forest of mainly spruce and fir trees, stretching all the way across North America. It lies to the south of the tundra of the Arctic Culture Area (see ARCTIC PEO PLES). The Athapascans lived in the western part of the subarctic.

The Subarctic Athapascans did not make up unified tribes. Rather, they lived and traveled for the most part in small bands of families or extended families, including in-laws. Yet by studying the various locations, languages, and lifeways of the various bands, scholars have been able to group the Athapascans into tribes. Because of limitations of space, most of the distinct Athapascan groups do not have separate entries in this book, although each deserves further in-depth study.

The northern Athapascans were nomadic hunter-gatherers who did not farm. For many of them, the caribou was a staple food and source of materials for clothing, dwellings, and babiche (leather thongs used as bindings). The quest for food in the cold northern environment was all-consuming. Many of the Athapascans lived in portable skin tents, smaller versions of the Plains tipis. Many domesticated dogs and depended on them for hunting and hauling. Many used snowshoes and toboggans in the winter. Many were important to French and British fur trading in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

But there were several cultural distinctions among the various tribes. The northern Athapascans can be further broken down into three general groups:

The Canadian Rocky Athapascans occupied ancestral territory in or near the northern part of the Rocky Mountains. They include the CARRIER (dakelh), at the headwaters of the Fraser River; Chilcotin, on the Chilcotin River; Nahane, on the Liard and Nahani Rivers; Sekani, on the Finlay, Parsnip, and upper Peace Rivers; Tahltan, on the upper Stikine River; Tsetsaut, on the Iskut and White Rivers; and Tutchone, on the Yukon River east of the Saint Elias Mountains.

The Lake Athapascans occupied ancestral territory near the Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes. They include the BEAVER (tsatTINE), on the Peace River; CHIPEWYAN, between the Great Slave Lake and Churchill River; DOGRIB, between the Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes; HARE (kawchotTINE), northwest of the Great Bear Lake along the lower Mackenzie River; SLAVEY (etCHAREOT-TINE), between the Mackenzie River and Great Slave Lake; and YELLOWKNIFE (tatSANOTTINE), between the Coppermine River and Great Slave Lake.

The Alaskan Athapascans occupied ancestral territory now in Alaska, plus neighboring parts of Canada. They include the AHTENA, on the Copper River; Eyak, at the mouth of Copper River; HAN, on the upper Yukon River; INGALIK, on the Anvik and Kuskokwim Rivers; KOLCHAN, on the upper Kuskokwim River; KOYUKON, on the Yukon River; kUTCHIN, from the Yukon River to the Mackenzie River; Nabesna on the Nabesna and Chisana Rivers; TANAINA, at Cook Inlet; and TANANA, on the Tanana River.

In this book, the culture and history of eight northern Athapascan tribes are discussed in detail: Ahtena, Beaver, Carrier, Chipewyan, Dogrib, Kutchin, Slavey, and Yellowknife.