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Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Athapascan or Athapaskan) is the name of a large group of distantly related Native American peoples, also known as the Athabasca Indians or Athapaskes, and of their language family.
Eyak and Athabaskan form a language group called Eyak-Athabascan. Tlingit is said to be related to this group to form the language family called Na-Dené by linguists. Haida was once thought to have been a member of the Na-Dené language family, but most linguists dispute this today.
The word itself does not come from any Athabaskan language; it is an anglicized version of the Cree Indian name for Lake Athabasca in Canada. Athabaskan languages are spoken throughout the interior of Alaska and the interior of northwestern Canada. There are Athabaskan people in northern California and southern Oregon. The Navajo and the various Apache people of the southwest also speak Athabaskan languages.
Language groups
Below is a list of all of the Athabaskan languages and their geographic locations. The Apachean or Southern Athabaskan languages are spoken in the American Southwest, Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico.
- Tahltan, Kaska, Tagish, Beaver, Sekani, Carrier, Chilcotin, Babine, Wet'suwet'en, Gwich'in (Kutchin), Hän, Chipewyan, Yellowknife, Sarsi (Sarcee), Dogrib, Hare, Mountain, Bearlake, Slavey, Northern Tutchone, Southern Tutchone, Tsetsaut,
- Deg Xinag (Deg Hit'an, Ingalik), Gwich'in (Kutchin), Han, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Dena'ina (Tanaina), Ahtna (Ahtena), Upper Kuskokwim (Kolchan), Upper Tanana, Lower Tanana, Tanacross
- Hupa, Tsnungwe, Chilula, Whilkut, Mattole, Bear River, Kato, Lassik, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Wailaki
- Upper Umpqua, Coquille (Upper Coquille), Kwatami, Chasta Costa, Galice, Applegate, Upper Illinois, Chetco, Tolowa, Tututni, Kwalhioqua, Clatskanie (Tlatskanie)
- Plains Apache (Naisha), Navajo, Jicarilla Apache, Lipan, Mescalero, Chiricahua, Western Apache
See also
External links
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