ATHABASCAN, a linguistic family of North American Indians, one of the most widely spread on the continent, and also known as Dene or Tinneh. The Athabascan languages are sharply characterized and seem fairly conservative ; at any rate they differ relatively little from one another, even where widely separated and therefore presumably long divergent. The culture of the Athabascan groups, however, conforms rather closely to that of the non-Athabascan tribes of the same areas; and to some extent the same is true of physique, although the majority of di visions belong to a broad-headed, tall type widely spread in north western North America and sometimes called the Athabascan type. The Athabascan peoples fall into three geographical di visions—the northern, south-western and Pacific coast.
The northern division occupied the Yukon and Mackenzie drainages and the head of the basin of the Frazer; in other words, the whole interior of Canada and Alaska north-west of Churchill river. In this vast stretch fronting on Hudson bay and the Arctic and Pacific, the Athabascans were resident on salt water at only one point—Cook inlet in Alaska. The culture was relatively uniform over the area, being wholly without agriculture and primarily dependent on either caribou or moose and deer hunting. Huts and vessels were prevailingly of skins or bark, clothing of dressed skins or fur cut and pieced to fit the body, society mainly non-exogamic, ritual of the simplest, life carried on in small bands without political coherence. The principal tribal groups in this division were : Khotana on the lower Yukon and Cook inlet ; Kutchin, including the Loucheux, on the middle Yukon and east toward the lower Mackenzie; Ahtena, on Copper river; the Yellowknife, Dogrib, Slavey, Chipewyan, Hare and Beaver in Mackenzie drainage and eastward; to the south, in the plains, the Sarsi, neighbours of the Blackfeet and culturally assimilated to them ; Nahane, including Tahltan, upper Yukon ; Sekani, upper Frazer and Peace rivers; thence south in British Columbia to latitude 50, the Babine, Carrier or Takulli and Chilcotin. In southern British Columbia, Washington and Oregon were three small Athabascan tribes or bands, now extinct, leading on the map like stepping stones to the Pacific division. The total popula tion of this area covering a sixth of the continent perhaps did not exceed 30,000.
The Pacific coast division extended not quite continuously from Umpqua river in Oregon to the head of the Eel in Califor nia, with sea frontage of about half the total stretch of 3oom. occupied. The Oregon groups are not well known, but included the Umpqua, Coquille, Chastacosta, Tututni, Chetco ; the Cali fornia ones were, from north to south, the Tolowa, Chilula, Hupa, Whilkut, Nongatl, Mattole, Lassik, Sinkyone, Wailaki, Kato. These were groups each speaking a fairly uniform dialect, not politically organized tribes. The population has been estimated at 7,00o for the California groups, was probably about the same in Oregon, and did not exceed 20,000 for the division.
The South-western division comprised the Navaho and Apache (including Lipan) in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas. Chihuahua, and Coahuila. These tribes are separately described. They now number about 30,00o souls, largely due to an apparent increase of the Navaho in the last two generations as they have been at peace and pastoral. A few hundred Athabascans attached to the Kiowa of the plains and known as Kiowa Apache are said to be of northern origin, but may have been an Apache band in origin.
No Athabascan tribe is known to have attained a degree of cultural advancement equal to that of the most advanced tribes of its area, with the possible exception of the Hupa in north-west California. Nowhere have Athabascans achieved notable national or political solidarity. They are, however, in general, hardy, and some of the south-western bands were long the terrors of their white and Indian neighbours.
Sapir has united the Athabascan languages with Tlingit and Haida into a larger Na-Dene family, which is contested by others; and according to report, not yet substantiated by evidence, he connects the Na-Dene group genetically with the Sino-Tibetan languages.
See Samuel Hearne, Journey (1795) ; E. Petitot, several works (1876-93) ; A. G. Morice, Trans. Can. Inst. 0889 seq., and elsewhere) ; P. E. Goddard, Univ. Calif. Pub. Am. Arch. Ethn. (19o4 seq.), Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthr. Pap., vols. viii., x. (1911-17) ; W. Matthews, Bur. Am. Ethn. Rep., ii., iii., v. (1883-87), Navaho Legends (1897), Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Mem. (1902) ; Franciscan Fathers of St. Michaels, Ariz., An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language (Iwo). (A. L. K.)