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Athabascan

Athabascan

9.9
A person from native groups in Alaska or western Canada who speaks a native language
  • noun
  • /ˌæθəˈbæskən/
translation icon : atabascan
  • Brace and Tracer (1993) have proposed that, instead of a single migration before that of the Athabascan-speaking peoples, there were at least two populations present in the Americas prior to the Athabascans.
  • Athabascan Indian
  • Athabascan Indians
  • Athabascan people

Examples

  • The Athabascan Way of Death

    Fiction book (2002)
  • In my years in the Tanana Valley, I learned to respect very much the burial customs of the Athabascan people.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I think you mean to say "Athabascan."

  • Clothes made by the Athabascan people were often, through the use of beads and fur, works of art.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • At that time, only anthropologists called them Athabascan Indians.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Both are populated by Athabascan Indians who belong to the Royukon-speaking linguistic group.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Along the river are many small Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabascan Indian villages.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • These Athabascan people kept their nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle for the next 100 years, living in wikiups.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Three of the five students (Paul, Oscar, and Ellie) lived in native Alaskan villages (e.g., Athabascan, Yupik, and Tlingit).

    Academic text (2006)
  • Many Athabascan people have preserved their traditional lifestyles despite modern influences.

Synonyms

Amerindian
vsAthabascan
1 7.3

A person whose family comes from the native peoples of North or South America

is narrower, referring only to those in western Canada and Alaska
Athabaskan
vsAthabascan
9.9

A Native American person who speaks a related western North American language, often living in Alaska or Canada

is the main listed form in the source rather than that variant
Athapascan
vsAthabascan
9.9

A person from Indigenous groups in Alaska or western Canada who speaks related native languages

is the general form without that extra emphasis
Athapaskan
vsAthabascan
9.9

A person from native groups in western Canada or central Alaska who speak similar languages

is focused on their subarctic traditional range rather than just location

Surface Forms

Athabascan singular
Athabascans plural

Morphology

Athabascan = Athabasca (transparent) = Athabasca + an

Formed by adding the demonym/language-forming suffix '-an' to the place name 'Athabasca', so the derivation is straightforward if the base is known.

Etymology

Athabascan for the people comes from the place name Athabasca, a river and lake in Canada. That place name comes from a local native word meaning 'where there are reeds', so the name links the people to the river region where they live.