Athabascan

American  

[ath-uh-bas-kuhn] / ˌæθ əˈbæs kən /

(Older Spelling) Athabaskan;

noun

plural

Athabascans,

plural

Athabascan

1. a family of languages spoken by North American Indians in most of Alaska and inland northwest Canada, in coastal Oregon and California, and in Arizona and the Rio Grande basin, and including especially Navajo, Apache, and Chipewyan.

2. a member of any of various North American Indian peoples speaking Athabascan.

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adjective

1. belonging to or characteristic of the Athabascan.

Etymology

Origin of Athabascan

First recorded in 1770–80; earlier Athapasca(s), introduced as a term for the Canadian Athabascans (from Woods Cree ahδapaska·w “Lake Athabasca,” literally, “there are reeds here and there,” from Proto-Algonquian aʔlap(y)- “net, reticulated” + -ašk- “plant” + derivational elements) + -an

Example Sentences

The weeklong Koyukon Athabascan burial ceremony in September was traditional in all ways but one: McCormick died in 1931.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2024

The stamps feature skateboard artists from around the country, including Greenwood and Crystal Worl, who is Tlingit Athabascan.

From Washington Times • Mar. 24, 2023

In a region the size of Oregon, the population is just 26,000 — the majority of them Yup’ik, Cup’ik or Athabascan.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2022

Heather Kendall, who is Athabascan and a retired lawyer with the Native American Rights Fund, called Ms. Peltola’s victory “a combination of an earthquake and a tsunami for Alaskan politics all at once.”

From New York Times • Sep. 1, 2022

If any one thinks it easy to find and photograph birds' nests in the heart of the ancient wood on Athabascan banks in mosquito time he has "another guess coming."

From The New North by Cameron, Agnes Deans