Athapascan

British  

/ ˌæθəˈpæskən, ˌæθəˈbæskən /

noun

1. a group of North American Indian languages belonging to the Na-Dene phylum, including Apache and Navaho

2. a speaker of one of these languages

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Etymology

Origin of Athapascan

from Cree athapaskaaw scattered grass or reeds

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Athapascan

This Athapascan Indian points to her childhood in the small village of Rampart and her success in the state legislature as examples of her experience with Alaska's varied cultures.

From Time Magazine Archive

Savage and most of the smart money favored George Attla, a lame, one-eyed Athapascan Indian from Fairbanks, Alaska.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Athabaskan or Athapascan family of Indians may be found anywhere between Alaska and Manitoba, and some of the more unsettled or enterprising tribes have even wandered as far as the Mexican boundary.

From Adventures Among the Red Indians Romantic Incidents and Perils Amongst the Indians of North and South America by Hyrst, H. W. G.

Mr. Dorsey obtained a vocabulary in 1884 which he has compared with Athapascan, Kusan, Yakonan, and other languages spoken in the region without finding any marked resemblances.

From Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 1-142 by Powell, John Wesley

Her low position is illustrated by the peculiar funeral custom of the Takulli, an Athapascan tribe on the Upper Frazer River.

From The Red Man's Continent: a chronicle of aboriginal America by Huntington, Ellsworth