Kutchin

[ kooch-in ]

noun

, plural Kutch·ins, (especially collectively) Kutch·in

1. a member of a group of North American Indians who live in the region of the lower Mackenzie River in northwestern Canada and the Yukon and Porcupine rivers of northeastern Alaska.
2. the Athabascan language of the Kutchin.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Kutchin¹

First recorded in 1930–35; from Kutchin gwičin “people of, dwellers at (the place specified),” occurring as the final element in the names of local bands, and misunderstood as a designation for all Kutchin

Example Sentences

The Kutchin make pretty pipe-stems out of goose-quills wound about with porcupine-quills.

From Project Gutenberg

Crossing over to the country drained by the Yukon, we find the great Kutchin nation and to their north-east the Kenai.

From Project Gutenberg

The Vanta-Kutchin occupy 'the banks of the Porcupine, and the country to the north of it.'

From Project Gutenberg

The Kutcha Kutchin, 'people of the lowland,' are cleaner and better mannered.

From Project Gutenberg

Other North American examples are the Kutchin, who have always possessed the system of totems.

From Project Gutenberg