Alaska Athabascan Stellar Astronomy

207 Pages·2014·2.96 MB·English

ALASKA ATHABASCAN STELLAR ASTRONOMY

A
THESIS

Presented to the Faculty
of the University of Alaska Fairbanks

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

By

Christopher M. Cannon, B.S.

Fairbanks, Alaska

December 2014

© 2014 Christopher M. Cannon
Abstract
Stellar astronomy is a fundamental component of Alaska Athabascan cultures that
facilitates time-reckoning, navigation, weather forecasting, and cosmology. Evidence from the
linguistic record suggests that a group of stars corresponding to the Big Dipper is the only widely
attested constellation across the Northern Athabascan languages. However, instruction from
expert Athabascan consultants shows that the correlation of these names with the Big Dipper is
only partial. In Alaska Gwich’in, Ahtna, and Upper Tanana languages the Big Dipper is
identified as one part of a much larger circumpolar humanoid constellation that spans more than
133 degrees across the sky. The Big Dipper is identified as a tail, while the other remaining
asterisms within the humanoid constellation are named using other body part terms.
The concept of a whole-sky humanoid constellation provides a single unifying system for
mapping the night sky, and the reliance on body-part metaphors renders the system highly
mnemonic. By recognizing one part of the constellation the stargazer is immediately able to
identify the remaining parts based on an existing mental map of the human body. The
circumpolar position of a whole-sky constellation yields a highly functional system that
facilitates both navigation and time-reckoning in the subarctic.
Northern Athabascan astronomy is not only much richer than previously described; it also
provides evidence for a completely novel and previously undocumented way of conceptualizing
the sky—one that is unique to the subarctic and uniquely adapted to northern cultures. The
concept of a large humanoid constellation may be widespread across the entire subarctic and
have great antiquity. In addition, the use of cognate body part terms describing asterisms within
humanoid constellations is similarly found in Navajo, suggesting a common ancestor from which
Northern and Southern Athabascan stellar naming strategies derived.
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Table of Contents
Page
Signature Page …………………………………………………………………………………….i
Title Page ………………………………………………………………………………………...iii
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………...v
Table of Contents ………………………..………………………………………………………vii
List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………..……………..xi
List of Tables ………………………………………………………………..……….…………xiii
List of Appendices ……………………………………….……………………………………...xv
Acknowledgments …………………………………...…………………..…….………………xvii
Chapter 1: Introductory Materials ………………………………………………….…….……….1
1.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………..1
1.2 Literature Review ………………………………………………………………….....3
1.2.1 Southern Athabascan Sources …………………………...………………….3
1.2.2 Alaska Athabascan Sources ………………………………………………...5
1.2.3 Canadian Athabascan Sources ……………………………………………...8
1.2.4 Alaska Athabascan Dictionaries ………………………………………........9
1.2.5 Unpublished Materials …………………………………………………….10
1.3 Methodology ……………………………………………………………………..… 13
1.4 The Athabascan Language Family …………………………………………………..16
Chapter 2: The Athabascan Starscape – Whole-Sky Constellations ………………………........23
2.1 Gwich’in Yahdii …………………………………………………………………......24

2.2 Upper Tanana Yihdaa and Neek’e’eltiin ……………………...……………………..31
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Page
2.3 Ahtna Nek’e Neghaltaexi and Nek’eltaeni ……………….………..……………..….38
2.4 Dena’ina Naq’eltani and Yuq’eltaeni …………………….………….…………........44
2.5 Koyukon Naagheltaale ………………………………………………………..…….47
2.6 Tanacross Neek’e’elteen ………………………………………………………….....51
2.7 Fragmentary Evidence from the Other Alaska Athabascan Languages …………….51
2.8 Chapter Two Conclusion ………………………………………………………........53
Chapter 3: Linguistic Evidence for a Pan-Athabascan Strategy for Mapping the Sky ………….57
3.1 Two Widely Attested Athabascan Forms for the Big Dipper ……………………….57
3.1.1 Category A: Yahdii and Cognates Thereof …….………………………….60
3.1.2 Category B: Big Dipper Terms that Share Common Verb Stems and Prefix
Morphemes ……………………………………………………………………...64

3.1.3 Category C: Other Big Dipper Terms ……………………………………..70
3.3 Body Part Asterisms …………………………………………………………….......71
3.4 Chapter Three Conclusion ……………………………………………………….….78
Chapter 4: The Function and Utility of Alaska Athabascan Stellar Astronomy …………….......81
4.1 Stellar Time-Reckoning ……………………………………………………………..81
4.1.1 A Tripartite Stellar Time-Reckoning System ……………………………..83
4.1.2 The Big Dipper and Whole-Sky Constellations in Time-Reckoning ……..84
4.1.3 The Morning Stars in Time-Reckoning …………………………………...92
4.1.4 The Sun in Time-Reckoning ……………………………………………..103
4.2 Stellar Orientation ………………………………………………………………….108
4.2.1 Stellar Orientation: A Basic Strategy …………………………………….114
4.2.3 Stellar Orientation: A Complex Strategy ………………………..……….116
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Page
4.3 Weather Signs Interpreted from the Stars ………………………………………….121
4.4 Stars in Cosmology and Religion ………………………………………………….128
4.4.1 The Creation or Placement of the Stars ………………………………….129
4.4.2 Taboos, Protocols, and Other Stellar Beliefs …………………………….133
4.4.3 Humanoid Constellations in Athabascan Belief Systems ………………..136
4.5 Chapter Four Conclusion …………………………………………………………..141
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….………….143
References …………………………………………………………………………………..….151
Appendices ………………………………………….……………………….………...……….165

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List of Figures
Page
Figure 1.1. Map of “Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska” ….....…………………..…18
Figure 1.2. Na-Dene evolutionary tree ………………………………………...………………..20
Figure 2.1. Whole-sky view of the Gwich’in humanoid constellation yahdii …………………..29
Figure 2.2. Whole-sky view of the Upper Tanana (Northway) constellation neek’e’eltiin ……..34
Figure 2.3. Whole-sky view of the Upper Tanana (Tetlin) constellation yihdaa ……………….36
Figure 2.4. Whole-sky view of the Ahtna constellation nek’eltaeni/nek’e nekeghaltaexi ………41

Figure 2.5. Whole-sky view of the Koyukon constellation naagheltaale ………………………49

Figure 3.1. Distribution of Athabascan Ursa Major/Big Dipper terminology …………………..59

Figure 3.2. Distribution of Athabascan body part asterisms/constellations ……………………..73

Figure 4.1. The Ahtna temporal period yikaas ts’e’ cila’ ilts’iitl’ ………………………………87

Figure 4.2. The Gwich’in constellation of three morning stars …………………………………97

Figure 4.3. A trail sign for time based on the sun’s position ………….………………………107
Figure 4.4. Aerial and ground views of the Yukon Flats ……..………………………………..112
Figure 4.5. The Upper Tanana (Tetlin) stellar group san’ di’ehtsąą’ ………………………….119
Figure 4.6. A bright star known generally as the moon’s dog …………………………………125
Figure 4.7. Upper Tanana kinship terminology applied to stars ………………...……………..131

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