Proceedings: Northern Athapaskan Conference, 1971: Volume 1 of 2 (Athapascan, Athabaskan, Athabascan, Dene)

361 Pages·1975·127.421 MB·English

by  Annette McFadyen Clark

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MUSEES NATIONAUX DU CANADA
NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION
Mr. George Ignatieff Chairman
M. André Bachand Vice-Président
Dr. W.E. Beckel Member
M. Jean des Gagniers Membre
Mr. William Dodge Member
M. André Fortier Membre
Mr. R.H. Kroft Member
Mme Marie-Paule LaBrèque Membre
Mr. J.R. Longstaffe Member
Dr. B. Margaret Meagher Member
Dr. William Schneider Member
M. Léon Simard Membre
Mme Marie Tellier Membre
Dr. Sally Weaver Member
SECRETARY GENERAL SECRETAIRE GENERAL
Mr. Bernard Ostry
DIRECTOR DIRECTEUR
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MAN MUSEE NATIONAL DE L'HOMME
Dr. William E. Taylor, J r.
CHIEF CHEF
CANADIAN ETHNOLOGY SERVICE SERVICE CANADIEN D'ETHNOLOGIE
Dr. Barrie Reynolds
Crown Copyright Reserved © Droits réservés au nom de la Couronne
NATIONAL MUSEUM MUSÉE NATIONAL
OF MAN DE L'HOMME
MERCURY SERIES COLLECTION MERCURE
ISSN 0316-1854
CANADIAN ETHNOLOGY SERVICE LE SERVICE CANADIEN D'ETHNOLOGIE
PAPER NO. 27 DOSSIER NO. 27
ISSN 0316-1862
PROCEEDINGS:
NORTHERN ATHAPASKAN CONFERENCE,1971
VOLUME ONE
EDITED BY
A. McFADYEN CLARK
Cover Illustration: Contact traditional Kutchin camp based
on a drawing from: "Journal du Yukon
1847-48" by Alexander Hunter Murray,
Ottawa 1910, p. 86.
NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA MUSÉES NATIONAUX OU CANADA
OTTAWA 1975
OBJECT OF THE MERCURY SERIES
The Mercury Series is a publication of the National
Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, designed to
permit the rapid dissemination of information pertaining
to those disciplines f or which the National Museum of Man
is responsible .
In the interests of making information available
quickly, norma l production procedures have been abbre­
viated. As a result, editorial errors may occur. Should
that b e the case, your indulgence is requested, bearing
in min d the object of the Series.
BUT DE LA COLLECTION MERCURE
La collectio n Mercure, publiée par le Musée national
de l'Homme, Musées nationaux du Canada, a pour but de
diffuser rapidement le résultat de travaux qui ont
rapport aux disciplines pour lesquelles le Musée national
de l'Homme est responsable.
Pour assurer la prompte distribution des exemplaires
imprimés, on a abrégé l es étapes de l'édition. En con­
séquence, certaines erreurs de rédaction peuvent subsister
dans l es exemplaires imprimés. Si cela se présentait dans
les pages qui suivent, l es éditeurs réclament votre
indulgence étant donné l es objectifs de la collection.
i
ABSTRACT
The seventeen papers on Northern Athapaskan research in ethnology,
linguistics, and archaeology published in these two volumes were
presented at the National Museum of Man Northern Athapaskan Conference
in March 1971. The papers are prefaced by a short introduction which
outlines the rationale and accomplishments of the Conference.
RESUME
Les dix-sept communications réunies dans ces deux volumes furent
présentées à la conférence sur les Athapascans du Nord organisée par
le Musée National de l'Homme en mars 1971. Ces textes portent sur
l'ethnologie, l a linguistique et l'archéologie des Athapascans du Nord.
Une brève introduction précède les articles et souligne les buts et les
réalisations de la conférence.
ii
ESKIMO
ESKIMO
NORTHWEST
COAST
Frontispiece. Distribution of Northern Athapaskans.
i ii
TABLES OF CONTENTS
Volume 1
Introduction (English)
1
A. McFadyen Clark
Introduction (Français) 6
Athapaskan?
Cornelius Osgood 16
Matrilineal Kin Groups in Northwestern North America
Frederica de Laguna 17
Upper Koyukuk River Koyukon Athapaskan Social Culture: An Overview
A. McFadyen Clark 146
Feuding and Warfare Among Northwestern Athapaskans
Catharine McClellan 181
Without Fire: A Kutchin Tale of Warfare, Survival, and Vengeance
Richard Slobodin 259
The Contact History of the Subarctic Athapaskans: An Overview
June Helm, Terry Alliband, Terry Birk, Virginia Lawson, Suzanne
Reisner, Craig Sturtevant, Stanley Witkowski 302
Volume 2
Territorial Expansion of the Chipewyan in the 18th Century
Beryl C. Gillespie 350
The Ecological Basis of Chipewyan Socio-Territorial Organization
J.G.E. Smith 389
The Dog and The Hare: Canine Culture in an Athapaskan Band
Joel S. Savishinsky 462
An Ethnographical Map of Great Bear Lake
Cornelius Osgood 516
Psychological Traits in Northern Athapaskan Culture
John J. Honigmann 545
iv
Some Isoglosses in Mackenzie-Drainage Athapaskan: First Steps Toward
a Subgrouping
Robert Howren 577
Some Notes on Plateau Athapaskans
Clark Davis 619
The Place of Ipiutak-Related Assemblages From Interior Alaska in Western
Athapaskan and Western Eskimo Prehistory
Donald W. Clark 630
Kutchin Prehistory, as Seen From the Middle Porcupine Drainage, Northern
Yukon Territory
Richard E. Morían 669
Applications of the Direct Historic Approach in Central District of
Mackenzie, N.W.T.
William C. Noble 759
Northern Athapaskan Research: Some Comments
Richard Slobodin 786
v
PROCEEDINGS: NORTHERN ATHAPASKAN CONFERENCE, 1971
National Museum of Man
INTRODUCTION
The first Northern Athapaskan Conference, sponsored by the National
Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, in Ottawa, March 18-20, 1971, was
the fifth major Ethnology Division Conference. The first was concerned with
ethnology in museums, the second with Algonkian linguistics, the third with
band societies, and the fourth with cultural ecology.
This, the fifth in the series, provided an opportunity for seventeen
scholars to meet, discuss current research and make future plans for investi­
gation among the Northern Athapaskan tribes of Alaska and Canada. Specialists
from four of the major anthropological disciplines -- i.e., ethnology,
archaeology, ethnohistory and linguistics participated. Unfortunately there
were no human biologists or ethnomusicologists present, thus these two areas
of research represented our major lacunae.
Those in attendance were:
A. McFadyen Clark, National Museum of Man
Dr. Donald W. Clark, National Museum of Man
Mr. Clark A. Davis, formerly National Museum of Man
Ms. Beryl C. Gillespie, University of Iowa
Dr. Frederica de Laguna, Bryn Mawr College
Dr. June Helm, University of Iowa
Dr. John Honigmann, University of North Carolina
Dr. Robert Howren, University of Iowa
2
Dr. Michael Krauss, University of Alaska
Dr. Catharine McClellan, University of Wisconsin
Dr. Robert McKennan, Dartmouth College
Dr. Richard Morían, National Museum of Man
Dr. William Noble, McMaster University
Dr. Cornelius Osgood, Yale University
Dr. Joel Savishinsky, Adelphi University
Dr. Richard Slobodin, McMaster University
Mr. J.G.E. Smith, University of Waterloo
Each provided a paper and all are presented in this two-volume Mercury, with
the exception of those of Dr. Krauss and Dr. McKennan.
The conference represented the culmination of several years of discussion
and planning between National Museum Staff Ethnologists and other Anthro­
pologists who had become increasingly aware of the need to reassess the
present status of Northern Athapaskan studies and to establish guide lines
for future research. A preliminary planning session was held during the
joint American Ethnological-Northeastern Anthropological Association
meeting at Carleton University, Ottawa, in May 1970. At that meeting general
plans for the Athapaskan Conference were established, participants were
tentatively selected and special topics for discussion were outlined.
Prior to the conference copies of the papers of each participant were
distributed for perusal by the others, thus with the exception of Cornelius
Osgood's initial paper, "Athapaskan?", no papers were formally read at the
meeting. Instead, short summaries were given, then each paper was opened to
general discussion. While discussions were of great value, it was decided
that the results should be embodied in the revised editions of the papers,
rather than being published separately as comments.