The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Part 9

79. 'Spend much of their time at Bellhoula, in the Bentinck Inlet.'

_Mayne's B. C._, p. 299. The Calkobins 'inhabit New Caledonia, west of the mountains.' _De Smet's Letters and Sketches_, p. 157. The Nateotetains inhabit the country lying directly west from Stuart Lake on either bank of the Nateotetain River. _Harmon's Jour._, p. 218. The Naskootains lie along Frazer River from Frazer Lake. _Id._, p. 245.

The _Sicannis_ dwell in the Rocky Mountains between the Beaver Indians on the east, and the Tacullies and Atnas on the west and south. _Id._, p. 190. They live east of the Tacullies in the Rocky Mountain. _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 202. 'On the Rocky Mountains near the Rapid Indians and West of them.' _Morse's Report_, p. 371.

The _Kutchins_ are a large nation, extending from the Mackenzie River westward along the Yukon Valley to near the mouth of the river, with the Eskimos on one side and the Koltshanes on the other. Buschmann, _Spuren der Aztek. Sprache_, p. 713, places them on the sixty-fifth parallel of lat.i.tude, and from 130 to 150 of longitude west from Greenwich. 'Das Volk wohnt am Flusse Yukon oder Kwichpak und uber ihm; es dehnt sich nach Richardson's Karte auf dem 65ten Parallelkreise aus vom 130-150 W.

L. v. Gr., und gehort daher zur Halfte dem britischen und zur Halfte dem russischen Nordamerika an.' They are located 'immediately to the northward of the Hare Indians on both banks of Mackenzie's River.'

_Franklin's Nar._, vol. ii., p. 83. Gallatin, _Am. Antiq. Soc.

Transact._, vol. ii., p. 83, places their northern boundary in lat.i.tude 67 27'. To the west of the Mackenzie the Loucheux interpose between the Esquimaux 'and the Tinne, and spread westward until they come into the neighborhood of the coast tribes of Beering's Sea.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 377. 'The Kutchin may be said to inhabit the territory extending from the Mackenzie, at the mouth of Peel's River, lat. 68, long. 134, to Norton's sound, living princ.i.p.ally upon the banks of the Youcon and Porcupine Rivers, though several of the tribes are situated far inland, many days' journey from either river.' _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 320. 'They commence somewhere about the 65th degree of north lat.i.tude, and stretch westward from the Mackenzie to Behring's straits.' 'They are divided into many petty tribes, each having its own chief, as the Tatlit-Kutchin (Peel River Indians), Ta-Kuth-Kutchin (Lapiene's House Indians), Kutch-a-Kutchin (Youcan Indians), Touchon-ta-Kutchin (Wooded-country Indians), and many others.'

_Kirby_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1864, pp. 417, 418.

The Degothi-Kutchin, or Loucheux, Quarrellers, inhabit the west bank of the Mackenzie between the Hare Indians and Eskimos. The Loucheux are on the Mackenzie between the Arctic circle and the sea. _Simpson's Nar._, p. 103.

The Vanta-Kutchin occupy 'the banks of the Porcupine, and the country to the north of it.' 'Vanta-kuts.h.i.+ (people of the lakes), I only find that they belong to the Porcupine River.' _Latham's Nat. Races_, p. 294. They 'inhabit the territory north of the head-waters of the Porcupine, somewhat below Lapierre's House.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 430.

The Natche-Kutchin, or Gens de Large, dwell to the 'north of the Porcupine River.' 'These extend on the north bank to the mouth of the Porcupine.' _Dall's Alaska_, pp. 109, 430.

'Neyetse-Kuts.h.i.+, (people of the open country), I only find that they belong to the Porcupine river.' _Latham's Nat. Races_, p. 294. Whymper's map calls them Rat Indians.

'The Na-tsik-Kut-chin inhabit the high ridge of land between the Yukon and the Arctic Sea.' _Hardisty_, in _Dall's Alaska_, p. 197.

The Kukuth-Kutchin 'occupy the country south of the head-waters of the Porcupine.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 430.

The Tutchone Kutchin, Gens de Foux, or crow people, dwell upon both sides of the Yukon about Fort Selkirk, above the Han Kutchin. _Id._, pp.

109, 429.

'Tathzey-Kuts.h.i.+, or people of the ramparts, the Gens du Fou of the French Canadians, are spread from the upper parts of the Peel and Porcupine Rivers, within the British territory, to the river of the Mountain-men, in the Russian. The upper Yukon is therefore their occupancy. They fall into four bands: _a_, the Tratse-kuts.h.i.+, or people of the fork of the river; _b_, the Kutsha-kuts.h.i.+; _c_, the Zeka-thaka (Ziunka-kuts.h.i.+), people on this side, (or middle people); and, _d_, the Tanna-kuts.h.i.+, or people of the bluffs.' _Latham's Nat. Races_, p. 293.

The Han-Kutchin, An-Kutchin Gens de Bois, or wood people, inhabit the Yukon above Porcupine River. _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 254. They are found on the Yukon next below the Crows, and above Fort Yukon. _Dall's Alaska_, p. 109. 'Han-Kutchi residing at the sources of the Yukon.'

_Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 396.

'The Artez-Kuts.h.i.+, or the tough (hard) people. The sixty-second parallel cuts through their country; so that they lie between the head-waters of the Yukon and the Pacific.' _Latham's Nat. Races_, p. 293. See also _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 397.

The Kutcha-Kutchins, or Kot-a-Kutchin, 'are found in the country near the junction of the Porcupine and the Yukon.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 431.

The Tenan-Kutchin, or Tananahs, Gens de b.u.t.tes, or people of the mountains, occupy an unexplored domain south-west of Fort Yukon. Their country is drained by the Tananah River. _Dall's Alaska_, p. 108. They are placed on Whymper's map about twenty miles south of the Yukon, in longitude 151 west from Greenwich. On Whymper's map are placed: the Birch Indians, or Gens de Bouleau on the south bank of the Yukon at its junction with Porcupine River; the Gens de Milieu, on the north bank of the Yukon, in longitude 150; the Nuclukayettes on both banks in longitude 152; and the Newicarguts, on the south bank between longitude 153 and 155.

The _Kenais_ occupy the peninsula of Kenai and the surrounding country.

_Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1869, p. 562. 'An den Ufern und den Umgebungen von Cook's Inlet und um die Seen Iliamna und Kiss.h.i.+ck.' _Baer_, _Stat. u.

Ethn._, p. 103.

The Unakatana Yunakakhotanas, live 'on the Yukon between Koyukuk and Nuklukahyet.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 53.

'Junakachotana, ein Stamm, welcher auf dem Flusse Jun-a-ka wohnt.'

_Sagoskin_, in _Denkschr. der russ. geo. Gesell._, p. 324. 'Die Junnakachotana, am Flusse Jukchana oder Junna (so wird der obere Lauf des Kwichpakh genannt) zwischen den Nebenflussen Nulato und Junnaka, so wie am untern Laufe des letztgenannten Flusses.' _Holmberg_, _Ethn.

Skiz._, p. 6.

'Die Junnachotana bewohnen den obern Lauf des Jukchana oder Junna von der Mundung des Junnaka.' _Holmberg_, _Ethn. Skiz._, p. 6.

'Die Jugelnuten haben ihre Ansiedelungen am Kwichpakh, am Tschageljuk und an der Mundung des Innoka. Die Inkalichljuaten, am obern Laufe des Innoka. Die Thljegonchotana am Flusse Thljegon, der nach der Vereinigung mit dem Tatschegno den Innoka bildet.' _Holmberg_, _Ethn.

Skiz._, pp. 6, 7. 'They extend virtually from the confluence of the Co-Yukuk River to Nuchukayette at the junction of the Tanana with the Yukon.' 'They also inhabit the banks of the Co-yukuk and other interior rivers.' _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 204.

The _Ingaliks_ inhabit the Yukon from Nulato south to below the Anvic River. See _Whymper's Map_. 'The tribe extends from the edge of the wooded district near the sea to and across the Yukon below Nulato, on the Yukon and its affluents to the head of the delta, and across the portage to the Kuskoquim River and its branches.' _Dall's Alaska_, p.

28. 'Die Inkiliken, am untern Laufe des Junna sudlich von Nulato.'

_Holmberg_, _Ethn. Skiz._, p. 6. 'An dem ganzen Ittege wohnt der Stamm der Inkiliken, welcher zu dem Volk der Ttynai gehort.' _Sagoskin_, in _Denkschr. der russ. geo. Gesell._, p. 341. 'An den Flussen Kwichpack, Kuskokwim und anderen ihnen zustromenden Flussen.' _Baer_, _Stat. u.

Ethn._, p. 120. 'The Ingaliks living on the north side of the Yukon between it and the Kaiyuh Mountains (known as Takaitsky to the Russians), bear the name of Kaiyuhkatana or "lowland people," and the other branches of Ingaliks have similar names, while preserving their general tribal name.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 53. On Whymper's map they are called T'kitskes and are situated east of the Yukon in lat.i.tude 64 north.

The _Koltschanes_ occupy the territory inland between the sources of the Kuskoquim and Copper Rivers. 'They extend as far inland as the watershed between the Copper-river and the Yukon.' _Latham's Nat. Races_, p. 292.

'Die Galzanen oder Koltschanen (d. h. Fremdlinge, in der Sprache der Athnaer) bewohnen das Innere des Landes zwischen den Quellflussen des Kuskokwim bis zu den nordlichen Zuflussen des Athna oder Kupferstromes.'

_Holmberg_, _Ethn. Skiz._, p. 7. 'Diejenigen Stamme, welche die nordlichen und ostlichen, dem Atna zustromenden Flusse und Flusschen bewohnen, eben so die noch weiter, jenseits der Gebirge lebenden, werden von den Atnaern Koltschanen, d. h. Fremdlinge, genannt.' _Baer_, _Stat. u.

Ethn._, p. 101. 'North of the river Atna.' _Ludewig_, _Ab. Lang._, p.

96.

The Nehannes occupy the territory midway between Mount St. Elias and the Mackenzie River, from Fort Selkirk and the Stakine River. 'According to Mr. Isbister, range the country between the Russian settlements on the Stikine River and the Rocky Mountains.' _Latham's Nat. Races_, p. 295.

The Nohhannies live 'upon the upper branches of the Riviere aux Liards.'

_Franklin's Nar._, vol. ii., p. 87. They 'inhabit the angle between that branch and the great bend of the trunk of the river, and are neighbours of the Beaver Indians.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. ii., p. 6. The region which includes the Lewis, or Tahco, and Pelly Rivers, with the valley of the Chilkaht River, is occupied by tribes known to the Hudson Bay voyageurs as Nehannees. Those on the Pelly and Macmillan rivers call themselves Affats-tena. Some of them near Liard's River call themselves Daho-tena or Acheto-tena, and others are called Sicannees by the voyageurs. Those near Francis Lake are known as Mauvais Monde, or Slave Indians. About Fort Selkirk they have been called Gens des Foux.

The _Kenai_ proper, or Kenai-tena, or Thnaina, inhabit the peninsula of Kenai, the sh.o.r.es of Cook Inlet, and thence westerly across the Chigmit Mountains, nearly to the Kuskoquim River. They 'inhabit the country near Cook's Inlet, and both sh.o.r.es of the Inlet as far south as Chugachik Bay.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 430. 'Die eigentlichen Thnaina bewohnen die Halbinsel Kenai und ziehen sich von da westlich uber das Tschigmit-Gebirge zum Mantaschtano oder Tchalchukh, einem sudlichen Nebenflusse des Kuskokwim.' _Holmberg_, _Ethn. Skiz._, p. 7. 'Dieses--an den Ufern und den Umgebungen von Cook's Inlet und um die Seen Iliamna und Kiss.h.i.+ck lebende Volk gehort zu dem selben Stamme wie die Galzanen oder Koltschanen, Atnaer, und Koloschen.' _Baer_, _Stat. u. Ethn._, p.

103. 'Les _Kenayzi_ habitent la cote occidentale de l'entree de Cook ou du golfe Kenayskaja.' _Humboldt_, _Pol._, tom. i., p. 348. 'The Indians of Cook's Inlet and adjacent waters are called "Kanisky." They are settled along the sh.o.r.e of the inlet and on the east sh.o.r.e of the peninsula.' 'East of Cook's Inlet, in Prince William's Sound, there are but few Indians, they are called "Nuchusk."' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1869, p.

575.

The _Atnas_ occupy the Atna or Copper River from near its mouth to near its source. 'At the mouth of the Copper River.' _Latham's Comp. Phil._, vol. viii., p. 392. 'Die Athnaer, am Athna oder Kupferflusse.'

_Holmberg_, _Ethn. Skiz._, p. 7. 'On the upper part of the Atna or Copper River are a little-known tribe of the above name [viz., Ah-tena]. They have been called Atnaer and Kols.h.i.+na by the Russians, and Yellow Knife or Nehaunee by the English.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 429. 'Diese kleine, jetzt ungefahr aus 60 Familien bestehende, Volkerschaft wohnt an den Ufern des Flusses Atna und nennt sich Atnaer.' _Baer_, _Stat. u. Ethn._, p. 97.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Of late, custom gives to the main land of Russian America, the name _Alaska_; to the peninsula, _Aliaska_; and to a large island of the Aleutian Archipelago, _Unalashka_. The word of which the present name Alaska is a corruption, is first encountered in the narrative of Betsevin, who, in 1761, wintered on the peninsula, supposing it to be an island. The author of _Neue Nachrichten von denen neuentdekten Insuln_, writes, page 53, 'womit man nach der abgelegensten Insul _Alaksu_ oder _Alachschak_ uber gieng.' Again, at page 57, in giving a description of the animals on the supposed island he calls it 'auf der Insul _Alasku_.' 'This,' says c.o.xe, _Russian Discoveries_, p. 72, 'is probably the same island which is laid down in Krenitzin's chart under the name of _Alaxa_.' _Unalaschka_ is given by the author of _Neue Nachrichten_, p. 74, in his narrative of the voyage of Drusinin, who hunted on that island in 1763. At page 115 he again mentions the 'grosse Insul _Alaksu_.' On page 125, in Glottoff's log-book, 1764, is the entry: 'Den 28sten May der Wind Ostsudost; man kam an die Insul _Alaska_ oder _Alaksu_.' Still following the author of _Neue Nachrichten_, we have on page 166, in an account of the voyages of Otseredin and Popoff, who hunted upon the Aleutian Islands in 1769, mention of a report by the natives 'that beyond Unimak is said to be a large land _Alaschka_, the extent of which the islanders do not know.'

On Cook's Atlas, voyage 1778, the peninsula is called _Alaska_, and the island _Oonalaska_, La Perouse, in his atlas, map No. 15, 1786, calls the peninsula _Alaska_, and the island _Ounalaska_. The Spaniards, in the _Atlas para el Viage de las goletas Sutil y Mexicana_, 1792, write _Alasca_ for the peninsula, and for the island _Unalaska_. Sauer, in his account of Billings' expedition, 1790, calls the main land _Alaska_, the peninsula _Alyaska_, and the island _Oonalashka_. Wrangell, in _Baer's Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten_, p. 123, writes for the peninsula _Alaska_ and for the island _Unalaschka_. Holmberg, _Ethnographische Skizzen_, p. 78, calls the island _Unalaschka_ and the peninsula _Aljaska_. Dall, _Alaska_, p. 529, says that the peninsula or main land was called by the natives _Alayeksa_, and the island _Nagun-alayeksa_, 'or the land near Alayeksa.' Thus we have, from which to choose, the orthography of the earliest voyagers to this coast--Russian, English, French, Spanish, German, and American. The simple word _Alaksu_, after undergoing many contortions, some authors writing it differently on different pages of the same book, has at length become _Alaska_, as applied to the main land; _Aliaska_ for the peninsula, and _Unalashka_ as the name of the island. As these names are all corruptions from some one original word, whatever that may be, I see no reason for giving the error three different forms. I therefore write Alaska for the mainland and peninsula and Unalaska for the island.

[2] The name is said, by Charlevoix 'to be derived from the language of the Abenaqui, a tribe of Algonquins in Canada, who border upon them and call them "Esquimantsic."' 'L'origine de leur nom n'est pas certain.

Toutefois il y a bien de l'apparence qu'il vient du mot Abenaqui, _esquimantsic_ qui veut dire "mangeur de viande crue."' See _Prichard's Physical History of Mankind_, vol. v., pp. 367, 373. 'French writers call them Eskimaux.' 'English authors, in adopting this term, have most generally written it "Esquimaux," but Dr. Latham, and other recent ethnologists, write it "Eskimos," after the Danish orthography.'

_Richardson's Polar Regions_, p. 298. 'Probably of Canadian origin, and the word, which in French orthography is written Esquimaux, was probably originally _Ceux qui miaux_ (_miaulent_).' _Richardson's Journal_, vol.

i., p. 340. 'Said to be a corruption of _Eskimantik_, _i. e._ raw-fish-eaters, a nickname given them by their former neighbors, the Mohicans.' _Seemann's Voyage of the Herald_, vol. ii., p. 49. Eskimo is derived from a word indicating sorcerer or Shaman. 'The northern Tinneh use the word _Uskeemi_.' _Dall's Alaska_, pp. 144, 531. 'Their own national designation is "Keralit."' _Morton's Crania Americana_, p. 52.

They 'call themselves "Innuit," which signifies "man."' _Armstrong's Narrative_, p. 191.

[3] It is not without reluctance that I change a word from the commonly accepted orthography. Names of places, though originating in error, when once established, it is better to leave unchanged. Indian names, coming to us through Russian, German, French, or Spanish writers, should be presented in English by such letters as will best produce the original Indian p.r.o.nunciation. European personal names, however, no matter how long, nor how commonly they may have been erroneously used, should be immediately corrected. Every man who can spell is supposed to be able to give the correct orthography of his own name, and his spelling should in every instance be followed, when it can be ascertained. Veit Bering, anglice Vitus Behring, was of a Danish family, several members of which were well known in literature before his own time. In Danish writings, as well as among the biographies of Russian admirals, where may be found a fac-simile of his autograph, the name is spelled _Bering_. It is so given by Humboldt, and by the _Dictionnaire de la Conversation_. The author of the _Neue Nachrichten von denen neuentdekten Insuln_, one of the oldest printed works on Russian discoveries in America; as well as Muller, who was the companion of Bering for many years; and Buschmann,--all write _Bering_. Baer remarks: 'Ich schreibe ferner Bering, obgleich es jetzt fast allgemein geworden ist, Behring zu schreiben, und auch die Englander und Franzosen sich der letztern Schreibart bequemt haben. Bering war ein Dane und seine Familie war lange vor ihm in der Literatur-Geschichte bekannt. Sie hat ihren Namen auf die von mir angenommene Weise drucken la.s.sen. Derselben Schreibart bediente sich auch der Historiograph Muller, der langere Zeit unter seinen Befehlen gedient hatte, und Pallas.' _Statistische und ethnographische Nachrichten_, p. 328. There is no doubt that the famous navigator wrote his name _Bering_, and that the letter 'h' was subsequently inserted to give the Danish sound to the letter 'e.' To accomplish the same purpose, perhaps, c.o.xe, Langsdorff, Beechey, and others write _Beering_.

[4] 'Die Kadjacker im Gegentheil nahern sich mehr den Amerikanischen Stammen und gleichen in ihrem Aeussern gar nicht den Eskimos oder den Asiatischen Volkern, wahrscheinlich haben sie durch die Vermischung mit den Stammen Amerika's ihre ursprungliche Asiatische aussere Gestalt und Gesichtsbildung verloren und nur die Sprache beibehalten.' _Baer_, _Stat. u. Ethn. Nachr._, p. 124. 'Ils ressemblent beaucoup aux indigenes des iles Curiles, dependantes du j.a.pon.' _Laplace_, _Circ.u.mnavigation de l'Artemise_, vol. vi., p. 45.

[5] 'The tribes crowded together on the sh.o.r.es of Beering's Sea within a comparatively small extent of coast-line, exhibit a greater variety, both in personal appearance and dialect, than that which exists between the Western Eskimos and their distant countrymen in Labrador; and ethnologists have found some difficulty in cla.s.sifying them properly.'

_Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 363.

[6] For authorities, see TRIBAL BOUNDARIES, at the end of this chapter.

[7] _Collinson_, in _London Geographical Society Journal_, vol. xxv., p.

201.

[8] 'Im nordwestlichsten Theile von Amerika fand Franklin den Boden, Mitte August, schon in einer Tiefe von 16 Zoll gefroren. Richardson sah an einem ostlicheren Punkte der Kuste, in 71 12' Breite, die Eisschicht im Julius aufgethaut bis 3 Fuss unter der krautbedeckten Oberflache.'

_Humboldt_, _Kosmos_, tom. iv., p. 47.