REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 51 



with which the Navaho have had centiiry-long contact. For in- 

 stance, the Navaho of Eamah derive their Pueblo features from 

 Zuiii. Tlie most interesting discovery of all was the prominence 

 of the buffalo in Navaho ceremony, in which the buffalo plays a 

 role as large as among the Pueblos. 



In the case of both the Kiowa Apache and Navaho, language study 

 is the most practical means of proving that the language-bearing 

 ancestors of these tribes came from the north, where similar lan- 

 guages are still spoken, occupying the interior of Alaska and of 

 western Canada. 



Proceeding October 25 to the Chipewyan of eastern Alberta, Can- 

 ada, Dr. Harrington found them to consist of a southern-projecting 

 tongue of the language of the great Athabaska Ltvke of northern 

 Alberta, which derives its name from Algonquian Cree Adhapas- 

 kaaw, meaning "much grass" and applied originally to the Peace 

 River Delta at the western end of the lake. Chipewj-an means 

 "pointed skins," referring to an old habit of dress. The Chipewyan 

 language proved to be surprisingly close to Navaho in vocabulary 

 and construction. 



Proceeding to the Sarcee language of southern Alberta, Dr. Har- 

 rington encountered another closely related tongue, and one which is 

 most nearl}^ affiliated with the Beaver and the Sekeneh, two dialects 

 that lie north of the Sarcee. Dr. Harrington learned the tradition 

 that the Sarcee and Beaver vvcre originally one people but that in 

 migrating southward across a frozen lake, the water monster became 

 angered and broke the ice, those Indians on the northern side becoming 

 the Beaver and those having crossed to the southern side becoming the 

 Sarcee. The Sarcee were found to have adopted the culture of the 

 neighboring Blackfeet, and the meaning of the name of the Blackfeet, 

 Ayaatciyiiniw, was found to be "ugly enemy." 



The Carrier, Chilcotin, and Nicola dialects were reached in Decem- 

 ber. These are located on the upper Fraser River, especially about 

 the great lakes at the head of this stream. 



The Sekeneh were also reached in British Columbia and the name 

 was found to mean "Rocky Mountain Indian." 



Returning to Washington, Dr. Harrington proceeded in March to 

 the study of the Tlinkit Indians of southeastern Alaska, finding these 

 to be related to the Navaho, in a close relationship which cannot mean 

 many centuries of separation. 



Dr. Harrington then proceeded in May to the study of the Atchat, 

 or Eyak, Tribe, which was found to have occupied the entire eastern 

 half of the Gulf of Alaska, a stretch of coast 350 miles long, extending 

 from Prince William Sound in the west to Latuya Bay in the east. 

 This tribe has earlier been called Ugalenz and Eyak, but the real 



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