30 



AHOUSAHT AHTENA 



[b. a. e. 



tween Matagorda bay and Maligne (Colo- 

 rado) r., Tex. The region was inhabited 

 by Karankawan tribes, and the name was 

 given by the Ebahanio, who were probably 

 closely affiliated to that gronp. See Gat- 

 schet, Karankawa Indians, 35, 46, 1891. 



(a- t'- F-) 



Abonerhopiheim.— Joutel (16.S7) in French, Hist. 

 Coll, La., I, 152, 1846. Ahonerhopiheim.— Ibid., 

 137. Ahouerhopiheim, — Shea, note in Charlevoix, 

 New France, iv, 7S, 1870. 



Ahousaht. A Nootka tribe about Clay- 

 oquotsd., w. coast of Vancouver id. ; pop. 

 273 in 1902. Their principal village is 

 Mahktosis. (.i. r. s. ) 



Ahhousaht.— Can. Ind. Afl., 188, 1.S83. Ahosett.— 

 Swan in Smithson. Cont., xvi, 56, 1870. Ahou- 

 saht.— Sproat, Sav. Life, 308, 1S68. Ahouset.— 

 Mayne, Brit. Col., 251, 1862. Ahowartz.— Arm- 

 strong, Oreg., 136, 1857. Ahowsaht. — Powell in 

 7th Rep. B. A. E., 130, 1891. Ah-owz-arts.— Jewitt, 

 Narr., 36, 1849. Arhosett,— Swan, MS., B. A. E. 

 Asonsaht.— Can. Ind. Aff., 7, 1872. 



Ahoyabe. A small town, possibly Musk- 

 hogean, su))ject to the Hoya, and lying be- 

 tween them and the Coosa, on the coast 

 of s. S. C, in 15B7. — Vandera in Smith, 

 Coll. Docs. Fla., I, 16, 1857. 



Ahpakosea ( ' buzzard ') . A gens of the 

 Miami. 

 Ah-pa'-kose-e-a.— Morgan, Anc. Soe., 168, 1877. 



Ahseponna ( ' raccoon ' ). A gens of the 

 Miami. 



Ah-se-pon'-nsi. — Morgan, Ane. Soc., 168, 1877. 

 A'sepun*.— Wm. Jone.s, inf'n., 1905 (Sauk, Fox, 

 and Kirkapoo form). 



Ahtena ( ' ice people ' ) . An Athapascan 

 tribe occupying the basin of Copper r., 

 Alaska. Their pennanent villages are 

 situated 100 m. or more from the sea, on 

 Copper r., the mouth of which Nagaieff 

 discovered in 1781. An expedition in 

 1796 under Samoylof failed on account 

 of the hostility of the natives, as did a 

 second under Lastochkin in 1798, and 

 one under Klimoffsky in 1819. Gregorief 

 in 1844 renewed the attempt with like 

 result. In 1848 Serelirannikof ventured 

 up the river, but his disregard for the 

 natives cost the lives of himself and 3 of 

 his party ( Dall, Alaska, 343, 1877). Dall 

 met a trading i)arty of Ahtena in 1874 at 

 Port Etches, and in 1882 a trader named 

 Holt ascended the river as far as Taral, 

 but on a subsequent visit was murdered 

 by the natives. Lieut. Abercrombie in 

 1884 explored a part of the river, and in 

 the following year Lieut. Allen made an 

 extended exploration, visiting the Ahtena 

 villages on Copper r. and its chief tribu- 

 taries. The natives strongly resemble 

 the Koyukukliotana in appearance, the 

 men being tall, straight, of good phy- 

 sique, with clear olive complexion, arched 

 eyebrows, beardless faces, and long, 

 straight, black hair, worn loose or in a sin- 

 gle scalp-lock. Petroff ( 10th Census, Alas- 

 ka, 164, 1884) states that prior to 1880 the 

 women had never been seen by any white 

 man who lived to describe them. On 

 account of the hostile nature of these 



people but little is known of their cus- 

 toms and beliefs. Their clothing ordi- 

 narily consists of two garments, trousers 

 and boots forming one, a parka the 

 other. The clothing is decorated with 

 beads or, more commonly, with fringe 

 and porcupine quills, since beads are used 

 in trade with the tribes on Tanana r. 

 They have a cap of skin detached from 

 the parka. The chief occupation of the 

 men is hunting and fishing, supplemented 

 by a yearly trading trip as middlemen 

 between the coast tribes and those of the 

 interior. In visiting the coast they travel 

 in large skin-covered boats purchased 

 from traders or from the coast tribes. 

 The chief articles of trade are beads, 

 cotton prints, and tobacco, which are 

 exchanged for furs and copper. Their 

 chief weapon is the bow and arrow, 

 although a few old-fashioned guns are 

 occasionally found. The men have both 

 nose and ears pierced; the women the 

 latter only. The houses are of two kinds, 

 permanent, for use in winter, and tem- 

 porary, used only as shelters during hunt- 

 ing trips. To the permanent dwellings 

 are attached subterranean bath-rooms, in 

 which steam is created b)' pouring water 

 on red-hot stones. They live in small 

 villages, of one or two houses; the head- 

 man is called a tynne, and his near rela- 

 tives, the next in rank, are called skillies. 

 There is usually a shaman in every vil- 

 lage, and slaves of varying degrees of 

 servitude ai-e kept. Polygamy is prac- 

 tised to a limited extent; it is said that 

 the women are treated with very little 

 consideration and valued in proportion 

 to their ability to work (Allen, Rep. on 

 Alaska, 266, 1887). According to Allen 

 (ibid., 259) the Ahtena are divided into 

 two branches: tliose on Copper r., from 

 its mouth to Tazlina r., and on Chitina 

 r. and its branches he calls theMidnusky; 

 those above the Tazlina, Tatlatan. Pe- 

 troff in 1880 stated that the Ahtena did 

 not number more than 300. Allen in 

 1885 gave the entire number of natives on 

 the river and its liranches as 366, of whom 

 128 were men, 98 women, and 140 chil- 

 dren, distributed as follows: On Chitina 

 r. and its branches, 30; on Tazlina r. and 

 lake, 20; on Copper r., between Taral 

 and the Tazlina, 209; Tatlatans, 117. 

 According to Hoffman (MS. vocab., B. 

 A. E., 1882) the tribe consists of six divi- 

 sions: Ikherkhamut, Kangikhlukhmut, 

 Kulushut, Shukhtutakhlit, Vikhit, and 

 he includes also the Kulchana. The 

 census of 1890 makes the total number of 

 Ahtena 142, consisting of 89 males and 53 

 females. Their villages are: Alaganik, 

 Batzulnetas, Liebestag, Miduuski, Ska- 

 talis, Skolai, Slana, Titlogat, Toral. ( f.h. ) 



Ah-tena. — Dall, Alaska, 429, 1870 (own name). 

 Ahtna-khotana.— Petroff. 10th Census, Alaska, 164, 

 1,SS4. Artez-kutchi,— Richardson, Arct, Exped., 



