18 GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALA8Ki*». [bull. 187. 



The Board h:i.s vrWcn little attention or weight to either purit}" or 

 priority. The guiding principle has been to discover, record, and 

 follow the names b}- which features are now known, irrespective of 

 when or how the}-- got those names. Many names, especially of the 

 great features, once bore names they do not now bear. To return to 

 these first names is neither possi])le nor desirable. Bering sea and 

 Bering strait will continue to be so called despite their other names 

 earlier given. 



Again, simplitication of the spelling of names, whenever practicable, 

 has been kept steadih^ in mind. Early in the Board's work it dropped, 

 from native names, silent letters whenever, in its judgment such 

 omission would generally commend itself as an improvement. Thus 

 Atka, not Atkha; Sitka, not Sitkha; Kitkuk, not Khitkouk. Certain 

 Russian proper names begin with the Russian X (equivalent to a very 

 hard A'); this letter has been transliterated by J{h. Thus Khrom- 

 chenko, Khwostof , etc. The Board has not felt warranted in dropping 

 the silent /i in all these cases. 



The sound of oo in food often occurs in Aleut and Eskimo names and 

 has been variousl}^ rendered by oo, ou, and ii. Thus, Oonalaska, Oun- 

 alaska, and Unalaska. For this sound the letter u has been generally 

 though not luiiversally u.sed. Thus, Unga, Umak, Ugalgan, etc., but 

 not Chilkut nor Iskut. Chilkoot is a popular and well-established 

 .spelling and pronunciation of an Indian word which is unpronounce- 

 able M" most white men and which might be written T'sl-kut. 



In the older literature were many names from the Russian which in 

 transliteration began with Teh or TIscA, as Tschitschagow, which is now 

 written Chichagof. As far as usage would permit, the simple form 

 Ch has been used in such cases. 



Curiosities of nomenclature abound. There have been strange trans- 

 formations due to carelessness, ignorance, or bad writing. Thus, Gain 

 became Cain; Hound, Round; Miller, Mitten; Chornie became Torno; 

 Traitors, Traders; Andrew, Lidrejana; Sutwik, Zutchwik, etc. Nu- 

 merous illustrations of transformation and corruption will be found 

 thi'oughout the dictionary. 



AUTHORITIES. 



Man}^ maps, charts, books, and persons have been consulted in pre- 

 paring this Avork. Scattered through the dictionar}^ are references to 

 such persons and publications. These constitute the chief "original 

 sources of Alaskan names. Below is given a list of the principal ones. 

 It does not aim to be exhaustive. First is given a chronologic list. 

 This is followed by the same authorities arranged alphabeticalh^, and 

 after each entry follows a brief account of the individual, a statement of 

 the work by which he became an authority, and references to publica- 

 tions containing his results. These references are to the publications 

 chiefly used in preparing this work. 



