Chapter VI: THE ATNA GROUP.--West of the Kutanis and south of the Takulli

Athabaskans lie the northernmost members of a great family which extends as far south as the Sahaptin frontier, the Sahaptin being a family of Southern, or American, Oregon. Such being the case, the great group now under notice came under the cognizance of the two American philologues, whose important labours have already been noticed, by whom it has been denominated Tsihaili-Selish. It contains the Shushwap, Selish, Skitsnish (or Cœur d'Alene) Piskwans, Nusdalum, Kawitchen, Skwali, Chechili, Kowelits, and Nsietshawus forms of speech.

In regard to the Atna I have a statement of my own to correct, or at any rate to modify. In a paper, read before the Ethnological Society, on the Languages of the Oregon Territory (Dec. 11, 1844), I pronounced that an Atna vocabulary found in Mackenzie's Travels, though different from the Atna of the Copper River, belonged to the same group. The _group_, however, to which the Atna of the Copper River belongs is the Athabaskan.

The Tsihaili-Selish languages reach the sea in the parts to the south of the mouth of Frazer's River, _i. e._ the parts opposite Vancouver's Island; perhaps they touch it further to the north also; perhaps, too, some of the Takulli forms of the speech further north still reach the sea. The current statements, however, are to the effect, that to the south of the parts opposite Sitka, and to the north of the parts opposite Vancouver's Island, the two families in question are separated from the Pacific by a narrow strip of separate languages--separate and but imperfectly known. These are, beginning from the north--

VII. THE HAIDAH GROUP OF LANGUAGES.--Spoken by the Skittegats, Massetts, Kumshahas, and Kyganie of Queen Charlotte's Islands and the Prince of Wales Archipelago. Its area lies immediately to that of the south of the so-called Kolush languages.

VIII. THE CHEMMESYAN.--Spoken along the sea-coast and islands of north latitude 55°.

IX. THE BILLECHULA.--Spoken at the mouth of Salmon River; a language to which I have shown, elsewhere, that a vocabulary from Mackenzie's Travels of the dialect spoken at Friendly Village was referable.

X. THE HAILTSA.--The Hailtsa contains the dialects of the sea-coast between Hawkesbury Island and Broughton's Archipelago, also those of the northern part of Vancouver's Island.

In Gallatin, the Chemmesyan, Billechula, and Hailtsa are all thrown in a group called _Naas_. The Billechula numerals are, certainly, the same as the Hailtsa; the remainder of the vocabulary being unlike, though not altogether destitute of coincidences. The Chemmesyan is more outlying still. I do not, however, in thus separating these three languages, absolutely deny the validity of the _Naas_ family. I only imagine that if it really contain languages so different as the Chemmesyan and Hailtsa, it may also contain the Haidah and other groups, _e. g._ the one that comes next, or--