Beaver language
| Dane-zaa | |
|---|---|
| Danezaa ZaageɁ (ᑕᓀᖚ ᖚᗀᐥ) | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | British Columbia, Alberta |
| Ethnicity | 1,560 Danezaa in 5 of 7 communities (2014, FPCC) |
|
Native speakers
|
160 in 5 of 7 communities (2014, FPCC) |
|
Dené–Yeniseian?
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | beav1236 |
Dane-zaa, known in the language as Danezaa ZaageɁ (syll: ᑕᓀᖚ ᖚᗀᐥ) and once known as Beaver, is an Athabascan language of western Canada. It means "people-regular language." About half of the Danezaa people speak the language.
Beaver is closely related to the languages spoken by neighboring Athabaskan groups, such as Slavey, Sekani, Sarcee, Chipewyan, and Kaska.
The dialects of Dane-zaa language are two main groups. Dialects that developed high tone from stem-final glottalic consonants are called high-marked and dialects that developed low tone low-marked. From north to south are as follows:
A 1991 estimate gave 300 total speakers out of a population of 600 Dane-zaa people. As of 2007, Dane-zaa Zaageʔ was spoken "in eastern British Columbia (in the communities of Doig River (Hanás̱ Saahgéʔ), Blueberry, Halfway River, Hudson Hope, and Prophet River) and in northwestern Alberta (in the communities of Horse Lakes, Clear Hills, Boyer River (Rocky Lane), Rock Lane, and Child Lake (Eleske) Reserves)." A 2011 CD by Garry Oker features traditional Beaver language chanting with world beat and country music.
English is now the first language of most Dane-zaa children, and of many adults in the Dane-zaa communities. Dane-zaa Zaageʔ was the primary language until the grandparents and parents started to send their children to school in the 1950s. English only became dominant in the 1980s. Because the language is orally based, Dane-zaa Zaageʔ becomes increasingly endangered as the fluent speakers pass away.
The Rev Alfred Campbell Garrioch (1848-1934) was a Christian missionary of the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) who worked with the Beaver. He was born in Manitoba in Canada in 1848. In 1876 he established a CMS mission and Indian children training school at Fort Vermilion, under the name of Unjaga Mission. He learnt and analysed the Beaver language and translated the Gospel of Mark into Beaver. In the mid 1880s he visited England where he had his work in the Beaver language printed. In 1886 Garrioch returned to mission work among the Beaver Indians. In 1892 he returned to Manitoba. In 1905 he retired from active work and settled at Portage-le-Prairie (Portage La Prairie) in Manitoba. In 1925 he wrote 2 autobiographical accounts of his life called The Far and Furry North and in 1929 A Hatchet Mark in Duplicate. He died in 1934.
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Wikipedia