
This scholarly work brings listeners into the careful reconstruction of the California Athabascan peoples, a group whose history has long remained elusive. Drawing on the extensive field notes of a pioneering naturalist and supplemented by later researchers, the author maps tribal territories, village sites, and estimates of original populations with meticulous detail. The narrative also weaves in the stories of early ethnographers whose interviews with native informants preserved a fading oral tradition.
Listeners will discover how the study blends geography, linguistics, and anthropology to sketch the most accurate picture yet of these north‑western California communities. Richly illustrated with maps and figures, the monograph reveals the complexities of tribal boundaries and the challenges of interpreting fragmented historical records. It offers a compelling glimpse into the painstaking process of piecing together a people's past from scattered clues, inviting audiences to appreciate the depth of scholarly dedication behind the reconstruction.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (325K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Colin Bell, Richard Tonsing, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2013-10-03
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
A California archaeologist and anthropologist, he wrote influential studies of Native California cultures, Yana archaeology, and the prehistoric rock art of Nevada and eastern California. His work combined field research with a clear interest in how environment, history, and culture shape one another.
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