Dunneza
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An unidentified Dunneza, in the Peace River country, 1911

The Dunneza (also Dunne-za, Dane-zaa, Tasttine, and historicially often referred to as the Beaver tribe by Europeans) are a First Nation of the Athapaskan language group, whose traditional territory is around the Peace River of the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. About 1,000 Dane-zaa live in British Columbia as part of Doig River First Nation, Blueberry River First Nation, Halfway River First Nation and Prophet River First Nation communities.

Prior to 1800 they inhabited lands further east, near the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers, and north to Lake Athabaska. In the 18th century, this area was opened to fur trading. The Chippewa, a powerful people to the east of the Dunneza, had become highly dependent on the European goods and the maintenance of a trade monopoly with the traders. To maintain their proximity and influence, the Chippewa moved with the traders westward into the Athabasca, forcing the Dunneza north and west from their lands to those near the Peace River. By 1800, the Dunneza had relocated to this new territory. In 1899, many Dunneza communities signed Treaty 8 with the government of Canada.

Language

Sounds

Consonants

Dunneza has 35 consonants:

Vowels

Dunneza has 10 phonemic vowels.

Two vowels contrast oral and nasal qualities.

External links

• Doig River First Nation
• Map of Northwest Coast First Nations (including Dunneza)
• Beaver page on First Nations Languages of British Columbia site, with bibliography
• Living In A Storied Land Royal British Columbia Museum
• The Dane-Zaa Living Landscape of Northeastern BC Royal British Columbia Museum

Bibliography

• Cook, Eung-Do; & Rice, Keren (Eds.). (1989). Athapaskan linguistics: Current perspectives on a language family. Trends in linguistics, State of-the-art reports (No. 15). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 0-89925-282-6.
• Story, Gillian. (1989). Problems of phonemic representation in Beaver. In E.-D. Cook & K. Rice (Eds.), Athapaskan linguistics: Current perspectives on a language family (pp. 63-98). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.