An unidentified Dunneza, in the Peace River country, 1911

The Dunneza (also Dunne-za, Beaver, Tasttine) are Athapaskan Aboriginal peoples whose traditional territory is around the Peace River of Alberta, Canada. Prior to 1800, however, they inhabited lands further east, near the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers, and north to Lake Athabaska. In the 1700s, 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 Athabaska, 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. They were formerly known as the Beaver Tribe. Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Athapascan or Athapaskan) is the name of a large group of distantly related Native American peoples, also known as the Athabasca Indians or Athapaskes, and of their language family. ... Aboriginal peoples in Canada are Indigenous Peoples recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively, as Indians (First Nations), Métis, and Inuit. ... The Peace River is a river in Canada which originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta. ... Motto: Fortis et liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Flower Wild rose Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 642,317 km² 19... Hudsons Bay Companys scow in Athabasca River, circa 1910 The Athabasca River originates from the Athabasca Glacier of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park in Alberta. ... Clearwater River is the name of a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. ... Lake Athabasca is a large lake in central Canada located in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. ... // Indian trade The fur trade (also called the Indian trade) was a huge part of the early history of contact in North America between European-Americans and American Indians (now often called Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada). ... The Ojibwa, Aanishanabe or Chippewa (also Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippeway, Anishinaabe, or Anishinabek) are the largest group of Native Americans/First Nations north of Mexico, including Métis. ...

Language

Sounds

Consonants

Dunneza has 35 consonants:

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Labial-velar consonants are doubly articulated at the velum and the lips. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ...

Vowels

Dunneza has 10 phonemic vowels. In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

Two vowels contrast oral and nasal qualities.

External links

• Map of Northwest Coast First Nations (including Dunneza)
• Beaver page on First Nations Languages of British Columbia site, with bibliography

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 0-8992-5282-6.
• 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.