Beschreibung
Abstract of James Kari´s presentation "Research Themes in Northern Athabascan Ethnogeography": The new book Shem Pete's Alaska, the Territory of the Upper Cook Inlet Dena'ina (2nd edition, by James Kari and James Fall) is an annotated and mapped ethnogeography of traditional Dena'ina place names. Shem Pete (1896-1989) from Susitna Station was one of the most versatile storytellers and historians in twentieth century Alaska. His life-time travel map of about 13,500 sq. miles is one of the largest documented in this degree of detail anywhere in the world. The book presents 973 names places in sixteen drainage-based chapters. The place names in the book form a reconstructed composite place name network from the vantage points of the life experiences of Shem Pete and other Dena'ina and Ahtna speakers. The place names are annotated with comments and stories by Shem Pete and more than fifty other contributors, and with historic references, a selection of historic maps, photos, and shaded-relief place names maps. We also provide a summary of place name research methodology.

In several other papers I have discussed systemic features of Northern Athabascan geographic names systems. The regional and the continental dimensions of Northern Athabascan ethnogeo­graphy include the general congruence of Athabascan place names across language boundaries, the naturalistic naming of bioregions, and the widely known bioregional ethnonyms. Boundary maintenance and regional partitioning has been conveyed by 1) toponymic lines in stems for ‘stream' that demark hydronymic districts; 2) regionally patterned alternations for primary vs. secondary ‘stream,' as well as for ‘mountain,' and ‘lake;' 3) overt boundary marking place names; and 4) the linking of names in distant areas through reduplication and thematic name sets. In my view theses patterns in Athabathcan geographic names are "official," reflect prehistoric geopolitical decision-making, and are of considerable antiquity.

References:
Kari, James. 1996a. Names as Signs: the Distribution of ‘Stream' and ‘Mountain' in Alaskan Athabaskan. In Athabaskan Language Studies, Essays in Honor of Robert W. Young, ed. by E. Jelinek, S. Midgette, K. Rice, and L. Saxon. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press. Pp. 443- 475.
Kari, James. 1996b. A Preliminary View of Hydronymic Districts in Northern Athabaskan Prehistory. Names 44:253-271.
Kari, James and James Fall. 2003. Shem Pete´s Alaska: The Territory of the Upper Cook Inlet Dena´ina. 2nd edition. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press.