Native to Canada Native speakers 350 (2011 census) | Region Yukon | |
Ethnicity 2,500 (1,100 Northern Tutchone, 1,400 Southern Tutchone; 2007) Language family Dené–Yeniseian?
Na-Dené
Athabaskan–Eyak
Athabaskan
Northern Athabaskan
Tutchone ISO 639-3 Either:
tce – Southern
ttm – Northern | ||
Tutchone is a threatened Athabaskan language spoken in the Yukon Territory in Canada. It has two varieties that are sometimes considered separate languages, Southern Tutchone and Northern Tutchone.
Contents
Southern Tutchone is spoken in the Yukon communities of Aishihik, Burwash Landing, Champagne, Haines Junction, Kloo Lake, Klukshu, Lake Laberge, and Whitehorse.
Northern Tutchone is spoken in the Yukon communities of Mayo, Pelly Crossing, Stewart Crossing, Carmacks, and Beaver Creek.
Dialects
Southern (Dän kʼè)
Northern (Dän kʼí)
Vocabulary comparison
The comparison of some words in the two languages.
¹ Big Salmon dialect ² Pelly Crossing dialect
Use and revitalization efforts
Jerry Alfred's "Etsi Shon" (Grandfather song), sung in Northern Tuchone, won a Juno Award in the Best Aboriginal Album category in 1996.
Southern Tutchone language classes have been offered in Yukon schools since the early 1980ʼs and is now taught in 8 schools in Whitehorse, Haines Junction, and at Kluane Lake.
In 2009, kindergarten classes in Haines Junction began learning Southern Tuchone in a bi-cultural program.
Since 2011 the Adäka Cultural Festival, an annual multi-disciplinary arts and culture festival, has been held in Whitehorse. Celebrating First Nations arts and culture, with a specific focus on Yukon First Nations, 'Adäka', in the Southern Tutchone language, means 'coming into the light'.