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Alberta Native Animal Words

Here are the Native American names of eight native animals of Alberta. We have given their names in four different Indian languages: Beaver, Blackfoot, Cree, and Dene.

Two of these Native Alberta languages are related to the Athabaskan language family, and the other two are not. Can you guess which languages are Athabaskan by looking at the Alberta animal names on this page? (Hint: Not every word will sound similar even in closely related languages, so you will need to look at several different animals to figure it out!) You can find the answer on this page: Athabaskan languages.

Alberta Native Animal Names


Beaver: ch'one' (pronounced ch-oh-nay)
Blackfoot: ómahkapi'si (pronounced oh-mah-kah-pih-see)
Cree: mahihkan (pronounced muh-hee-kun)
Dene: nuniε (pronounced noo-nee-eh)

Beaver: sas (pronounced sahss)
Blackfoot: kiááyo (pronounced kee-ah-yoh)
Cree: maskwa (pronounced muh-skwuh)
Dene: sas (pronounced sahss)

Beaver: tsáá' (pronounced tsah)
Blackfoot: ksísskstaki (pronounced ksisk-stah-kee)
Cree: amisk (pronounced uh-misk)
Dene: tsá (pronounced tsah)

Beaver: gaah (pronounced gah)
Blackfoot: ááattsistaa (pronounced aht-tsih-stah)
Cree: wâpos (pronounced wah-pos)
Dene: gah (pronounced gah)

Beaver: chwęą (pronounced chwahn)
Blackfoot: pi'ksíí (pronounced pick-see)
Cree: pîyesîs (pronounced pee-yay-sees)
Dene: įyesε (pronounced een-yay-seh)

Beaver: lhuuge (pronounced thloo-gay)
Blackfoot: mamíí (pronounced mah-mee)
Cree: kinosew (pronounced kih-no-sayo)
Dene: łuε (pronounced thloo-eh)

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