ATHAPASCAN  , a widely distributed linguistic stock of

North American Indians, the chief tribes included being the Chippewyan, Navajo, Apache, Jicarilla, Lipan, Hupa and Wailaki . The Athapascan family is geographically divided into Northern, Pacific and Southern . The Northern division (Tinneh or Dene) is about Alaska, and the Yukon and Mackenzie rivers,—the eponymous " Athabasca " tribe living round Lake Athabasca, in the province of Alberta in Canada . The Pacific division covers a strip of territory, some 400 m. in length, from Oregon 827 southwards into California . The Southern division includes Arizona and New Mexico, parts of Utah, Colorado, Kansas and Texas, and the northern part of Mexico . The typical tribes are those of the Northern division . See Handbook of American Indians (Washington, 1907) .