Trace, Purity, and the Moral Status of Remains in an Alaska Dene Culture: A Linguistic and Cultural Analysis of Dena’ina -ggesh

Abstract

Scholars of Dena’ina, a Northern Dene (Athabaskan) language of south-central Alaska, have assigned great importance to a set of terms derived from the root -ggesh, typically translated either as “trace” or “impurity,” proposing the concepts they refer to as a cultural explanation for the otherwise puzzling dearth of human and animal remains at Dena’ina archaeological sites. This paper critically reexamines the root and associated terminology, especially through the lens of the work of Dena’ina writer Peter Kalifornsky (1911–1993). I propose that, rather than an “impurity” (as argued by Alan Boraas and Donita Peter), -ggesh should be interpreted as a morally neutral trace, or more broadly, a site of entanglement between material substance and spirit, which may have acquired a morally negative valence in the context of Dena’ina Christian vocabulary. This revised understanding of the concept helps to make sense of diverse features of the linguistic, historical, and archaeological landscape in Dena’ina Country.