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The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to, Yukon. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 〔 long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,430 m³/s (227,000 ft³/s).〔 The total drainage area is 832,700 km² (321,500 mi²),〔 of which 323,800 km² (126,300 mi²) is in Canada. By comparison, the total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta. The longest river in Alaska and Yukon, it was one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Gold Rush. A portion of the river in Yukon—"The Thirty Mile" section, from Lake Laberge to the Teslin River—is a national heritage river and a unit of Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park.〔(The Thirty Mile (Yukon River) National Heritage River ), National Heritage Rivers System〕〔(Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park ), Parks Canada〕 Paddle-wheel riverboats continued to ply the river until the 1950s, when the Klondike Highway was completed. After the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867, the Alaska Commercial Company acquired the assets of the Russian-American Company and constructed several posts at various locations on the Yukon River. The name ''Yukon'', or ''ųųg han'', is a shortened version of the Gwich'in phrase ''chųų gąįį han'', which means ''white water river'' and refers to the visual effect of glacial silt in the Yukon River.〔“Dear Sir / I have great pleasure in informing you that I have at length after much trouble and difficulties, succeed() in reaching the ‘Youcon’, or white water River, so named by the natives from the pale colour of its water.” Hudson’s Bay Company Correspondence to George Simpson from John Bell (August 1, 1845), (HBC Archives ), D.5/14, fos. 212-215d, also quoted in, (, at page 21 ).〕 〔In Gwich’in, adjectives, such as ''big'' (''choo'') and ''white'' (''gąįį''), follow the nouns that they modify. Thus, ''white water'' is ''chųų gąįį''. ''White water river'' is ''chųų gąįį han''. (), at pp. ii (ą, į, ų are nasalized a, i, u), xii (adjectives follow nouns), 19 (''big'' = ''nitsii'' or ''choo''), 88 (''ocean'' = ''chųų choo'' (''big water'' )), 105 (''river'' = ''han''), 142 (''water'' = ''chųų''), 144 (''white'' = ''gąįį'').〕 The phrase was shortened by removing the consonant “ch” and the vowels “ąįį.”〔The first two words of the phrase ''chųų gąįį han'' (''white water river'') were shortened and combined to form ''ųųg''. The entire phrase thus became ''ųųg han'' (or ''yuk han'', if the “ųų” is not nasalized). This shortened version existed by 1843, because the Deg Hit’an and the Holikachuk had borrowed it by then, as set forth below.〕 In 1843, the Russians had been told that ''Yukkhana'' was the Deg Xinag and Holikachuk name for the river and that the name meant ''big river''.〔“(Yukon ) in the language of the Kang-ulit (Yup’ik) people is ''Kvikhpak''; in the dialect of the downriver Inkilik (Deg Hit’an and Holikachuk), ''Yukkhana''; of those upriver (Koyukon), ''Yuna''. All these terms mean the same thing in translation–‘Big River.’ I have kept the local names as a clearer indication of the different tribes along the river.” Lt. Zagoskin’s Note 63 (1848), translated in, , at page 295. The language of the Deg Hit’an = Deg Xinag. Zagoskin did not come into contact with the Gwich’in Indians and had no access to the information that ''Yukon'' means ''white water river'' in Gwich’in.〕 Although it did serve as the name, ''Yukkhana'' does not correspond to a phrase in either language that means ''big river''.〔In Deg Xinag, ''big river'' or ''big water'' would be ''xinchux'' or ''techux''. In Holikachuk, ''big river'' or ''big water'' would be ''xinchux'' or ''toochux''. () (''big'' = ''chux'' (the modified noun ); ''flow'' = ''nelingh''; ''river'' = ''xin''; ''water'' = ''te''); (), at page 19 (''river'' = ''xin''; ''water'' = ''too''); (), at page 29, note 33 (''big'' = ''chux'' in Holikachuk).〕 〔Thirty-nine pages of cited “Sources,” representing over a century of research, did not verify Zagoskin’s report that ''Yukon'' means ''big river''. , at pp. 6-44 (“Sources of Names”), 1069 (“The Eskimo … descriptively called it ‘Kuikpak’ meaning ‘big river.’ The Indian name ‘Yukon’ probably means the same thing.”). Orth does not say “probably” when discussing ''Kuikpak''’s meaning. Orth’s use of “probably” is limited to the discussion of ''Yukon''’s meaning, which indicates that Zagoskin’s report that ''Yukon'' means ''big river'' was never verified. In addition, Orth’s “Sources” do not even include the Hudson’s Bay Company correspondence, which states that ''Yukon'' means ''white water river'' in Gwich’in. Nor do Orth’s “Sources” include aboriginal dictionaries.〕 The Deg Hit’an and Holikachuk had borrowed the upriver language name and conflated its meaning with the meaning of ''Kuigpak'', the Yup’ik name for the same river.〔The Deg Hit’an and the Holikachuk were in a position to conflate the meanings of the two names, because they traded with people who spoke the two languages. It was reported that: “The Inkalik proper () and the Inkalit Yug-elnut (Hit’an ), who are chiefly occupied in trading both with their fellow tribesmen and with the neighboring tribes of Kang-ulit (Yup’ik), have adopted the way of life of the latter …” Because they had adopted the Yup’ik way of life and because they were intermediaries in trade, the Deg Hit’an and the Holikachuk probably were “the Esquimaux” referred to in another report: “The Esquimaux to the westwards likewise ascends the ‘Youcon’ and carry on a trade with the natives, as well as with the Musquash () Indians …” , at page 244; Hudson’s Bay Company Correspondence to Simpson from Bell (1845), (HBC Archives ), D.5/14, fos. 212, 213.〕 Two years later, Hudson’s Bay Company was told that ''Yukon'' was a Gwich'in name and phrase meaning ''white water river''.〔 The latter translation does correspond to a Gwich’in phrase that can be shortened to ''Yukon''.〔 〔 The Lewes River is the former name of the upper course of the Yukon, from Marsh Lake to the confluence of the Pelly River at Fort Selkirk. The Yukon River has had a history of pollution from gold mining, military installations, dumps, wastewater, and other sources. However, the Environmental Protection Agency does not list the Yukon River among its impaired watersheds, and water quality data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows relatively good levels of turbidity, metals, and dissolved oxygen. The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, a cooperative effort of 70 First Nations and tribes in Alaska and Canada, has the goal of making the river and its tributaries safe to drink from again by supplementing and scrutinizing Government data. ==Course== The generally accepted source of the Yukon River is the Llewellyn Glacier at the southern end of Atlin Lake in British Columbia. Others suggest that the source is Lake Lindeman at the northern end of the Chilkoot Trail. Either way, Atlin Lake flows into Tagish Lake (via the Atlin River), as eventually does Lake Lindeman after flowing into Bennett Lake. Tagish Lake then flows into Marsh Lake (via the Tagish River). The Yukon River proper starts at the northern end of Marsh Lake, just south of Whitehorse. Some argue that the source of the Yukon River should really be Teslin Lake and the Teslin River, which has a larger flow when it reaches the Yukon at Hootalinqua. The upper end of the Yukon River was originally known as the Lewes River until it was established that it actually was the Yukon. North of Whitehorse, the Yukon River widens into Lake Laberge, made famous by Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Other large lakes that are part of the Yukon River system include Kusawa Lake (into the Takhini River) and Kluane Lake (into the Kluane and then White River). The river passes through the communities of Whitehorse, Carmacks, (just before the Five Finger Rapids) and Dawson City in Yukon, and crossing Alaska into Eagle, Circle, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, Rampart, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Nulato, Grayling, Holy Cross, Russian Mission, Marshall, Pilot Station, St. Marys (which is accessible from the Yukon at Pitkas Point), and Mountain Village. After Mountain Village, the main Yukon channel frays into many channels, sprawling across the delta. There are a number of communities after the "head of passes," as the channel division is called locally: Nunum Iqua, Alakanuk, Emmonak, and Kotlik. Of those delta communities, Emmonak is the largest with roughly 760 people in the 2000 census. Emmonak's gravel airstrip is the regional hub for flights. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yukon River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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