Athabaska

M

Misteryo

Still Mildly Glowing
So maybe I'm an idiot and everyone else knows this. But today one of my coworkers who is studying anthropology dropped the word "athabaskan" which I had never heard before, but which I recognized from the Redding character. I asked him what it meant and he told me essentially what I have referenced below.

Is this common knowledge? Am I just out of the loop? And what does it have to do with the Redding character anyway?

http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Athabaskan

Athabaskan

Language, one of the largest families of American Indian languages; also the collective tribal name of the Athabaskan-speaking people of Alaska and Canada. Athabaskan speakers can be divided into three main branches: the northern, in Alaska and Canada; the Pacific, in Washington, Oregon, and California; and the southern, in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of Mexico. Among the Athabaskan-speaking peoples are the Apache, Navajo, Tlingit, and Chippewa. The Alaskan Athabaskan number 14,500 (2000).

Misteryo
 
Most of the names in Redding (Lou, Dan McGrew, Athabasca, Malamute etc.) are taken from various poems by Robert Service.
 
Thanks! I was entirely ignorant of the word, the territory, the river, Robert Service...

You learn something everyday, I guess.

Misteryo
 
Per said:
Most of the names in Redding (Lou, Dan McGrew, Athabasca, Malamute etc.) are taken from various poems by Robert Service.
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Wow, that's cool :) . Damn, I just read The Shooting of Dan McGrew. Names taken from poems...
That shows what kind of people made Fallouts...
 
Per said:
Most of the names in Redding (Lou, Dan McGrew, Athabasca, Malamute etc.) are taken from various poems by Robert Service.
Click to expand...

Nice. That's a great bit of information there. I had heard the word, Malamute before, but I never knew it was associated with the other names.

Now I'm off to search the interweb for the works of Robert Service!

Thanks a lot, Per.
 
I don't remember how I learned it myself, but "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" is mentioned in the Vault wiki. However, there are also names from "The Cremation of Sam McGee" (LeBarge), "The Ballad of Casey's Billy-Goat" (Widow Rooney) and "The Man from Athabasca", while some names refer to other things (Kokoweef is real mine and Madam Modjeska was a crazy Californian lady).
 
Athabasca was also the title of a 1982 novel by Alistair Maclean. Why do I know this? There used to be an excellent used book store near me, and I saw it on the cheapy shelf for something like $0.25, and thought "Hey, isn't that the name of the dude in Fallout 2?"
 
Dan McGrew is actually a double homage. The origional name Dan McGrew references the Robert Service poem.

However, it is also a reference to the British Sci-fi/Comedy Red Dwarf. In one episode, the characters enter a western themed VR game. One of the available game characters is "Dangerous Dan McGrew" A master of hand to hand combat.
 
El_Smacko said:
Dan McGrew is actually a double homage. The origional name Dan McGrew references the Robert Service poem.

However, it is also a reference to the British Sci-fi/Comedy Red Dwarf. In one episode, the characters enter a western themed VR game. One of the available game characters is "Dangerous Dan McGrew" A master of hand to hand combat.
Click to expand...

That just means Red Dwarf is easter egging the same thing as Fallout 2, not that Fallout 2 is easter egging red dwarf. You can't pay homage to a homage.
 
Stag said:
In Canada there's a place called the Athabasca Falls.
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I realize I came into this one a little late, but Athabasca is also the name of a small town in Alberta, just about an hour north of Edmonton.

Apparently they have a bitchin' radio station though. Don't ask how I know.
 
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