Coast Salish languages

The Coast Salish languages, also known as the Central Salish languages, are a branch of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the Pacific Northwest, in the territory that is now known as the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington State around Puget Sound. The term "Coast Salish" also refers to the cultures in British Columbia and Washington who speak one of these languages or dialects.

Geography

The Coast Salish languages are spoken around most of the Georgia and Puget Sound Basins, an area that encompasses the sites of the modern-day cities of Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle, Washington, and others. Archeological evidence indicates that Coast Salish peoples may have inhabited the area as far back as 9000 BCE. What is now Seattle, for example, has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 BCE—10,000 years ago).

In the past, the Nuxálk language (also known as Bella Coola) of British Columbia's Central Coast has also been considered Coast Salish. This language shares at least one phonological change with Coast Salish (the merger of the Proto-Salish pharyngeal approximants with the uvular fricatives), but it also displays certain similarities to the Interior Salish languages. If it is indeed a member of the Coast Salish branch, it was the first to split off from the rest.

Classification

The Coast Salish languages can be classified in anywhere from one to three branches. The Tsamosan and Tillamook languages are often considered by linguists to be independent branches under the Salishan language family, and not part of the Coast Salish branch.

Overview

Below is a list of the Coast Salish languages. Languages and dialects with no living native speakers are marked with Template:Extinct.

• Coast Salish
  • Coast (Central) Salish
    • Comox Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
      • Island Comox () Template:Extinct
      • Sliammon (; also known as Mainland Comox) Template:Extinct
    • Pentlatch () Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
    • shíshálh (also known as Sechelt)
    • Squamish (Template:Langx)
    • Halkomelem
      • Upriver Halkomelem (Template:Langx)
      • Downriver Halkomelem (Template:Langx)
      • Island Halkomelem (Template:Langx)
    • Nooksack (Template:Langx) Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
    • Northern Straits (also known as North Straits)
      • Saanich (Template:Langx)
      • T'Souke
      • Lekwungen (also known as Songhees)
      • Semiahmoo
      • Lummi (Template:Langx)
      • Samish (Template:Langx)
    • S'Klallam (nəxʷsƛ̕áy̓emúcən; also known as Klallam) Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
    • Lushootseed Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
      • Northern Lushootseed (Template:Langx) Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
      • Southern Lushootseed (Template:Langx; also known as Twulshootseed or Whulshootseed) Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
    • Twana (Template:Langx; also known as Skokomish) Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
  • TsamosanTemplate:Efn Template:Extinct
    • Quinault () Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
    • Lower Chehalis () Template:Extinct
    • Upper Chehalis () Template:Extinct
      • Satsop Template:Extinct
    • Cowlitz () Template:ExtinctTemplate:Efn
  • Tillamook/Oregon SalishTemplate:Efn Template:Extinct
    • Tillamook () Template:Extinct
      • Tillamook Template:Extinct
      • Siletz Template:Extinct

See also

• Interior Salish languages
• Tillamook (extinct Salishan language)

Bibliography

• Bates, Dawn, Hess, Thom, and Hilbert, Vi; map by Dassow, Laura, 1994, Lushootseed dictionary, University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, Template:ISBN. (alk. paper) Revised and expanded update of Hess, Thom, Dictionary of Puget Salish (University of Washington Press, 1976). Accessed Sep 24, 2009.
• Template:ISBN. (alk. paper)
• Template:ISBN. (acid-free paper)
• Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa and M. Dale Kinkade (1998) "Salish languages and linguistics" in ibid. (eds.) Salish Languages and Linguistics: Theoretical and Descriptive Perspectives. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 1–71. Template:ISBN.
• 
  Page links to Village Descriptions Duwamish-Seattle section [1].
  Dailey referenced "Puget Sound Geography" by T. T. Waterman. Washington DC: National Anthropological Archives, mss. [n.d.] [ref. 2];
  Duwamish et al. vs. United States of America, F-275. Washington DC: US Court of Claims, 1927. [ref. 5];
  "Indian Lake Washington" by David Buerge in the Seattle Weekly, 1–7 August 1984 [ref. 8];
  "Seattle Before Seattle" by David Buerge in the Seattle Weekly, 17–23 December 1980. [ref. 9];
  The Puyallup-Nisqually by Marian W. Smith. New York: Columbia University Press, 1940. [ref. 10].
  Recommended start is "Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound" [2].
• Kroeber, Paul D. (1999) The Salish Language Family: Reconstructing Syntax. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, Template:ISBN.
• 
  Lange referenced a very extensive list.
  Summary article
  • 
    Lange referenced Lange, "Smallpox Epidemic of 1862 among Northwest Coast and Puget Sound Indians" [3], HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. Accessed 8 December 2000.
• Wayne Suttles (ed.)

Further reading

• Sarah C. Fletcher, (17 April 2000). "The First Nations of the North West Coast-Coast Salish; Connections to the environment, involvement in conservation." First Nations of the Northwest Coast: Coast Salish
• Tom Dailey. "Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound", start page.
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge (PDF). "Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Coast Salish informs modern research and resource management."
• "Coast Salish. Collections: Archeology and Ethnology of the Gulf of Georgia" collection, province of British Columbia

External links

• "Salishan Language Family." Native Languages of the Americas website