The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being

Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coas ...

. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American explorers were the Flathead people (''Selish'' or ''seliš''), among the most easternly of the group.

Languages

* Northern ** Shuswap (also known as Secwepemctsín, səxwəpməxcín) **

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...

(also known as Lillooet, Sttt'tcets) ** Thompson River Salish (also known as Nlakaʼpamux, Ntlakapmuk, nɬeʔkepmxcín, Thompson River, Thompson Salish, Thompson, known in frontier * Southern ** Coeur d’Alene (also known as Snchitsuʼumshtsn, snčícuʔumšcn) ** Columbia-Moses (also known as Columbia, Nxaʔamxcín) **

Colville-Okanagan Okanagan, or Colville-Okanagan, or Nsyilxcən (n̓səl̓xcin̓, n̓syilxčn̓), is a Salish language which arose among the indigenous peoples of the southern Interior Plateau region based primarily in the Okanagan River Basin and the Columbia R ...

(also known as Okanagan, Nxsəlxcin, Nsilxcín, Nsíylxcən, ta nukunaqínxcən) ** Montana Salish (Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead, Kalispel–Pend d'Oreille language, Spokane–Kalispel–Bitterroot Salish–Upper Pend d'Oreille) The Southern Interior Salish languages share many common phonemic values but are separated by both vowel and consonant shifts (for example k k̓ x > č č' š).

Peoples speaking an Interior Salish language

Northern

* Secwepemc, also known as Shuswap, Secwepemctsín, səxwəpməxcín ( ʃəxwəpməxtʃín) * St̓át̓imc, also known as Lillooet, Stlʼatlʼimx, Stlʼatlʼimc, Sƛ’aƛ’imxǝc ( St̓át̓imcets, also known as ''Úcwalmicwts'') *

Nlaka'pamux The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...

, also known as Thompson River Salish, Ntlakapmuk, Ntleʼkepmxcín, Thompson River, Thompson Salish, Thompson, known in frontier times as the Hakamaugh, Klackarpun, Couteau or Knife Indians

Central

* Colville,

Sinixt The Sinixt"Sinixt Nation…" (also known as the Sin-Aikst or Sin Aikst,Reyes 2002, ''passim.'' "Senjextee", "Arrow Lakes Band", or — less commonly in recent decades — simply as "The Lakes") are a First Nations People. The Sinixt are ...

(Senjextee, Sin Aikst, or Lakes Band), Sanpoil,

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

, and Methow, all of whom speak Nxsəlxcin.

Eastern

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

Kalispel The Pend d'Oreille ( ), also known as the Kalispel (), are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington of the United States. The Kalispel peoples referred to their primary tribal range ...

, and the Flathead, including the

Bitterroot Bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva'') is a small perennial herb in the family Montiaceae. Its specific epithet ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots. The genus '' Lewisia'' was moved in 2009 fro ...

, all of whom speak Montana Salish.

Southern

Sinkiuse-Columbia The Sinkiuse-Columbia are a Native American tribe so-called because of their former prominent association with the Columbia River. They belong to the inland division of the Salishan group, with their nearest relatives being the Wenatchis and Me ...

, Entiat,

Wenatchi The Wenatchi people or Šnp̍əšqʷáw̉šəxʷi / Np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ ("People in the between") are Native Americans who originally lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Central Washington state. They spoke Inter ...

, and Chelan, all of whom speak Columbia-Moses, also known as Nxaảmxcín, Sinkiuse-Columbia, Sinkiuse, Columbia. * Coeur d'Alene people, also known as Schitsu'umsh or Skitswish (

Coeur d'Alene language Coeur d'Alene (Cœur d'Alène, Snchitsu’umshtsn) is a Salishan language. It was spoken by only two of the 80 individuals in the Coeur d'Alene Tribe on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in northern Idaho, United States in 1999. It is considered ...

Western

*Coastal Salish has been given is own section at

Coast_Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coas ...

which has been divided farther into 30+ other Salishan speaking populations of the PNW. Many speakers and students of these languages live near the city of

and for the past three years have gathered at the Celebrating Salish Conference which is hosted by the Kalispel Tribe at the

Northern Quest Resort & Casino Northern Quest Resort & Casino is an Indian casino in Airway Heights, Washington, near Spokane, owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe. It has a 250-room hotel, a spa, and 14 restaurants and lounges. The casino has of gaming space, with over ...

References

External links

Celebrating Salish Conference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interior Salish Languages Salishan languages Indigenous languages of Washington (state) Indigenous languages of the North American Plateau