Interior Salish languages

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The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. 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 (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 (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[]

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The Interior Salish languages are closely related, with a structural diversity comparable to many languages around the globe including New Kingdom Egyptian. For example, Amun-Ra translates to Air/motion Sun/Head and in the Snʕickstx Tmxʷúlaʔxʷ (Sinixt , Tmxwulaxw - The home of the BullTrout, in Mothers of man of Earth place, or MothersEarth) the direct translation of Amon-Kn means "It's/They are Ahead" in the context of referring to the sun in motion or a Great Chief walking ahead. In some stories from the Flathead storyteller Lassaw Redhorn and the Kalispel storyteller Domicie Michell the supreme "deity" is called Amot-ken or Amot-kn, a kind, elderly man who lives in the high up mountain or "heaven" according to Abrahamic religion mythology. And that He created the first five women from five hairs from his head Salish Oral Narratives. The Salish Nations or Salis do not believe in a "Deity or God" in the way of modern religion supported by the statements made by Chief Charlo in 1876 still 70 years after first meeting the very first Europeans to enter the area and being introduced to the foreigner/s Abrahamic mythology of patriarchal religion in contrast to our Matriarchal believes in recognizing one self in everything, lift a rock there you are, see a tree or bird you are there too so on and so forth.^[1] There is also grammatical connections to the languages of the Pacific Islanders the South American Indigenous word for the Sweet potato originally indigenous to South America. And to the Hawaiian Islanders with matching legends and the Names of the hereditary chiefs are also grammatically similar seen in the volumes I-IV The Salish People.^[2] Interior Salish also surprising sounds like Modern day Hebrew the Hebrew word for Elyon "the most high/God" in the Sinixt Dialect the word Elyun means "It's/Their ahead" in context to reference to the Sun in motion or to the Leader/Chief of a group traveling. As well with the Hebrew word ELOHIM meaning "Gods" but not plural, the Salish Sinixt word El-Me-whum "A Chief" as in defined as "He is a chief of one of the tribes. As well with Greek in the sound and meaning of the word Ichthys Ichthys and the literal name of the Sinixt, Tmxwulaxw tribe of the Salish nation they are the mother tribe of all the Salish and all those upon the lands within their stories. Sinixt or snʕickstx is a 3 word compound, ʕicks is the context meaning Bulltrout, the Sn and T is the second part of the word mean a place/or belongs there, and the third part is the X making an H in English sound coming from Xw referring to a living thing and ones self and recognition of one self in the living object. As well with a similar sound to modern day Hebrew surprisingly because the Salish Dialect is at least if not more than 5000+ ybp rooted in the Mountains of the Rocky Mountains of the Pacific North West ranging as far north of the Frazer River in British Columbia Canada and as far South as Kennewick, WA and Southeast to the Head waters of Snake River Idaho. Backed by archaeological findings of Stone Artifacts^[3] and the Unearthing of the Kennewick Man, whose descendants in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have been placed genetically to 9000+ ybp and 12000+ ybp in Montana, with the discovery of Anzick-1 Boy, described in older contrasting studies from the 1960s. The speakers of Interior Salish most likely expanded into the area where they have traditionally been found dating back as early as the first millennium BCE, expanding from the coastal area and pushing southward. They only partially displaced the indigenous populations, which had been present since the mid 6th millennium BCE. In the second millennium, in the time leading up to European contact (1793), the Interior Salish were strongly influenced by the spread of culture from the Northwest Coast. Although according to other more recent studies done by Beth A. Schultz of University of California, Ripan S. Malhi of University of California, David G. Smith of University of California in the works titled Examining the Pro to-Algonquian Migration: Analysis of mtDNA^[4] and The origin of language: tracing the evolution of the mother tongue.^[5] The Salish show linguistically that they have been rooted in the Pacific Northwest for at least 6000 ybp and that there was a lingual migration of the Proto-Wakashan-Salish-Algonquin form west to east roughly 6000-4000 ybp that may or may not have involved the movement of people as well. If the latter is true more studies need to be done with the indigenous directly on their oral and traditional histories and on an anthropological level as well for it would imply the Autochthonous Amerindian Indigenous Native Americans were more organized and communicating more intricately amongst them selves prior to any European or Asian contact after the Glacial maximum had receded north between 15-11000 ybp. For with even more recent discoveries of the Autochthonous Amerindian Indigenous Native Americans of North America with the finding of America's oldest known human footprints^[6] scientist are now having to reevaluate there perception of the time frame the Native Americans have been in the Americas, with science starting to reflect on the Indigenous populations creation stories' and oral histories' accuracy and having to look and evaluate them in a new light. ^[7]

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, 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 (Senjextee, Sin Aikst, or Lakes Band), Sanpoil, Okanagan, and Methow, all of whom speak Nxsəlxcin.

Eastern[]

• Spokane, Kalispel, and the Flathead, including the Bitterroot, all of whom speak Montana Salish.

Southern[]

• Sinkiuse-Columbia, Entiat, Wenatchi, 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).

Western[]

• Coastal Salish has been given is own section at Coast_Salish 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 Spokane 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.

See also[]

• Coast Salish languages

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]

• Celebrating Salish Conference
• Celebrating Salish Blog
• Inlander Article for Celebrating Salish