“Indians” of the Pacific Coast of Canada/ PART 1

Hey :) I’m really fascinated by the indigenous people of West Canada. So I’m going to tell you a bit more about their language in this post. The Pacific Coast “Indians” are some of the most important tribes in Canada. They were and still are located in the west of Canada on the Pacific Coast.  There are a number of different tribal nations, e.g. the Haida, The Nootka, the Tsimshian, the Coast Salish, the Kwakiutl and the Bella Coola, to name a few. 

·         Way up north at the Queen Charlotte Islands is the Haida nation.

·         The Nootka occupy the west part of the Vancouver Islands in the South of Canada.

·         The Tsimshian reside on the mainland, opposite the Queen Charlotte Islands.

·         The Coast Salish dwell on the mainland in and around Vancouver and at the eastern seaside of Vancouver Island.

·         The Bella Coola Nation lives alongside the Bella Coola Rivers and the Dean and the fjord, where these rivers enter the Pacific.

·         The Kwakiutl are found in the North of Vancouver Island and on the mainland located next to it.

 

(cf. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 1990, pp.33,34)

   

As there were so many tribes, there were also many different language families. Often some nearby located tribes were part of the same language group and their common language was important for trade. Being of the same language family did not mean that they had the same culture, whereas same culture did not mean they had to have same language. However, very often the use of culture and language were very closed related. In former times there were no classifications for the different languages. Anthropologists have ranged them with regard to the sound and the meaning of words.  There is a total of eleven language groups within Canada, but only four on the Pacific Coast:
 

·         Haida
·         Tsimshian
·         Wakashan: spoken by the Nootka and the Kwakiutl
·         Salishan: spoken by the Coast Salish and the Bella Coola  

(cf. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 1990, pp.33,34)

 

If you would like to know more about the Natives, come back later!