Sháshíshálh language
Encyclopedia
The Sháshíshálh language, also called Shashishalhem (šášíšáɬəm) and the Sechelt language, is a Coast Salish
language spoken by the Shishalh
(Sechelt) people of southwestern British Columbia
, Canada
, centred on their reserve communities
in the Sechelt Peninsula
area of the Sunshine Coast.
As of 1999, the language was spoken by fewer than 40 elderly people. A grammar of the language by linguist Ron Beaumont was published in 1985.
Sháshíshálh is most closely related to Sḵwxwú7mesh (known in English as Squamish), Halkomelem
, and the Nooksack.
Coast Salish
Coast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the territory that is now the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington state around Puget Sound...
language spoken by the Shishalh
Shishalh
The Shishalh people, at the time of the first European contact had a population near 26,000. Shishalh women were famous for their beautiful cedar woven baskets, using materials gathered from the roots of the cedar tree, cannery grass and birch bark for the design.The Sechelt First Nations...
(Sechelt) people of southwestern British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, centred on their reserve communities
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
in the Sechelt Peninsula
Sechelt Peninsula
The Sechelt Peninsula is located on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, just northwest of Vancouver. It is bounded to the west by Malaspina Strait , to the north by Agamemnon Channel and Jervis Inlet, to the east by Sechelt Inlet , and to the south by the Strait of...
area of the Sunshine Coast.
As of 1999, the language was spoken by fewer than 40 elderly people. A grammar of the language by linguist Ron Beaumont was published in 1985.
Sháshíshálh is most closely related to Sḵwxwú7mesh (known in English as Squamish), Halkomelem
Halkomelem language
Halkomelem is a language of the First Nations peoples of southeastern Vancouver Island from the west shore of Saanich Inlet northward beyond Nanoose Bay, and of the mainland around the Fraser River Delta upriver to Harrison Lake and the lower...
, and the Nooksack.