Coast Salish
/ˌkoʊst ˈseɪlɪʃ/noun
A collective name for Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, especially in British Columbia and Washington State, who speak related Salishan languages.
Did you know?“Salish” was adopted by outsiders from Séliš, a traditional name associated especially with the Bitterroot Salish, while many Coast Salish nations use their own distinct names and identities.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ost-
“Bone; a reconstructed root connected with words for bone and sometimes rib.”
Classical Latin
Latin
costa
“Rib, side, or flank—the source of the geographic sense of a coastline as the side of the land.”
Old French
Old French
coste
“Rib, side, or shore; the word developed from Latin costa.”
Middle English
Middle English
coste
“The side of a landmass or the seashore.”
19th Century
English
Salish
“An English ethnonym derived from Séliš, a name associated with the Flathead, or Bitterroot Salish, people; its exact Indigenous sense is not securely established.”
20th Century
English
Coast Salish
“An anthropological and linguistic collective term for related Indigenous nations and communities of the Northwest Coast.”