Salish
/ˈseɪ.lɪʃ/noun
Salish is a name for a group of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest and for the related family of languages they speak.
Did you know?“Salish” is an English spelling of Séliš, the autonym of the Bitterroot Salish people; scholars do not have a securely established literal translation for the name.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact period
Séliš
Séliš
“Autonym used by the Bitterroot Salish people for themselves; the deeper meaning is not securely known.”
18th Century
English
Flathead
“An English colonial name used for the Bitterroot Salish; it referred to a mistaken or externally imposed idea about head-shaping practices.”
18th–19th Century
English
Salish
“English rendering of Séliš, initially associated especially with the Bitterroot Salish.”
19th Century
English
Salishan
“A linguistic classification term formed from Salish and applied to the broader family of related languages.”
Modern English
English
Salish
“A collective ethnonym and linguistic label referring to Indigenous peoples and languages of the Pacific Northwest.”