Lushootseed

Lushootseed ( lə-SHOOT-seed), historically known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main dialects, Northern Lushootseed and Southern Lushootseed, which are further separated into smaller sub-dialects. Lushootseed was historically spoken across southern and western Puget Sound roughly between modern-day Bellingham and Olympia by a number of Indigenous peoples. Lushootseed speakers were estimated to number 12,000 at the peak. Today, however, it is primarily a ceremonial language, spoken for heritage or symbolic purposes. There are about 472 known second-language speakers of Lushootseed. It is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger and classified as Reawakening by Ethnologue. Many Lushootseed-speaking tribes are attempting to revitalize the daily use of their language. Several language programs and classes are offered across the region.