About the Language
In this video, Muckleshoot Elder and Language Caretaker Valerie Bellack shares the importance of the Muckleshoot Language.
Coast Salish
The Salish language family is split into two major groups, Coast Salish and Interior Salish. Muckleshoots speak Coast Salish. The Coast Salish language group encapsulates the Tribes along the Salish Sea, from the Southern Sound into Canada and Vancouver Island.
Salish Language Family
The Muckleshoot Language is within the greater Salish language family. Salish is spoken from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, from Oregon all the way to Canada.
Lushootseed
Lushootseed is the language of what we now call the Puget Sound. It is split into two groups- Northern and Southern Lushootseed. Muckleshoots speak the southern dialect. While there are some distinctions between the two, Northern and Southern Lushootseed are understandable to each other.
Lushootseed was a term coined by Vi Hilburt and Tom Hess to describe the language spoken by our ancestors. Our ancestors did not have a name for our language but referred to it as
“Our Indian Language."
Lola Lobahan, Bernice Tanawasha, Bertha McJoe, Ellen Williams created the term to describe the language spoken at Muckleshoot.