The Huilliche language (also known as Veliche and Huiliche) is an Araucanian language spoken (as of 1982) by about 2,000 ethnic Huilliche people in Chile. It is spoken in an area south of the area inhabited by the Mapuche, in the nation's Los Lagos and Los Ríos regions; and mountain valleys, between the city of Valdivia and south toward Chiloé Archipelago. Huilliche has a dialect called Tsesungún.
Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche, is closely related to Huilliche, but they are barely understandable to each other. Most Huilliche speakers are older adults because the language is in decline; most ethnic Huilliche people currently speak Spanish as their first language.
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“The problems of society will also be the problems of the predominant language of that society. It is the carrier of its perceptions, its attitudes, and its goals, for through it, the speakers absorb entrenched attitudes. The guilt of English then must be recognized and appreciated before its continued use can be advocated.”
—Njabulo Ndebele (b. 1948)