Nuu-chah-nulth Language

Nuu-chah-nulth Language

Nuu-chah-nulth (also called Nootka, and T'aat'aaqsapa) is a Wakashan language spoken in the Pacific Northwest of North America, on the west coast of Vancouver Island from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound in British Columbia, by the Nuu-chah-nulth people. Nuu-chah-nulth is a Southern Wakashan language related to Nitinaht and Makah.

Kim (2003) estimates the number of Nuu-chah-nulth speakers at approximately 150–200, while the 2001 Canadian census puts the figure at about 505. Linguists find the language fascinating because of its morphological and phonological complexity.

It is the first language of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast to have documentary written materials describing it. In the 1780s Captains Vancouver, Quadra, and other European explorers and traders frequented Nootka Sound and the other Nuu-chah-nulth communities, making reports of their voyages. From 1803–1805 John R. Jewitt, an English blacksmith, was held captive by chief Maquinna at Nootka Sound. He made an effort to learn the language, and in 1815 published a memoir with a brief glossary of its terms.