Over 24 different languages were once spoken by the Native people of Washington State, and over 400 were spoken in North America. After being forced to stop speaking their languages in boarding schools in the early 20th century, today Native elders are struggling to preserve and teach their languages to the younger generations.
Which culture speak which language? Consult this outline of Northwest Coast tribal and language names, including alternate terms.
| Bates, Dawn, Thom Hess and Vi Hilbert | ||
| 1994 | Lushootseed Dictionary. Seattle: University of Washington Press. | |
| Boas, Franz | ||
| 1911 | The Kwakiutl Indian Language in Handbook of American Indian Languages; Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin #40; 1911. | |
| 1891 | Vocabularies of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Languages. American Philosopical Society Proceedings, Vol 29: 183-193. | |
| 1886 | The Language of the Bilhoola in British Columbia. Science, ser. 1, 7: 218. | |
| Davis, Henry | ||
| 1976 | Tlingit/English Dictionary: Nouns. Sitka: Sheldon Jackson College. | |
| Enrico, John | ||
| 1989 | The Haida Language. Second Beach, B.C.: The Queen Charlotte Islands Museum. | |
| Gibbs, George | ||
| 1877 | Vocabulary of the Ha-ilt-zukh. Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. 1: 144-150. | |
| 1877 | Vocabulary of the Belhola. Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. 1: 267-283. | |
| 1877 | Vocabulary of the Ko-mookhs. Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. 1: 269-283. | |
| Goddard, Ives (ed) | ||
| 1996 | Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 17 - Languages. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. | |
| Harrison, C. | ||
| 1892 | Haida Grammar. Royal Society of Canada Proceedings and Transactoins, ser. 2, 1, pt. 2: 123-226. | |
| Hall, Rev. Alfred J. | ||
| 1888 | A Grammar of the Kwagiutl Language. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. | |
| Hess, Thom | ||
| 1976 | Dictionary of Puget Salish. Seattle: University of Washington Press. | |
| Howay, F.W. | ||
| 1943 | Origin of the Chinook Jargon on the North West Coast. Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 44: 27-55. | |
| Jacobs, Melville | ||
| 1936 | Texts in Chinook Jargon. University of Washington Publications in Anthropology Vol. 7, no. 1. | |
| Kuipers, Aert H. | ||
| 1967 | The Squamish Language; grammar, texts, dictionary. The Hague: Mouton. | |
| Lawrence, Erma (ed). | ||
| 1977 | Haida Dictionary. Fairbanks: The Society for the Preservation of Haida Language and Literature and The Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska. | |
| Pilling, J. C. | ||
| 1893 | Bibliography of the Salishan Languages. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 16: 1-86. | |
| 1894 | Bibliography of theWakashan Languages. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 19: 1-69. | |
| Shaw, George C. | ||
| 1909 | The Chinook Jargon and How to Use It: A Complete and Exhaustive Lexicon of the Oldest Trade Langage of the American Continent. Seattle:Rainier Printing Company. | |
| Story, Gillian L. and Constance M. Naish | ||
| 1973 | Tlingit Verb Dictionary. College, AK: University of Alaska Alaska Native Language Center. | |
| Swanton, John R. | ||
| 1902 | Notes on the Haida Language. American Anthropologist, n.s. 4: 392-403. | |
| Thomas, Edward H. | ||
| 1970 | Chinook: a History and Dictionary of the Northwest Coast Trade Jargon. Portland: Binfords and Mort. | |
| Tolmie, W.F. and G.M. Dawson | ||
| 1884 | Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia. Montreal: 38E-48E. | |