Origins & Settlement Patterns INFORMATION
Linguistics
Language is at the root of every First Nations culture. The identity of a people is in part created by language because language influences social lifeways and spiritual practices. Linguists have linked language diversity to length of human occupation. For example, Canada's Pacific Coast has the greatest number of languages. Because of this diversity, linguists have concluded that the Pacific Coast peoples have occupied their region longer than other First Nations groups have occupied their own regions. First Nations languages within what is now Canada are classified into twelve separate groups of approximately fifty languages. The language groupings are broken down into different languages and dialects. Historians understand how groups identify themselves and interpret their environment through language. However, the migrations of the past two hundred years - the result of European trade, disease, and resource depletion - have changed the linguistic landscape of Canada. Pre-European contact histories are developed in part by examining historic language relations and the associated cultures.
Click on the links below to learn more about some First Nation Languages
Haidian (28)
Athapaskan (Na Dene)
Kootenaian (27)
Algonquian (Algic)
Iroquoian (7-14)
Eskaleut (Eskimo-Aleut)
Beothuk (1)