Lushootseed Language and Coast Salish Culture

Lushootseed, or Puget Salish, is one of the more than twenty Salish languages that have been spoken by Native peoples in an area from the Pacific coast east to western Montana, and from Oregon north to central British Columbia. Lushootseed has been spoken in Washington State’s Puget Sound (or "Salish Sea") region,where it has been roughly divided into two regional variants: Northern, traditionally spoken by members of the Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit and Sauk-Suiattle peoples, and Southern, spoken by the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Nisqually and Sahewamish (Squaxin) peoples.

We pay tribute to the Native peoples of this region and honor their knowledge and traditional culture by labeling all the plants in the garden with their Lushootseed names, accompanied by translations in English and Latin. Specifically Northern or Southern Lushootseed plant names are followed by an (N) or (S). In some cases the Lushootseed names of the plants contain important information about the plant’s attributes or uses, reflecting the intimate knowledge that Lushootseed speakers developed with their local plants and their characteristics. We invite you to listen to some of the samples of Lushootseed below and explore some of the cultural refinements that have been developed by Coast Salish peoples.

LUSHOOTSEED LANGUAGE RESOURCES

Tulalip Tribe Lushootseed

Lushootseed Language Division of Tulalip Tribes

Lushootseed Lesson 1

Lushoosteed Lesson 2

University of Washington project on Lushootseed

Lushootseed Research

Bates, Dawn Thom Hess and Vi Hilbert. Lushootseed Dictionary. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994

Bierwert, Crisca, Vi Hilbert and Thom Hess. Lushootseed Texts. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996

Hilbert, Vi. Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1985

COAST SALISH CULTURE RESOURCES

Museum Exhibit: S’abadeb, The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists.
Seattle Art Museum. Exhibit website

Amoss, Pamela. Coast Salish Spirit Dancing: The Survival of an Ancestral Religion. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1978

Ballard, Arthur C. Mythology of Southern Puget Sound. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1929

Brotherton, Barbara ed. S’abadeb, The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008

Collins, June McCormick. Valley of the Spirits. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974

Elmendorf, William. The Structure of Twana Culture. Pullman, WA: Washington State University, 1960

Elmendorf, William. Twana Narratives: Native Historical Accounts of a Coast Salish Culture. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993

Haeberlin, Herman and Erna Gunther. The Indians of Puget Sound. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1952

Jennings, Katie (Director). Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller. New Day Films, 2006

Jennings, Katie (Director). Huchoosedah: Teachings of the Heart. KCTS-9 and BBC Wales, 1995

Miller, Jay. Lushootseed Culture and the Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored Radiance. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999

Suttles, Wayne. Coast Salish Essays. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1987

Suttles, Wayne ed. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 7, Northwest Coast. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Publications

Thrush, Coll. “The Lushootseed Peoples of Puget Sound Country.”

Thrush, Coll. Native Seattle. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008