Nicola is an extinct

Athabascan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific ...

language formerly spoken in the Similkameen and Nicola Countries of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

by the group known to linguists and ethnographers as the

Nicola people The Nicola people are a First Nations political and cultural alliance in the Nicola Country region of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. They are mostly located in the Nicola River valley around the area of Merri ...

, although that name in modern usage refers to an alliance of Interior Salishan bands living in the same area. Almost nothing is known of the language. The available material published by

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

required only three pages. What the Nicola called themselves and their language is unknown. The

Salishan The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ...

-speaking

Thompson language The Thompson language, properly known as Nlaka'pamuctsin, also known as the Nlaka'pamux ('Nthlakampx') language, is an Interior Salishan language spoken in the Fraser Canyon, Thompson Canyon, Nicola Country of the Canadian province of British ...

Indians who absorbed them (today's

, in part) refer to them as the "the strangers". So little is known of the language that beyond the fact that it is Athabascan it cannot be classified. Some linguists have suggested that it is merely a displaced dialect of Chilcotin, but the evidence is too little to allow a decision.

References

*Boas, Franz (1924) ''Vocabulary of an Athapascan Tribe of Nicola Valley, British Columbia,'' International Journal of American Linguistics 3.1.36-38.
''The Thompson Country'', Mark Sweeten Wade
{{Languages of Canada Northern Athabaskan languages Indigenous languages of the North American Plateau First Nations languages in Canada Extinct languages of North America Nicola Country