The Tsetsaut language 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 by the now-extinct

Tsetsaut The Tsetsaut (Nisga'a language: ''Jits'aawit''; in the Tsetsaut language: ''Wetaŀ'' or ''Wetaɬ'') were an Athabaskan-speaking group whose territory was around the head of the Portland Canal, straddling what is now the boundary between the US state ...

in the Behm and

Portland Canal , image = Hyder Alaska IMG 0276 (22495379342).jpg , alt = , caption = Portland Canal from Hyder, Alaska , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Alaska and British Columbia , group = , coordinates ...

area of Southeast Alaska and northwestern

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 ...

. Virtually everything known of the language comes from the limited material recorded 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 ...

in 1894 from two Tsetsaut slaves of the

Nisga'a The Nisga’a , often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga'a language as (pronounced ), are an Indigenous people of Canada in British Columbia. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The name is a ...

, which is enough to establish that Tsetsaut formed its own branch of Athabaskan. It is not known precisely when the language became extinct. One speaker was still alive in 1927. The Nisga'a name for the Tsetsaut people is "Jits'aawit" The Tsetsaut referred to themselves as the ''Wetaŀ''. The English name ''Tsetsaut'' is an anglicization of , "those of the interior", used by the

Gitxsan Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan) are an Indigenous people in Canada whose home territory comprises most of the area known as the Skeena Country in English (: means "people of" and : means "the River of Mist"). Gitksan territory encompasses approxi ...

and

to refer to the Athabaskan-speaking people to the north and east of them, including not only the Tsetsaut but some

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahane' ...

and

Sekani Sekani or Tse’khene are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The ne ...

Examples

The examples by

Merritt Ruhlen Merritt Ruhlen (May 10, 1944 – January 29, 2021) was an American linguist who worked on the classification of languages and what this reveals about the origin and evolution of modern humans. Amongst other linguists, Ruhlen's work was recognized ...

:Merritt Ruhlen (1994) On the Origin of Languages (Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy)

Bibliography

* Boas, Franz, and Pliny Earle Goddard (1924) "Ts'ets'aut, an Athapascan Language from Portland Canal, British Columbia." ''International Journal of American Linguistics,'' vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–35. * Collison, W. H. (1915) ''In the Wake of the War Canoe: A Stirring Record of Forty Years' Successful Labour, Peril and Adventure amongst the Savage Indian Tribes of the Pacific Coast, and the Piratical Head-Hunting Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.'' Toronto: Musson Book Company. Reprinted by Sono Nis Press, Victoria, B.C. (ed. by Charles Lillard), 1981. * Dangeli, Reginald (1999) "Tsetsaut History: The Forgotten Tribe of Southern Southeast Alaska." In: ''Alaska Native Writers, Storytellers & Orators: The Expanded Edition,'' ed. by Ronald Spatz, Jeane Breinig, and Patricia H. Partnow, pp. 48–54. Anchorage: University of Alaska.

References

External links

First Nations Languages of British Columbia pageOLAC resources in and about the Tsetsaut language
{{Languages of Alaska Extinct languages of North America Northern Athabaskan languages North Coast of British Columbia Languages extinct in the 20th century 20th-century disestablishments in North America