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Coos Indian Language (Coosan, Hanis, Miluk)

The two Coos dialects, Hanis and Miluk, were once spoken on the coast of Oregon. Unfortunately the last native Coosan speaker died in 1972, but the language appears to have been related to Siuslaw and Alsea, and some linguists consider all these languages part of a broader Penutian language family. Miluk Coosan is sometimes referred to as "Lower Coquille" by anthropologists. The term "lower" does not have anything to do with the language, which is completely unrelated to the Athabascan language of the Upper Coquille. It only has this name because the traditional homeland of the Miluk includes the lower part of the Coquille River, whereas the Tututni or Upper Coquille lived upriver.

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Coos Language Resources

Coos
     Profile of the Coos tribe with a map and language chart.
Coos Language: * Coos Grammar * Coos Phonology * Coos Text:
    Scanned-in Coos language materials from the Rosetta Project.
House of Languages: Hanis:
    Information about Hanis language usage.
Coos
     Demographic information about Coos from the Ethnologue of Languages.
Pacific Northwest Language Domains:
    Language map of Coos and other Northwest Coast languages of Washington, Oregon and California.
Hanis Coos Language Tree * Miluk Coos Language Tree:
    Theories about Coos's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.
Coos Language Structures:
    Hanis Coos linguistic profiles and academic bibliographies.

Coos Culture and History Links

Confederated Tribes of The Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians
     Official homepage of the Oregon tribe comprising the Coos Indians and their neighbors.
Confederated Tribes of Siletz:
    Home to descendants of the Coos and many other tribes of Washington, Oregon and California.
West Coast Athabaskans
     Brief history of the Kwalhioqua, Coos, and other Oregon Athabascan tribes from the University of Oregon.
Coos Indians
     Article on Coos history and culture.
Coos Legends:
    Collection of Coos Indian legends and folktales.
Oregon Indian Tribes
     Fact sheet about the Coos and other Oregon Indian tribes.
Four Directions: Coos:
    Timeline and links about Coos history.

Books For Sale On The Coos
Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links

She's Tricky Like Coyote
     Interesting biography of Coos elder Annie Miner Peterson for sale online.
When Grandmother Sang Her Song: Tales of the Kusan
     Small collection of Coos Indian legends.
A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest:
    Book on the history of the Northwest Coast tribes, including a section on the Coos.

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Links, References, and Additional Information

  Coosan Language * Coos People:
  Encyclopedia articles about the Coos tribe and their language.
  Hanis Coos * Miluk Coos:
  Information on the Coosan languages in Spanish.



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