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Native Languages of the Americas: Amerindian Language Families

Hello, and welcome to Native Languages of the Americas! We are a small non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting American Indian languages, especially through the use of Internet technology. Our website is not beautiful. Probably, it never will be. But this site has inner beauty, for it is, or will be, a compendium of online materials about more than 800 indigenous languages of the Western Hemisphere and the people that speak them.

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Native Languages of the Americas Online Resources

Click here for an alphabetical master list of Amerindian languages.

Click here for a list of Amerindian language families showing the linguistic relationships between Amerind languages.

Click here for a list of vocabulary words in various Amerindian languages.

Click here for a list of indigenous American peoples featured on our site.

Click here for a geographical index of Amerindian tribes grouped by continent, country, and state or province.

Click here for a map of Amerindian culture areas of the Western Hemisphere.

Click here for a list of American Indian books and other resources by and about Native Americans.

Click here for our online collection of American Indian myths and legends.

Click here for our American Indians Facts for Kids.

Click here for links to general Amerindian language resources.

NOTE: We are not responsible for the content of the external sites we link to. Some of them are more useful than others. We have tried to provide the most complete directory of Amerindian language materials available online. If you have found a dead link, an error in need of correction, or a great new Amerindian site we should add to our index, here is our contact page, also with answers to frequently asked questions. If you are looking for Orrin's homepage, we moved it to its own location to give more prominence to the Amerindian language pages.

Why aren't there any links about Amerindian languages being related to Ancient Egyptian or the island of Atlantis? See our new page explaining the truth behind some of the incorrect "theories" floating around the web about Amerind languages, cultures, and history.

Feel free to link to this site or to any of the pages in it. Also, you have our permission to use this information in any way you would like to. Our goal is to make it easier to learn about, preserve, and revive Amerindian languages by using the Internet. This is a public service on our part. All our information about Amerindians and Amerindian language families was written by Orrin Lewis, Laura Redish, or our friend Nancy Sherman, who has kindly agreed to let us use them. We will make every possible effort to honor any requests from Indian tribes and nations, and we will listen carefully to requests from other people as well.

Thank you for your interest in American Indian languages.

Laura Redish, Director
Orrin Lewis, Tribal Coordinator

Amerindian Language Families

Actually, Amerindian languages do not belong to a single language family, but 25-30 small ones; they are usually discussed together because of the small numbers of native speakers of the Amerindian language families and how little is known about many of them. There are around 25 million native speakers of the more than 800 surviving Amerind languages. The vast majority of these speakers live in Central and South America, where language use is vigorous. In Canada and the United States, only about half a million native speakers of an Amerindian tongue remain.

Click on a language family to see a linguistic tree of that family and links about the group. Click on a language name to see a description and links about that language, as well as information about the Native American people who speak it.

Algic Amerindian Language Family: Abnaki-Penobscot, Algonquin, Arapaho, Attikamek, Blackfoot (Siksika, Blackfeet), Cheyenne, Cree, Etchemin, Gros Ventre (Atsina), Kickapoo, Lenape (Delaware), Loup A/Loup B, Lumbee (Pamlico, Croatan), Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, Menominee, Mesquakie-Sauk (Sac and Fox), Miami-Illinois, Michif (Metis), Mi'kmaq (Micmac), Mohegan/Pequot, Mohican/Mahican, Montagnais Innu, Munsee, Nanticoke, Narragansett, Naskapi Innu, Ojibwe (Chippewa, Anishinaabemowin), Potawatomi, Powhatan, Shawnee, Wampanoag, Wiyot, Yurok; possibly Beothuk (Red Indian)
Arawakan Amerindian Language Family: Achagua, Arawak, Ashaninka, Garifuna, Marawa, Mariate, Taino
Athapaskan Amerindian Language Family: Ahtna, Apache, Babine, Beaver, Carrier, Chilcotin, Chipewyan-Dene, Gwichin, Haida, Hupa, Kaska, Navajo-Dine, Slavey, Tlingit
Caddoan Amerindian Language Family: Arikara, Caddo, Pawnee
Cariban Amerindian Language Family: Carib, Makusi
Chibchan Amerindian Language Family: Bribri, Kuna, Guaymi, Damana, Chibcha, Bari
Eskimo-Aleut Language Family: Aleut, Inuktitut, Yupik
Hokan Amerindian Language Family: Achumawi, Chimariko, Chumash, Havasupai, Karuk, Kashaya, Maricopa, Mohave, Pomo, Quechan
Iroquoian Amerindian Language Family: Cayuga, Cherokee (Tsalagi), Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Susquehannock, Tuscarora, Wyandot
Kiowa-Tanoan Amerindian Language Family: Kiowa, Tewa, Tiwa, Towa
Macro-Ge Amerindian Language Family: Apinage, Bororo, Xavante
Mayan Amerindian Language Family: Acatec, Achi, Ch'ol, Chontal, Itza, Kaqchikel, Yucatec Mayan
Muskogean Amerindian Language Family: Alabama, Apalachee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Coushatta, Miccosukee, Muscogee
Oto-Manguean Amerindian Language Family: Mangue, Matlatzinca, Mixtec, Zapotec
Panoan Amerindian Language Family: Amahuaca, Atsahuaca, Cashibo, Chacobo, Isconahua, Marubo, Matis, Matses, Poyanawa, Sharanahua, Shipibo
Penutian Amerindian Language Family: Alsea, Cathlamet, Chinook, Chinook Jargon, Coos, Klamath, Maidu, Miwok, Nez Perce, Nisgaa-Gitxsan, Ohlone, Tsimshian, Tualatin, Wintu, Yakama, Yokuts
Salishan Amerindian Language Family: Bella Coola, Chehalis, Coeur d'Alene, Cowichan, Cowlitz, Flathead Salish, Lillooet, Quinault, Saanich, Squamish, Snohomish
Siouan Amerindian Language Family: Assiniboine, Biloxi, Catawba, Crow, Dakota-Lakota, Hidatsa, Hochunk, Kansa, Mandan, Osage, Ponca-Omaha, Otoe, Quapaw
Tucanoan Amerindian Language Family: Orejon, Secoya
Tupi-Guarani Language Family: Guarani, Xipaya
Uto-Aztecan Amerindian Language Family: Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Comanche, Diegueno, Hopi, Huichol, Juaneno, Luiseno, Nahuatl, Paiute, Papago-Pima, Shoshone, Tarahumara, Tongva, Ute, Yaqui
Wakashan Amerindian Language Family: Bella Bella, Haisla, Kwakiutl, Makah, Nootka
Other Native North American Languages: Atakapa, Bidai, Cayuse, Chitimacha, Keres, Kootenay, Natchez, Timucua, Tonkawa, Tunica, Yuchi, Zuni
Other Native Central American Languages: Cofan, Huave, Popoluca, Purepecha, Tepehua, Totonaca
Other Native South American Language Families: Alacalufan, Arauan, Arutani-Sape, Aymara, Barbacoan, Bora, Cahuapanan, Chapacuran, Choco, Chon, Guahiban, Harakmbut, Katukinan, Jirajaran, Jivaroan, Lule-Vilelan, Maku, Mapudungun, Mascoian, Matacan, Muran, Nambikwaran, Quechua, Salivan, Tsachila, Uru-Chipaya, Waikuruan, Witotan, Yaguan, Yanomaman, Zamucan, Zaparoan

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