Indian language Indian culture Indian art

Washington Native Animal Words

Here are the American Indian names of six native animals of Washington. We have given their names in three different Indian languages: Lushootseed, Saanich, and Yakama.

Two of these Native Washington languages are related to the Salish language family, and the other one is not. Can you guess which languages are relatives by looking at the animal names on this page? (Hint: Not every word will sound similar even in closely related languages, so you will need to look at several different animals to figure it out!) You can find the answer on this page: The Salishan languages.

Washington Native Animal Names

Lushootseed: stiqayu' (pronounced stee-kah-yoo) Saanich: stəqeyəʔ (pronounced stuh-kay-yuh) Yakama: lalawish (pronounced lah-lah-wish)	Lushootseed: hupt (pronounced hoopt) Saanich: haʔpət (pronounced hah-put) Yakama: tl'alk (pronounced tl-alk)
Lushootseed: st'əqax^w (pronounced stuh-kakh) Saanich: sqəlew̕ (pronounced skuh-lew) Yakama: yixa (pronounced yih-kha)	Lushootseed: k'^wat'ad (pronounced kw-ott-odd) Saanich: k'^wet̕ən (pronounced kw-et-un) Yakama: lakas (pronounced lah-koss)
Lushootseed: 'asx^w (pronounced askh) Saanich: ʔesx^w (pronounced eskh) Yakama: walchayu (pronounced wall-chah-yoo)	Lushootseed: chiitbix^w (pronounced cheet-bikh) Saanich: čiitŋəx^w (pronounced cheet-ngukh) Yakama: miimanu (pronounced mee-mah-noo)

Return to our Washington Native American homepage
Learn some native Washington greetings
Print out our Washington wordsearch