Salishan Indians

The Salish peoples is a grouping defined by linguists of the Indigenous peoples who speak or historically spoke the Salishan languages. These people and languages are split into three distinct branches: Nuxalk Coast Salish peoples Interior Salish peoples The term "Salish" originated in the modern era as an exonym created for linguistic research. Salish is an anglicization of Séliš, the endonym for the Salish Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. The Séliš were the easternmost Salish people and the first to have a diplomatic relationship with the United States, so their name was applied broadly to all peoples speaking a related language. The language family may have originated in the Fraser River delta, near present-day Vancouver, British Columbia.