Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene (French: Cœur d'Alène), known to its speakers as Snchitsu’umshtsn, is a Salishan language. It was spoken by only two of the 800 individuals in the Coeur d'Alene Tribe on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in northern Idaho, United States in 1999. It is considered an endangered language. However, as of 2014, two elders in their 90s remain who grew up with Cœur d'Alène as their first language, and the use of the language is spreading among all age groups.

The Coeur d'Alene Names-Places Project visits geographic sites on the reservation recording video, audio, and still photos of Tribal elders who describe the site in both English and Coeur d'Alene languages.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribal Language Program and elders have actively promoted the use of the language, and have created computer sounds that use Snchitsu’umshtsn phrases. Radio station KWIS FM 88.3 in Plummer, Idaho, offers programming to preserve the Snchitsu’umshtsn language.

From Wikipedia · Coeur d'Alene language · CC BY-SA 4.0