Wakashan

American  

[wah-kash-uhn, waw-kuh-shan] / wɑˈkæʃ ən, ˈwɔ kəˌʃæn /

noun

1. a family of Indigenous languages spoken in British Columbia and the state of Washington and including especially Kwakiutl and Nuu-chah-nulth.

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Wakashan British  

/ wɑːˈkæʃən, ˈwɔːkəˌʃɑːn /

noun

1. a family of North American Indian languages of British Columbia and Washington, including Kwakiutl and Nootka

2. a speaker of any of these languages

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Etymology

Origin of Wakashan

First recorded in 1890–95; coined by J.W. Powell from Wakash, used as the name of a Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) subgroup but originally a misapplication of Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) wa·ka·š “bravo!” + -an

Example Sentences

Yet, with a disregard of the laws of nomenclature, the Ethnological Bureau at Washington has only recently announced its intention of knowing them officially by the meaningless title of "Wakashan."

From The Adventures of John Jewitt Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island by Jewitt, John Rodgers

On the west, in British Columbia, the Athapascan tribes nowhere reach the coast, being cut off by the Wakashan, Salishan, and Chimmesyan families.

From Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 1-142 by Powell, John Wesley

The relationship of this family to the Wakashan is a very interesting problem.

From Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 1-142 by Powell, John Wesley

AHT, a confederacy of twenty-two tribes of North American Indians of the Wakashan stock.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg