Don Addison Photo by Larry Johnson

The Sahaptian Language Family

Arlie Neskahi:
Welcome back to Wisdom of the Elders.

Don Addison:
Halito! I'm Don Addision and this is speaking Native.

The Umatilla language has six sisters which form the Columbia River subdivision of the Sahaptian language family. The Umatilla name is derived from imatilám-hlama —and hlama means “those living at” or “people of” “ imatilám.” to this day, debate surrounds imatilám's meaning but it could be an island in the Columbia.

Until next time, yakoke !

 

Columbia River. Courtesy Amerika-Live: Oregon.