Chilcotin is spoken in the Central Interior of British Columbia, roughly speaking, in the area to the West of Williams Lake, along Highway 20. It is neighboured by Dakelh (Carrier) to the North, Secwepmectsín (Shuswap) to the East, St'at'imcets (Lillooet) to the South, and Nuxalk (Bella Coola) to the West. (The Ulkatcho Carrier band now occupies Anahim Lake, separating Chilcotin from Nuxalk. However, this is the result of a southward movement in the first decades of the 20th century; this area is traditionally Chilcotin.)
"Chilcotin" is the English rendering of /tsiɬqoxt'in/ "people of the Chilcotin River", where /tsiɬqox/ "Chilcotin River", combines /tsiɬ/ "young man" and /qox/ "river".
There are six Chilcotin bands:
Chilcotin is an Athabaskan language.
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Yinka Déné Language Institute © 2006