Introduction

The following pages describe an ongoing research programme to study T̉aat̉aaqsapa (sometimes referred to as 'Nootka' or 'Nuuchahnulth'). This is the name used by the people to refer to their language and means something like 'speaking straight or truthfully.'

This research programme is based on work conducted over the past 20+ years by the principal investigator, John Stonham. The aim of this research is to provide as comprehensive an account of the nature and structure of the language of the Nuuchahnulth people as is currently possible, employing earlier accounts as well as the PI's own fieldwork results. This language is presently spoken on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, by a handful of elderly speakers, virtually all of them bilingual speakers of English.