Nooksack people

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Nooksack
Noxws’áʔaq

Clockwise from top: Koma Kulshan, bald eagle, Chinook salmon, Georgia Strait; supporters: sword ferns
Total population
1,800
Regions with significant populations
Whatcom County
Languages
English, Nooksack
Religion
American Indian pantheism, Christianity, other
Related ethnic groups
other Coast Salish peoples

The Nooksack (/ˈnʊksæk/; Nooksack: Noxwsʼáʔaq) are a federally recognized Native American tribe near the Pacific Northwest Coast. They are a sovereign nation, located in the mainland northwest corner of Washington state in the United States along the Nooksack River near the small town of Deming (in western Whatcom County), and 12 miles south of the Canadian border.^[1] As of 2008, they had more than 1,800 enrolled members.^[2] Their terms for citizenship include descent from persons listed in a 1942 tribal census.

They are part of the Coast Salish people and have traditionally spoken Nooksack, one of the Salishan family of languages. It is closely related to the Halkomelem language of coastal British Columbia, and at one time was considered a dialect of the latter. At the time of European encounter, the Nooksack people occupied territory extending into present-day British Columbia. But the setting of the border between Canada and the United States split the people into two territories. Halkomelem was still dominant in the Nooksack watershed in the US.