Tsilhqotʼin
The Tsilhqotʼin or Chilcotin ("People of the river", /tʃɪlˈkoʊtɪn/ chil-KOH-tin; also spelled Chilcotin, Tsilhqutʼin, Tŝinlhqotʼin, Chilkhodin, Tsilkótin, Tsilkotin) are a North American tribal government of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group that live in what is now known as British Columbia, Canada. They are the most southern of the Athabaskan-speaking Indigenous peoples in British Columbia.
Tsilhqotʼin man on horse (1901) | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 4,100 (2008) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Canada (British Columbia) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Tsilhqotʼin | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Dene peoples Especially Dakelh, Wetʼsuwetʼen, and Babine |
| Tŝilhqóx / Nen "Ochre River"/"Land" | |
|---|---|
| People | Nenqayni (Tŝilhqotʼin) |
| Language | Nenqayni Ch'ih (Tŝilhqotʼin Chʼih) |
| Country | Tŝilhqotʼin Nen |
Their name, Tŝilhqotʼin, makes reference to the Chilko River, which means "red ochre river," from tŝi(lh) "rock" + -qu "river" + -t'in "people". Tsilhqot'in people also use another word to refer to themselves: Nenqayni, from: nen "land" + -qay "surface" + -ni "person/people", and their country is called Tŝilhqotʼin Nen.
For more information about the 2014 landmark court case that established Indigenous land title for the Tsilhqotʼin Nation and demanded that colonial provinces engage in meaningful and prior consultation before engaging in extractive industries on Tsilhqot'in lands, see Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia.