Salish Sea
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The Salish Sea is a neologistic name coined in recent years[citation needed] for the inland waterway stretching from Tumwater, Washington to before the Johnstone Strait, British Columbia. The name has been proposed, but is not officially accepted, as a new name, or for differing specific parts of it, for the large, dilute, estuarial inland sea that includes what is now called Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and other waterbodies, plus the Strait of Juan de Fuca which connects the Georgia-Puget Basin to the Pacific Ocean.[1]
The waterbody in question was the central resource of the indigenous (First Nations and Native American) Coast Salish peoples who historically and presently inhabit the area, although the basin also includes territory of the Northern Wakashan Kwakwaka'wakw and Southern Wakashan peoples (the Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah, and Ditidaht) and, formerly, that of the Chemakum (who are now extinct).
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[edit] Name
The Coast Salish are indigenous people who live in the south western British Columbia, and north western Washington state coast. For most of their collective histories, there was no single term to describe these people who share many cultural and linguistical traits. But after anthropological contact with the Salish of Washington state, the rest of the tribes and nations were grouped together because of some similarities. This created in academia the terms Coast Salish and Interior Salish, referring to the linguistic similarities and groupings of the languages within them. With this Salish Sea being a major water way and huge part of the Coast Salish peoples territory, the name Salish Sea was coined in recent years. In any of the Coast Salish languages, there is no single term for this area.
The waters in question are normally referred to as Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia, the region variously as the Georgia-Puget or Puget-Georgia Basin, or in the singular as the Georgia Depression, the Georgia Basin or Puget Sound et al. The Canadian half of the region is regularly referred to as the Gulf of Georgia, a term which encompasses the Strait of Georgia and all other waters peripheral to it, as well as to the communities lining its shores or on its islands; like Puget Sound it describes a mixed urban, rural and wilderness region as well as a body of water.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "Part One: Where in the world is the Salish Sea?". Washington. estuaries.gov (2004-08-04, revised). Retrieved on 2006-05-21.
[edit] Bibliography
- "Salish Sea action plan". Georgia Basin Action Plan. Pacific & Yukon Regional, Environment Canada, Government of Canada (2005-10-17, updated). Retrieved on 2006-05-21.
- "Part One: Where in the world is the Salish Sea?". Washington. estuaries.gov (2004-08-04, revised). Retrieved on 2006-05-21.
