Salish as a living language is dying fast, Brown said. Only 70 to 80 people are fluent out of some 6,000 enrolled members in the entire tribal confederacy - Pend d'Oreille, Salish and Kootenai.

Members of the Spokane Tribe of Indians are mourning Pauline Flett, an elder who played an instrumental role in preserving the tribe’s Salish dialect and teaching the language to younger generations.

“Do you know, this is the largest gathering of Salish-speaking people in a hundred years?” Chris Parkin is standing near the doorway to a large meeting hall at Northern Quest Casino, and his ...