Heiltsuk-Oowekyala language

Heiltsuk-Oowekyala
Region	Northern Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Ethnicity	2,530 Heiltsuk and Oowekyala people (2014, FPCC)
Native speakers	60 Heiltsuk and 6 Oowekyala (2014, FPCC)
Language family	Wakashan Northern Heiltsuk-Oowekyala
Dialects	Heiltsuk Oowekyala
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	heil1246
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Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples. It has two dialects, Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) and Oowekyala (Wuikyala), which unlike other Wakashan languages are tonal. It has no traditional name, so the hyphenated construction Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is used by linguists. Ethnologue calls this language "Heiltsuk", with the Bella Bella dialect (Heiltsuk) labelled "Northern Heiltsuk" and the Oowekyala dialect labeled "Southern Heiltsuk".

Heiltsuk [ɦiɬtsʰaqʷ] is spoken by the Bella Bella [pʰəlbálá] and Haihais [xíxís] peoples; Oowekyala [ʔuwíkʼala] by the Wuikinuxv [ʔuwikʼinuxʷ].

Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, like Nuxálk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent word from the Oowekyala variety:

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