Sahaptian is a sub-grouping of two languages of the Plateau Penutian family spoken by Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 peoples in the Columbia Plateau

Columbia Plateau

The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Columbia River...

 region of Washington, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, and Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 in the northwestern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Family division

Sahaptian includes 2 languages

1. Nez Perce

Nez Perce language

Nez Perce , also spelled Nez Percé, is a Sahaptian language related to the several dialects of Sahaptin . The Sahaptian sub-family is one of the branches of the Plateau Penutian family...

( Nez Percé, Nezperce)

• Upper Nez Perce
• Lower Nez Perce

2. Sahaptin

Sahaptin language

Sahaptin , Sħáptənəxw, is a Plateau Penutian language of the Sahaptian branch spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho....

(Sħáptənəxw)

• Northern Sahaptin group

• Northwest Sahaptin dialect cluster
• Northeast Sahaptin dialect cluster

• Southern Sahaptin group ( Columbia River cluster)

Nez Perce has two main varieties

Variety (linguistics)

In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...

 (Upper and Lower). Sahaptin has considerably greater internal diversity with several different varieties.

Note that the terms Sahaptian (the family) and Sahaptin (the language) have often been confused and used interchangeably in the literature.

Tribes

• Upper Cowlitz or Taidnapam
  Cowlitz (tribe)
  The Cowlitz are a group of Native American peoples from what is now western Washington state in the United States. The Cowlitz tribe actually consists of two distinct groups: the Upper Cowlitz, or Taidnapam, and the Lower Cowlitz, or Kawlic....
  
  
• Kittitas (Upper Yakima)
• Klickitat
  Klickitat language
  The Klickitat dialect of the Sahaptin language is spoken by the Klickitat Tribe of the Pacific Northwest. It belongs to the Shapwailutan language family....
  
  
• Nez Percé
  • Nez Percé language
    Nez Perce language
    Nez Perce , also spelled Nez Percé, is a Sahaptian language related to the several dialects of Sahaptin . The Sahaptian sub-family is one of the branches of the Plateau Penutian family...
    
    
• Palus (Palouse)
  Palus (tribe)
  The Palus are a Sahaptin tribe recognized in the Treaty of 1855 with the Yakamas . A variant spelling is Palouse, which was the source of the name for the fertile prairie of Washington and Idaho.- Ethnography :...
  
  
• Pshwanwapam (Pswanwapam)
• Skinpah (Skin)
• Tenino (Warmsprings)
• Tygh (Upper Deschutes)
• Umatilla
  Umatilla (tribe)
  The Umatilla are a Sahaptin-speaking Native American group living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, who traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States....
  
  
• Walla Walla
  Walla Walla (tribe)
  Walla Walla |Native American]] tribe of the northwestern United States. The reduplication of the word expresses the diminutive form. The name "Walla Walla" is translated several ways but most often as "many waters."...
  
  
• Wanapum
• Wauyukma
• Wyam
  WYAM
  WYAM may refer to:* WYAM , a radio station licensed to Hartselle, Alabama, United States* WYAM-LP, a low-power television station licensed to Priceville, Alabama, United States...
  
   (Lower Deschutes)
• Yakama
  Yakama
  The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...