Historically, the Plateau people of Canada were divided into three main groups: the Athapascan, Interior Salish, and Ktunaxa. These three groups could then be further divided into the eight main Plateau groups: the Tsilhqot'in (formerly the Chilcotin), the Carrier, the Nicola, Secwepemc (formerly the Shuswap), the Stl'atl'imx (formerly the Lillooet), the Okanagan, the Nlaka'pamux (formerly the Thompson), and the Ktunaxa (formerly the Kutenai or Kootenay). Languages The languages of the Plateau people can be divided into three main language groups: Athapascan, Salishian, and Ktunaxa. Athapascan - The Athapascan languages of the Plateau region are part of the Northern Athapascan language groups, and are related to the Athapascan languages in the sub-arctic language groups. Athapascan languages: Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) Carrier Nicola-Similkameen (language now extinct) Interior Salishan: The Interior Salishian languages can be divided into the Northern Interior Salishian languages: Secwepemc (Shuswap) Stl'atl'imx (Lillooet) And the Southern Interior Salishan languages: Okanagan Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) Ktunaxa: The Ktunaxa language is unrelated to any other languages in British Columbia. It is spoken by the: Ktunaxa (Kootenay or Kutenai) Tsilhqot'in Name Formerly the Chilcotin (an english rendering of Tsilhqot'in), their name means "people of the Chilcotin River". Chilcotin River Location They lived in the northwestern region of the Plateau, along the west side of the Fraser River. Language Athapascan Carrier Name Their name comes from a custom the people followed of widows carrying the ashes of their deceased husbands in a bag for a year. Carrier woman Location They inhabited the central interior of B.C., the northern