List of endangered languages in North America


An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. UNESCO defines four levels of language endangerment between "safe" and "extinct":
North America is a continent in the Earth's Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast. It covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometres, about 4.8% of the planet's surface or about 16.5% of its land area. As of July 2007, its population was estimated at nearly 524 million people.
Today, North America only has a total of 256 living languages. However, out of those 256 languages, 238 are in the realm of extinction. That is, 92% of languages that are dying. The United States has the highest number of dying languages, 143 out of 219 languages, then Canada with 75 dying out of its 94 languages, and lastly, Greenland has the smallest number, nil of its two spoken languages.

Canada

LanguageCommentsSpeakersSource
Beaver language300 speakers in 1991.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Bella Coola languageAlso: Nuxalk language3 20 700.
Cayuga language40 to 60 speakers in 2002.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Chinook Wawa languageAlso: Chinook Jargon language83 in Canada Population total all countries: 100.
Northern Haida languageSee Haida language30 in Canada Population total all countries: 45 1,100 in Canada.
Southern Haida languageSee Haida language10 500.
Haisla language25 1,000.
Heiltsuk languageHai?zaqvla300.
Han language7 or 8 in Canada 300.
Inuiuukᐃᓄᐃᐆᒃ40 in Nunavut.University of Central Lancashire
Kutenai languageKutanaxa6 in Canada Population total all countries: 12.
Maritime Sign Language
Michif languageAbout 600 speakers in 1998.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Munsee language7 or 8 400.
Oneida languagefewer than 250 speakers in 1991.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Onondaga language50 to 100 speakers in 1991.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Potawatomi language100 speakersRed Book of Endangered Languages
Plains Sign Talk
Salish language Red Book of Endangered Languages
Straits Salish language20 in Canada 3,000.
Sechelt languageAlso: Shishalh language40 550.
Sekani language30 to 40 600.
Seneca language25 speakers in 1991.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Squamish language15 2,300.
Tagish language2 400 possibly.
Tahltan language35 750.
Tlingit language145 speakers in Canada in 1998.Red Book of Endangered Languages
Tsuut’ina languageAlso: Tsuu T'ina language, Sarsi language, Sarcee language50 Red Book of Endangered Languages
Tuscarora language7 or 8 in Canada Population total all countries: 11 to 13.
Western Abnaki language20 1,800 including Eastern Abnaki in US.

United States

LanguageCommentsSpeakersSource
Achumawi language10 nonfluent speakers 1,000.
Alutiiq language30 speakers 1,000.
Ahtena language80 500.
Kiowa Apache language18 1,000.
Lipan Apache language2 or 3 100.
Arikara language20 3,000.
Atsugewi language3 200 1,350 with Achumawi.
Caddo language25 3,371.
Cahuilla language7 to 20 35.
Chetco language5 100 possibly.
Cheyenne language
Chinook language12 speakers of Kiksht dialect 300 possibly.
Chinook Wawa language17 in the US.
Clallam language10 Several thousands.
Coeur d'Alene language5 800.
Comanche languageless than 130
Coos language1 or 2 250.
Degexit'an language20 to 30 250 to 300.
Gros Ventre language10 Very few semispeakers in 2000 1,200.
Northern Haida language15 in the US 600 in the US.
Hän language7 or 8 in Alaska Population total all countries: 14 300.
Hawai'i Sign LanguageA few users out of about 6,000 profoundly deaf people in Hawaii, 72,000 deaf or hard-of-hearing people in Hawaii.
Holikachuk language12 200.
Hupa language8 2,000.
Kalapuya language1 or 2.
Kansa language19 250.
Karok language10 1,900.
Kashaya language45.
Kawaiisu language8 to 10 35.
Klamath-Modoc language1 2,000.
Upper Kuskokwim language40 3 households 160.
Kutenai language6 in the US.
Louisiana Creole language9,600.
Louisiana French language150,000 to 200,000.
Luiseño language30 to 40 2,000.
Lushootseed language60 Population evenly divided between the northern and southern dialects 2,000.
Northeast Maidu language1 to 2 108.
Northwest Maidu language3 to 6 200.
Mandan language6 400.
Menominee language39 .
Central Sierra Miwok language12 Population includes 6 Eastern Central Sierra, 6 Western Central Sierra Possibly 5,000 all Miwok.
Lake Miwok language1 to 2.
Northern Sierra Miwok language6.
Plains Miwok language1.
Southern Sierra Miwok language7 Southern Central Sierra Miwok.
Mono languageWestern Mono: 37 to 41 Population includes 10-12 North Fork, 15 Auberry, 7-8 Big Sandy, 5-6 Dunlap, no Waksachi.
Eastern Mono: 50
600.
Nisenan language1.
Osage language5 15,000.
Panamint language20 100.
Pawnee language20 2,500.
Plains Sign Talk
Central Pomo language2 to 5 4,766.
Southeastern Pomo language5.
Southern Pomo language1.
Quapaw language34 2,000.
Quileute language10 300.
Straits Salish language
Serrano language1.
Snohomish language10 800.
Tanacross language35 Population includes 3 in the Healy Lake dialect, 32 in Mansfield-Ketchumstuck 120.
Tanaina language75 900.
Lower Tanana language30 380.
Tolowa language4 to 5 1,000.
Tübatulabal language6 900.
Tuscarora language4 to 5 in the US 1,200 in the US.
Tututni language10.
Wasco-Wishram language69 7 monolinguals 750 possibly.
Washo language10 1,500.
Wichita language3 1,400.
Wintu language5 or 6 2,244
Yokutsan languages78 speakers of Northern Foothill Yokuts 2,500.
Yuchi language10 to 12 1,500.
Yurok language12 3,000 to 4,500 possibly.