Researchers and students
Linguists, anthropologists, educators and postgraduate students present new work and test ideas in a constructive setting.
International conference
Languages carried forward
ICSNL brings together linguists, language teachers, students, Elders and community language workers around the Salish language family and the languages that live alongside it. It is a place to share research, work in progress and the practical knowledge that keeps languages in use.
FormatAnnual and international
FocusSalish and neighbouring languages
CommunityResearchers, teachers, speakers and students
RecordPapers collected in the proceedings
Coast Salish
Interior Salish
Wakashan
Tsimshianic
Haida
Dakelh
Chinookan
The conference
A gathering for language work
ICSNL is an annual conference devoted to the Salish language family and the neighbouring languages of the Pacific Northwest. It has a long record of meetings and reached its 61st meeting in 2026.
The conference is both scholarly and practical. Papers sit alongside works in progress, language materials and accounts of community language work. The aim is not only to describe languages but to support the people who are teaching, learning and using them.
ICSNL is interdisciplinary by design. Linguistics, anthropology, education, language planning and community based research all find a place in the program, because the questions that matter to language communities rarely sit inside a single discipline.
Teachers and community workers
Language teachers, learners, Elders and community language workers bring the questions and knowledge that shape the field.
The work
What the gathering makes room for
Four threads run through the conference. Most presentations touch more than one.
Documentation
Recording, transcription, dictionaries and the careful work of making language materials usable.
Research
Phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, history and the comparative study of related languages.
Teaching and learning
Curriculum, immersion, adult learning and the classroom materials that support new speakers.
Community work
Language planning, archives, naming and the protocols that keep language work accountable to communities.
Recent meeting
The 61st meeting
The 61st International Conference on Salish and Neighbouring Languages took place from July 16 to 18, 2026, hosted by Lilʼwat Nation at Mount Currie. The next meeting will be announced by the organizing committee.
Respect
Languages are carried by people, families and communities. This site is an information resource; it does not speak for the communities whose languages it describes.
ICSNL website guidance
Names and protocols
Language names and spellings vary. Where a community or speaker has a preferred form, that form should be used. Researchers and visitors are asked to follow community protocols and to obtain permission for sensitive knowledge or materials.
Read and gather
Where to go next
The conference has a published record, a place for new work and a set of language resources that point beyond this site.
Proceedings and archive
Find out where papers from the conference are collected and how the permanent archive is maintained.
Take part
Present a paper, attend the meeting, join the mailing list and follow community protocols.
Language resources
A curated set of independent databases, community organizations, archives and rights resources.