Nootka
/ˈnuːtkə
/ /ˈnʊtkə/noun (plural same or Nootkas)
1A member of an American Indian people of Vancouver Island, Canada.Twelve different tribes of Native Americans are in the game as well: the Aztec, the Carib, the Cherokee, the Comanche, the Cree, the Incas, the Iroquois, the Mayans, the Nootka, the Seminole, the Sioux, and the Tupi.
2 [mass noun] The Wakashan language of the Nootka, now with few speakers.Also known as Nuuchahnulth, which means ‘along the mountains’ - a reference to the speakers' homeland - Nootka's telescoping of words is unparalleled in other languages....
- Finally, a piece about Nootka - a language in which ‘entire sentences of meaning can be crammed into very short words’.
adjective
Relating to the Nootka or their language.In the potlatches of the Chinook, Nootka, and other Pacific Northwest peoples, for example, chiefs vied to give the most blankets and other valuables.
Origin
Named after Nootka Sound, an inlet on the coast of Vancouver Island.