Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples. It has two dialects, Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) and Oowekyala (Wuikyala), which unlike other Wakashan languages are tonal. It has no traditional name, so the hyphenated construction Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is used by linguists. Ethnologue calls this language "Heiltsuk", with the Bella Bella dialect (Heiltsuk) labelled "Northern Heiltsuk" and the Oowekyala dialect labeled "Southern Heiltsuk".

Heiltsuk [ɦiɬtsʰaqʷ] is spoken by the Bella Bella [pʰəlbálá] and Haihais [xíxís] peoples; Oowekyala [ʔuwíkʼala] by the Wuikinuxv [ʔuwikʼinuxʷ].

Phonology

Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, like Nuxálk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent word from the Oowekyala variety:

[t͡sʼkʷʼχtʰt͡ɬkʰt͡sʰ]  'the invisible one here-with-me will be short'   (Howe 2000: 5)

: kxlqsłcxʷ - you struck a match for me^[2]

Writing system

The spelling adopted by the Heiltsuk Education Cultural Center was designed by John C. Rath, linguistic consultant Heiltsuk Cultural Center in the 1970s and 1980s.^[3]

In Rath's spelling, the lambda letters λ, ƛ, ƛ̓ can be replaced by dh, th, t̓h if they are not accessible on the keyboard. The same is true of ɫ, which can be replaced by lh.^[4]