Southern Interior Salish is one of the two branches of Interior Salish

Interior Salish

The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main subgroups of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further subdivided into Northern and Southern Interior Salish...

. The Southern Interior Salish languages share many common phonemic values but are separated by both vowel and consonant shifts (for example k k̓ x > č č' š). The Southern Interior Salish languages consist of Colville-Okanagan, Columbia-Moses, Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene language

Coeur d'Alene is a Salishan language spoken by only five of the 800 individuals in the Coeur d'Alene Tribe on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in northern Idaho, United States. It is considered an endangered language.-References:...

, and Spokane-Kalispel-Flathead

Montana Salish language

The Salish or Séliš language , here called Montana Salish to distinguish it from the Salish language family to which it gave its name, also known as Kalispel–Pend d'oreille and Kalispel–Spokane–Flathead, is a Salishan language spoken by about 64 elders of the Flathead Nation in north-central...

. Many speakers and students of these languages live near the city of Spokane

Spokane

Spokane is a city in the U.S. state of Washington.Spokane may also refer to:*Spokane *Spokane River*Spokane, Missouri*Spokane Valley, Washington*Spokane County, Washington*Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War*Spokane * USS Spokane...

 and for the past three years have gathered at the Celebrating Salish Conference which is hosted by the Kalsipel Tribe at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino

Northern Quest Resort & Casino

Northern Quest Resort & Casino is located in Airway Heights, Washington and was opened in January 2000 with the casino and Pend Oreille Pavilion only...

.