Dakelh
Communities living within the Dakelh language area | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Canada (British Columbia) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Dakelh | |
| Religion | |
| Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Dene peoples Especially Wet'suwet'en, Babine, Tsilhqotʼin, and Sekani |
The Dakelh (pronounced [tákʰɛɬ]) or Carrier are a First Nations Indigenous people living a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Dakelh also call themselves Yinka Dene ("the people on the land"), and the Babine-Witsuwitʼen-speaking bands prefer the equivalent Yinka Whut'en ("the people on the land").
The Dakelh people are a First Nations people of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, for whom Carrier has been a common English name derived from French explorers naming of the people. Dakelh people speak two related languages. One, Babine-Witsuwit'en is sometimes referred to as Northern Carrier. The other includes what are sometimes referred to as Central Carrier and Southern Carrier. They speak Witsuwitʼen or Babine/Nedut'en, dialects of the Babine-Witsuwitʼen language which, like its sister Dakelh language, is a part of the Central British Columbia branch of the Northern Athabaskan languages. They belong to the Northern Athabascan or Dene peoples (Dené is the common Athabaskan word for "people").