Editing Tlingit (section)

==Language==
[[File:Northwest Coast, Tlingit, late 19th century - Tray - 1942.337 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|Tlingit twined basket tray, late 19th c., spruce root, [[American dunegrass]], pigment, [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]]]
{{Main|Tlingit language}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Lgeik'i and Naakil.aan speaking Lingít.webm|thumb|Two Tlingit speakers, recorded in the [[United States]].]]
The Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada speak the [[Tlingit language]] (Lingít {{IPA|ath|ɬɪ̀nkítʰ|}}),<ref name=lingit/> which is a branch of the [[Na-Dene languages|Na-Dené language family]]. Lingít has a complex [[grammar]] and sound system and also uses certain [[phonemes]] unheard in almost any other language.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Olson|first=Wallace M.|title=The Tlingit|publisher=Heritage Research|year=1991|isbn=9780965900904|location=Auke Bay, Alaska|pages=16–17|language=English}}</ref>

Tlingit has an estimated 200 to 400 native speakers in the United States and 100 speakers in Canada.<ref name=lingit/> The speakers are bilingual or near-bilingual in English. Tribes, institutions, and linguists are expending extensive effort into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to revive and preserve the Tlingit language and its culture. [[Sealaska]] Heritage Institute, [[Goldbelt Heritage Institute]] and the [[University of Alaska Southeast]] have Tlingit language programs, and community classes are held in [[Klukwan]] and [[Angoon]].<ref name=lingit/>