The Lummi language is actually a dialect of a language called Straits Salish. Straits Salish belongs to the Salishan family of Native American languages but Straits Salish is not related to the Salishan languages spoken in most of western Washington but is related mostly to dialects once spoken in British Columbia in Canada. The lifestyle of the Lummi, like many Northwest Coast tribes, involved the fishing of salmon and collecting of shellfish.