An amazingly small number of Cascadian Native Americans were left alive in 1900 (40,000 from Alaska to San Francisco). Even more amazing was the number of languages spoken by these peoples, 60! Sixty languages is an exceptional linguistic diversity. The most common,
23 interlinked languages divided into 16 coast and 7 inland divisions, were Salishan-speakers. But many other languages existed here and there in the Salish Sound, unrelated to Salishan-speakers (or each other). The proximity of multiple languages created a bit of mutual interaction, with the result being broad linguistic families of the Salishan, Wakashan and Chimakuan and smaller families: Tsimshianic, Chinookan and Sahaptins, as well as Kutenai and Haida, language isolates. Three languages, Quileute, Lushootseed, and Makah are without nasal consonants. Many contained consonants that are unfamiliar to English speakers (but found in other languages world-wide), such as ejectives. Humboldt County reported six mutually unintelligible languages being used. When 75,000 invaders shared one language and the 7,500 natives spoke 10 languages in the Puget Sound area it turned out badly for the latter.
http://www.native-languages.org/famsal.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbhudH1xhyY
https://www.washingtontribes.org/the-tribes-of-washington/
https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Atlas-Native-Americans-Barnes/dp/0785823328 (page 179)
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/bulletins/demographic/52-population-wa.pdf
https://www.se.edu/native-american/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2019/09/A-NAS-2017-Proceedings-Smith.pdf
Best answer:
A language isolate is unrelated to any other, the only language in a language family. For some reason, Cascadia Floristic Region had/has many: Yana, Washo, Siuslaw, Karuk, Chimariko, Alsea, and Kutenai, along with which one of the below.
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