Kitasoo

— Along the central coast of British Columbia, grizzly bears go by many names. In the Sgüüx̣s language spoken by the Kitasoo Nation and the Sm’algyax language of the Gitga’at Nation, they are known as medi’ik. And in the Haíɫzaqvḷa, It7Nuxalkmc, ‘Wuik̓ala, and Xai’xais languages, bears are called nan. The reasons for such differences of language, new research suggests, may be similar to the reasons that grizzly groups differ genetically in the region.