Heiltsuk–Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples.
Heiltsuk [ɦiɬtsʰaqʷ] is spoken by the Bella Bella [pʰəlbálá] and Haihais [xíxís] peoples; Oowekyala [ʔuwíkʼala] by the Wuikinuxv [ʔuwikʼinuxʷ].
Heiltsuk–Oowekyala, like Nuxalk (Bella Coola), allows long sequences of obstruents, as in the following 7-obstruent word from the Oowekyala variety: The spelling adopted by the Heiltsuk Education Cultural Center was designed by John C. Rath, linguistic consultant Heiltsuk Cultural Center in the 1970s and 1980s.
[3] Full Unicode support is pending As of 2023[update].
In Rath's spelling, the lambda letters (λ), ƛ, ƛ̓ can be replaced by dh, th, t̓h if they are not accessible on the keyboard.