The Upper Skagit and Lower Skagit both speak subdialects of Northern Lushootseed. The Upper Skagit speak Skagit. As of 1977[update], there were an estimated 100 speakers of Skagit.[1] The Lower Skagit speak Swinomish, the subdialect of the Swinomish people.
Traditionally, Skagit referred only to the Lower Skagit on Whidbey Island. However, after colonization, the word Skagit was used to refer to both groups.