Etymology

From flat +‎ headCategory:English compound terms#FLATHEAD, from the practice of compressing the skull in infancy by artificial means. However, the Salish tribe never practised this custom, the confusion arising from the fact that the early traders felt compelled to adopt the local Indian classification, which considered the prevailing compressed skull of the neighbouring tribes as pointed and the naturally shaped Salish skull by contrast as flat.

Noun

Flathead (plural Flatheads)Category:English lemmas#FLATHEADCategory:English nouns#FLATHEADCategory:English countable nouns#FLATHEADCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#FLATHEADCategory:Pages with entries#FLATHEADCategory:Pages with 1 entry#FLATHEAD

1. One of the Salish people of Washington state and British Columbia.

Proper noun

FlatheadCategory:English lemmas#FLATHEADCategory:English proper nouns#FLATHEADCategory:English uncountable nouns#FLATHEADCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#FLATHEADCategory:Pages with entries#FLATHEADCategory:Pages with 1 entry#FLATHEAD

1. Their Salishan language.

Further reading

• Ethnologue entry for Flathead, fla ⁠