The Gwich’in language is the Athabaskan language of the Gwich’in indigenous people. It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon of Canada, it is used principally in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Old Crow, and Tsiigehtchic (formerly Arctic Red River). There are about 430 Gwich’in speakers in Canada out of a total Gwich’in population of 1,900.

In Alaska, Gwich’in is spoken in Beaver, Circle, Fort Yukon, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek, Arctic Village, Eagle, and Venetie, Alaska. About 300 out of a total Alaska Gwich’in population of 1,100 speak the language.

It is an official language of the Northwest Territories.

The ejective affricate in the name Gwich’in is usually written with symbol U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK, though the correct character for this use (with expected glyph and typographic properties) is U+02BC MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE.

Gwich’in is a member of the Northern Athabaskan subgroup of the Athabaskan language family, in greater the Na-Dene family of languages. It shares the Han-Kutchin subdivision with the Hän language.

The Gwich’in (sometimes rendered as Kutchin or Gwitchin), literally "one who dwells" or "resident of [a region]", are a First Nations/Alaska Native people who live in the northwestern part of North America mostly above the Arctic Circle. The Gwichʼin were also known by the French name of Loucheux ("squinters") in historical documents, as well as the Tukudh used by Anglican missionaries. Gwich’in often self-reference using the term "Dinjii Zhuu" instead of Gwich’in. Dinjii Zhuu literally translates as "Small People" but figuratively it refers to 'Indians', not just Gwich’in.

The Gwich’in are well known for the construction of snowshoes, birchbark canoes, the two way sled, and intricate and ornate beadwork. Traditional caribou skin clothing and porcupine quill sewing are also held in high regard among Gwich'in. Today the economy is mostly a mix of hunting, fishing, and seasonal wage paying employment.

Many Gwichʼin speak their indigenous Gwich’in language, which is in the Athabaskan language family. There are 2 main dialects of Gwich’in; eastern and western, which are delineated roughly at the United States and Canadian border. Each village has unique dialectical differences, idioms, and expressions that are favored as well. The Old Crow people in the northern Yukon Territory have approximately the same dialect as those bands living in Venetie and Arctic Village, Alaska. According to the UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, Gwich’in is now a "severely endangered" language with fewer than 150 fluent speakers in Alaska and another 250 in northwest Canada.