Wukchumni

The Wukchumni (English pronunciation: /wʌkˈtʃʌmni/) are a Yokuts tribe of California with about 200 members, residing on the Tule River Reservation. 3000 years ago, they broke off from the main Yokuts group and settled in the region of the east fork of the Kaweah River.[1]

Language

The traditional language of the Wukchumni tribe is Wukchumni or Wikchamni: it belongs to the Tule-Kaweah branch of the Yokutsan family. Wukchumni has only one native or fluent speaker today, Marie Wilcox (both native and fluent, the only living person who is either in her language), who has compiled a dictionary of the language.[2][3][4][5] “Marie's dictionary”, a short documentary by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, is about her dictionary. She has also recorded an oral version of the dictionary.[2] Together with her daughter Jennifer, Marie Wilcox teaches weekly classes to interested members of their tribe.

References

  1. ↑ "History of the Living History Community". The Preservation of Mineral King. 18 March 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 ‘Who Speaks Wukchumni?’, New York Times, 19 Aug 2014.
  3. ↑ Vaughan-Lee, Emmanuel (2014-08-18). "Who Speaks Wukchumni?". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Heller, Chris (2014-09-22). "Saving Wukchumni". The Atlantic.
  5. ↑ “Marie's dictionary”, a short documentary by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee.