Upper Chinook language

Last updated
Upper Chinook
Kiksht
Native to United States
Region Columbia River
Extinct 11 July 2012, with the death of Gladys Thompson [1]
Revival 270 (2009-2013) [2]
Chinookan
  • Upper Chinook
Language codes
ISO 639-3 wac
Glottolog wasc1239
ELP Wasco-Wishram

Upper Chinook, endonym Kiksht, [3] also known as Columbia Chinook, and Wasco-Wishram after its last surviving dialect, is a recently extinct language of the US Pacific Northwest. It had 69 speakers in 1990, of whom 7 were monolingual: five Wasco [4] and two Wishram. In 2001, there were five remaining speakers of Wasco. [5]

Contents

The last fully fluent speaker of Kiksht, Gladys Thompson, died in July 2012. [1] She had been honored for her work by the Oregon Legislature in 2007. [6] [7] [8] Two new speakers were teaching Kiksht at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in 2006. [9] The Northwest Indian Language Institute of the University of Oregon formed a partnership to teach Kiksht and Numu in the Warm Springs schools. [10] [11] Audio and video files of Kiksht are available at the Endangered Languages Archive. [12]

The last fluent speaker of the Wasco-Wishram dialect was Madeline Brunoe McInturff, and she died on 11 July 2006 at the age of 91. [13]

Dialects

Kathlamet has been classified as an additional dialect; it was not mutually intelligible.

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant lateral plain labial plain labial
Nasal m n
Plosive/
Affricate
plain p t ts k q ʔ
ejective tsʼ tɬʼ tʃʼ kʷʼ qʷʼ
voiced b d ɡ ɡʷ
Continuant voiceless s ɬ ʃ x χ χʷ h
voiced w l j ɣ ɣʷ

Vowels in Kiksht are as follows: /u a i ɛ ə/.

Related Research Articles

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Wasco is the name of four places in the United States:

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Billy Chinook was a chief and member of the Wasco tribe. Chinook was a guide for John C. Frémont and Kit Carson, who explored Central Oregon from 1843 to 1844 and from 1845 to 1847. Chinook also served as First Sergeant, U.S. Army Wasco Scouts during the Snake War. Lake Billy Chinook in Oregon is named in his honor.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Howard</span> Native American storyteller from Oregon c. 1865–1930

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References

  1. 1 2 Kristian Foden-Vencil (2012-07-17). "Last Fluent Speaker Of Oregon Tribal Language 'Kiksht' Dies". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  2. Bureau, US Census. "Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013". Census.gov. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  3. Leonard, Wesley Y.; Haynes, Erin (December 2010). "Making "collaboration" collaborative: An examination of perspectives that frame linguistic field research". Language Documentation & Conservation. 4: 269–293. hdl:10125/4482. ISSN   1934-5275.
  4. Culture: Language. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. 2009 (retrieved 9 April 2009)
  5. "Lewis & Clark—Tribes—Wasco Indians". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 22, 2002. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  6. Last Fluent Speaker of Kiksht Dies
  7. "Honors Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs elder Gladys Miller Thompson for her contribution to preserving Native languages of Oregon". 74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  8. "Zelma Smith, 1926-2010". Spilyay Tymoo, Coyote News, the Newspaper of the Warm Springs Reservation. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  9. Keith Chu (2006-07-30). "New speakers try to save language". The Bulletin. Bend, OR. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  10. Joanne B. Mulcahy (2005). "Warm Springs: A Convergence of Cultures" (Oregon History Project). Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  11. Aaron Clark. "USA: Tribes Strive to Save Native Tongues". GALDU, Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  12. Nariyo Kono. "Conversational Kiksht". Endangered Languages Archive. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
  13. "Holy road: Speaker of Wasco language dead at 91 - Indian Country Media Network". indiancountrymedianetwork.com. Retrieved 2017-05-24.

Bibliography