Last remaining Eyak Indian dies in Alaska

[bijou]

The last full-blooded member of Alaska’s Eyak Indians has died at the age of 89.

  
Marie Smith Jones, the last surviving Eyak Indian, pictured in 2001
Marie Smith Jones was the last remaining fluent speaker of the tribe’s native Alaskan language.

She died in her sleep on Monday at her home in Anchorage.

Her daughter Bernice Galloway said: "To the best of our knowledge she was the last full-blooded Eyak alive.

"She was a woman who faced incredible adversity in her life and overcame it. She was about as tenacious as you can get."

Following the death of the last of her siblings in the 1990s, Jones worked to preserve the Eyak’s heritage, helping to compile a dictionary of their language so it might be resurrected by future generations.

She worked on the project with Michael Krauss, a linguist and professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

link

[Lord Undies]

Marie Smith Jones was the last remaining fluent speaker of the tribe’s native Alaskan language.

That must of been frustrating for her.  I wonder if others treated her like "Nell"?

I'm sorry she is dead, but I'm glad she got to live a long life.  As for her being "the last", well, that's a bit of a stretch.  Indian tribes are not separate races unto themselves.  She was the last of a brand name.

[dandi]

I thought the Eyaks were short and hairy.

Ah, my bad. That's the Ewoks.

[Wretched Excess]

I thought this was a ptarmy thread at first.