Last Speaker Of Tribal Language Teaches Others (fwd link)

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Last Speaker Of Tribal Language Teaches Others

Kern River Valley Tubatulabal Tribesman Helps Create Dictionary

POSTED: 10:02 am PDT May 9, 2008
UPDATED: 12:09 pm PDT May 9, 2008

KERN RIVER VALLEY, Calif. -- The last known speaker of a North American tribal
language is now helping others learn the language.

Hundreds of years ago in Kern County, before one word of English or Spanish was
ever uttered, people communicated in Native American dialects.

Though most Native American languages have disappeared, there is still hope for
one local language with a man who is its last speaker.

Pakaanil, the native language of the Tubatulabal tribes of the Kern River
Valley, is a language that has been spoken for hundreds, possibly thousands of
years in Kern County.

What makes this language so unique is the man who is speaking these words. Jim
Andreas, 77, is the last known native speaker of Pakaanil.

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