Karuk language
editKaruk or Karok is an endangered American Indian language spoken in Northwestern California in the region surrounding the Klamath River. It is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO with only around 12 fluent native speakers of the language left.[1] It is the traditional language of the Karuk people, most of whom now speak English. The name is derived from the word Káruk, which means 'upriver'.[2]: 397 As early as 1949, there have been efforts to revitalize the language and increase the number of speakers by linguists such as Dr. William Bright and Susan Gehr as well as members of the Karuk community. Bright and Gehr published a Karuk dictionary in 2005, which is available online as a resource for learners.[3]
History and usage
editThe Karuk language originated around the Klamath River between Seiad Valley and Bluff Creek. Before European contact, it is estimated that there may have been up to 1,500 speakers.[4] Linguist William Bright documented the Karuk language. When Bright began his studies in 1949, there were "a couple of hundred fluent speakers," but by 2011, there were fewer than a dozen fluent elders.[5]
The region where the Karuk tribe lived remained largely undisturbed until beaver trappers came through the area in 1827.[6] In 1848, gold was discovered in California, and thousands of Europeans came to the Klamath and its surrounding region to search for gold.[6] The Karuk territory was soon filled with mining towns, manufacturing communities, and farms. The salmon that the tribe relied on for food became less plentiful because of contamination in the water from mining, and many members of the Karuk tribe died from either starvation or new diseases that the Europeans brought with them to the area.[6] Many members of the Karuk tribe were also killed or sold into slavery by the Europeans who either felt threatened or did not understand their culture, and Karuk children were sent to boarding schools where they were Americanized and told not to use their native language.[6] These combined factors caused the use of the Karuk language to steadily decline over the years until measures were taken to attempt to revitalize the language.
Classification
editKaruk is a language isolate, sharing few if any similarities with other nearby languages. Historically, the American linguist Edward Sapir proposed it be classified as part of the Hokan family he hypothesized although little evidence supports this proposal. As Bright wrote, "The Karok language is not closely or obviously related to any other (in the area), but has been classified as a member of the northern group of Hokan languages, in a subgroup which includes Chimariko and the Shasta languages, spoken in the same general part of California as Karok itself."[7]
Geographic distribution
editKaruk is spoken within the range of the original territory where the Karuk people lived prior to European contact. The ancestral territory is in Northwestern California in Siskiyou, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties. The language originated around the Klamath River between Seiad Valley and Bluff Creek. Most Karuk speakers now live in the towns of Somes Bar, which is near the Karuk Center of the World (in Karuk, "Katimiin"), Happy Camp ("Athithufvuunupma"), and Orleans ("Panamniik").
The Karuk people originally owned 1.04 million acres of land until it was claimed as public territory in 1905 under the Forest Reserve Act during the Roosevelt administration.[8] In 1887, some members of the Karuk tribe were given small plots of land under the General Allotment Act.[8] In the 1970's, elders from the Karuk tribe bought back two properties in Orleans and Happy Camp and have acquired 1,661 acres of land that the tribe can use for ceremonies, housing, and resource management.[8]
Revitalization efforts
editMaster-apprentice program
editAn immersion method called the master-apprentice program was started in 1992 by Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival to aid in Karuk revitalization efforts.[5] In order to fully immerse a beginning speaker in Karuk, people who are interested in learning the language are paired with a fluent native speaker who they follow throughout the day. During this time spent with the native speaker, learners are only allowed to speak Karuk. The program is intensive, typically lasting 40 hours a week for 3 years.[5] Around 20 groups had successfully gone through the entire program as of the year 2011.[5]
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- ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
- ^ Lyle Campbell (2000-09-21). American Indian Languages. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534983-2.
- ^ "Ararahih'urípih". linguistics.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
- ^ "Survey of California and Other Indian Languages". cla.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
- ^ a b c d Walters, Heidi. "In Karuk". North Coast Journal. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
- ^ a b c d Bell, Maureen (1991). Karuk : the upriver people. Internet Archive. Happy Camp, CA, U.S.A. : Naturegraph Publishers.
- ^ Bright, William (1957). The Karok Language, by William Bright. University of California Press.
- ^ a b c "Land Management". www.karuk.us. Retrieved 2020-05-25.