Doris Jean Lamar is the last fluent speaker of the Wichita language.
Lamar, who was born in Oklahoma in 1927, learned the language from her grandparents. "Ever since I could remember, I spoke Wichita," she told The Tulsa World.
Now the 80-year-old grandmother is working with a linguist at University of Colorado to preserve the language. She carries around a tape recorder to document Wichita words, phrases and ideas.
"I never thought I would be in this position as a girl, to be our last fluent speaker," she said.
Other Oklahoma tribes are in similar situations. Six have fewer than five fluent speakers and 14 have no remaining fluent speakers.
Get the Story:Tribal language fading away (The Tulsa World 11/26)
At a Loss for Words (The Washington Post 11/25)
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