Siletz Tribes work to preserve language for future generations

Monday, August 6, 2012  

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Oregon are working to preserve their language for future generations.

The language is known as Siletz Dee-ni. Only a few fluent speakers remain but its future looks a lot brighter thanks to the efforts of tribal members like Bud Lane, 54.

“They told us our language was moribund and heading off a cliff,” Lane told The New York Times.

Lane has been working on the Siletz Dee-ni Talking Dictionary for nearly seven years, the Times reported. The site offers tribal members and others a way to learn how to speak the language.

Siletz Dee-ni is related to Athabaskan languages like Navajo and Apache and others spoken in Alaska and Canada.

Get the Story:
Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction (The New York Times 8/4)