Sesostrie Youchigant, also known as Sam Young (born ; died December 6, 1948), was a chief of the

Tunica-Biloxi The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, ( tun, Yoroniku-Halayihku) formerly known as the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana, is a federally recognized tribe of primarily Tunica and Biloxi people, located in east central Louisiana. Descendants of ...

tribe and the last known native speaker of the

Tunica language The Tunica or Luhchi Yoroni (or Tonica, or less common form Yuron) language is a language isolate that was spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no native speakers o ...

. He worked with

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Mary Haas Mary Rosamond Haas (January 23, 1910 – May 17, 1996) was an American linguist who specialized in North American Indian languages, Thai, and historical linguistics. She served as president of the Linguistic Society of America. She was elected a ...

in 1933 (and during four subsequent visits between 1933 and 1938) to describe what he remembered of the language, which he had learned as a child. He also recounted

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

stories that told of his tribe's migrations and their diplomatic relationships with other tribes. When Haas contacted him, he had not had anyone to talk to in Tunica for nearly twenty years, and was the only individual left who spoke it "with any degree of fluency". Youchigant also spoke

Louisiana French Louisiana French ( frc, français de la Louisiane; lou, françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisia ...

as his first language, in addition to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Haas's 1935 doctoral dissertation, ''A Grammar of the Tunica Language'', was a result of this collaboration. Haas's ''Tunica Texts'' (1950) and much of ''Tunica Dictionary'' (1953) are also based on her work with Youchigant.

References

External links

Photograph of Sesostrie Youchigant
taken by Mary Haas, American Philosophical Society
Article about the history of the Tunica-Biloxi tribe with a photo of Sesostrie Youchigant
1870s births 1948 deaths Last known speakers of a Native American language 19th-century Native Americans Year of birth uncertain 20th-century Native Americans {{NorthAm-native-stub