The Tolowa language (also called Chetco-Tolowa, or Siletz Dee-ni) is a member of the
Pacific Coast
Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Geography Americas
Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...
subgroup of the
Athabaskan language family. Together with three other closely related languages (Lower
Rogue River Athabaskan, Upper Rogue River Athabaskan or
Galice-Applegate and
Upper Umpqua or Etnemitane) it forms a distinctive
Oregon Athabaskan cluster within the subgroup.
Geographic distribution
At the time of first European contact Tolowa was spoken in several large and prosperous village communities along the
Del Norte County
), in California
, seat_type = County seat
, seat = Crescent City
, parts_type = Largest city
, parts = Crescent City
, unit_pref = US
, area_total_sq_mi = 1230
, area_land_sq_mi = 1006
, area_water_sq_mi = 223
, elevation_max_footnote ...
coast in the far northwestern corner of California and along the southern coast of adjacent
Curry County, Oregon
Curry County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,446. The county seat is Gold Beach. The county is named for George Law Curry, a two-time governor of the Oregon Territory. ...
. Today the term ''Tolowa'' (or sometimes ''Smith River'') is used primarily by those residing in California, most of whom are affiliated with
Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation
The Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, previously known as Smith River Rancheria, is a federally recognized tribe of Tolowa people in Del Norte County, California.[Confederated Tribes of Siletz
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in the United States is a federally recognized confederation of more than 27 Native American tribes and bands who once inhabited an extensive homeland of more than 20 million acres from northern Califo ...]
southwest of Portland, where their ancestors were removed in the 1850s (Beckham 1971), refer to themselves as ''Chetco'', ''Tututni'', or ''Deeni''.
For details of the linguistic documentation of Chetco-Tolowa and a survey of Oregon Athabaskan phonology and grammar, see Golla (2011:70-75).
Phonology
As with many
Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific C ...
, Tolowa features contrasting aspirated, unaspirated, and ejective stops, as well as contrasting vowel length and nasality. Tolowa is not fully tonal, but instead has a
pitch accent
A pitch-accent language, when spoken, has word accents in which one syllable in a word or morpheme is more prominent than the others, but the accentuated syllable is indicated by a contrasting pitch ( linguistic tone) rather than by loudness ( ...
.
This is typical of the
Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages
Pacific Coast Athabaskan is a geographical and possibly genealogical grouping of the Athabaskan language family.
California Athabaskan
: 1. Hupa (dining'-xine:wh, a.k.a. Hoopa-Chilula)
:: dialects:
::* Hupa
::* Tsnungwe
::: - tse:ning-xwe
::: - ...
.
Consonants
/ɬ/ is affricated to after vowels. /j/ is realized as after nasal vowels.
Vowels
Tolowa vowels have some degree of allophonicity. /u/ and /o/ are in free variation; is an allophone of /a/ after palatals and velars; /É™/ is raised to near palatals and to before velars, and is nasalized (
™Ìƒ before nasal consonants.
In addition, Tolowa has three diphthongs:
i u and
i[Siletz Talking Dictionary](_blank)
/ref>
Alphabet
Syllables are usually separated with an en dash (-) for clarity. The 1997 Tolowa Dee-niʼ alphabet (below) replaces the special characters ą, į, ɨ, ł, ų, and ʉ with a~, i~, lh, u~ and v, respectively. Note that the distinction between ɨ and ʉ is lost.
Tolowa language revitalization
Loren Bommelyn
Loren Me’-lash-ne Bommelyn (born 1956) is a tradition bearer for the Tolowa tribe. He has dedicated himself to preserving the traditional songs, language, and basketry. He is the foremost ceremonial leader of the tribe, and its most prolific ...
, a fluent speaker and linguist, has published several pedagogical books and teaches young Tolowa students in Crescent City, California
Crescent City (Tolowa: ''Taa-’at-dvn''; Yurok: ''Kohpey''; Wiyot: ''Daluwagh'') is the only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California; it is also the county seat. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, ...
.
Three alphabets have been used since the formation of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Language program, sponsored by the Del Norte Indian Welfare Association in 1969. The first was a "Tolowa version of the Uni-fon alphabet', written by hand. A new Practical Alphabet was devised in 1993 for purposes of typing on the computer. In 1997, Loren Bommelyn developed an alphabet which did not require a barred l or nasal hook characters called the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Alphabet (see previous section).
Siletz Dee-ni language revitalization
Siletz Dee-ni is a form of Tolowa historically spoken by members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in the United States is a federally recognized confederation of more than 27 Native American tribes and bands who once inhabited an extensive homeland of more than 20 million acres from northern Califo ...
on the Siletz Indian Reservation
The Siletz Reservation is a 5.852 sq mi (15.157 km²) Indian reservation in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. The reservation is made up of numerous non-contiguous parcels of land in east-centra ...
in Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. According to a report by the National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages The Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages (LTIEL) is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization based in Salem, Oregon, United States. The institute's focus is to scientifically document endangered languages, as well as assist communities with ...
, it is the last of many languages spoken on the reservation and was said in 2007 to have only one living speaker. However, the language has since been at least partially revived, and in some areas, ‘many now text each other in Siletz Dee-ni’.
Courses for 6th- through 8th-graders have been offered at Oregon's Siletz Valley Charter School. Alfred "Bud" Lane has gathered 14,000 words of Siletz Dee-ni, a variety of Chetco-Tolowa "restricted to a small area on the central Oregon coast," in an online audio/picture dictionary for the use of the community.
Notes
Bibliography
* Beckham, Stephen Dow (1971). ''Requiem for a People: The Rogue River Indians and the Frontiersmen.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
* Bommelyn, Loren (1995). ''Now You're Talking Tolowa.'' Arcata: Humboldt State University, Center for Indian Community Development.
* Collins, James (1998). ''Understanding Tolowa Histories: Western Hegemonies and Native American Responses.'' London: Routledge
* Golla, Victor (2011). ''California Indian Languages.'' Berkeley: University of California Press. .
* Macnaughtan, Don. ''Oregon Athapaskan Languages: Bibliography of the Athapaskan Languages of Oregon''.
External links
*
Siletz Tribal Language Project
at native-languages.org
Tolowa language
overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
The Survey of California and Other Indian Languages (originally the Survey of California Indian Languages) at the University of California at Berkeley documents, catalogs, and archives the indigenous languages of the Americas. The survey also hosts ...
*
Tah-Ah-Dun Indian Magnet Charter School
*
*
OLAC resources in and about the Tolowa language
OLAC resources in and about the Chetco language
{{Languages of California
Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages
*
Indigenous languages of Oregon
Endangered Athabaskan languages
Native American language revitalization
Languages extinct in the 2000s
2001 disestablishments in Oregon
Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast