First Americans

Last edited Thu Mar 8, 2012, 03:29 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Your-Language-Alive-One/dp/1890771422/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

There are local language classes available in Karuk along the lower Klamath River including for children.

Another relatively recent book about Klamath Mountain Tribes is:

Cultural Contact and Linguistic Relativity among the Indians of Northwestern California

http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Linguistic-Relativity-Northwestern-California/dp/0806139226/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331230568&sr=1-1

I recommend clicking "search inside this book" for a closeup on the ancestral ranges of the Tribes and then "first pages" for what is excellent contemporary scholarship.

Karuk was once considered Hokan but is now classified as a language isolate.

The adjacent Hupa and Yurok Tribes originally spoke languages in the Athabascan and Alaquonkin (sp?) linguistic families and came after the Karuk but adopted Karuk spiritual and material cultures. Some native speakers survived until relatively recent times and there are dictionaries / lexicons recorded by cataloguing anthropologists.

Edit to add:

Now You're Speaking Karuk! (Arar'ahih - the People's Language)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B000NWEMP4/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all

Amazon says not available but I am pretty sure one can still buy on far north coast California. I am almost certain the book can be found at Clark Museum in Old Town Eureka.