Marie Wilcox facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marie Wilcox
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Wilcox in 2016
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| Born | November 24, 1933 |
| Died | September 25, 2021 (aged 87) Visalia, California
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Marie Desma Wilcox (born November 24, 1933 – died September 25, 2021) was an amazing Native American woman. She was the very last person to speak Wukchumni as her first language. Wukchumni is a special native language from the Tule-Kaweah Yokuts people in California. Marie spent over 20 years creating a dictionary for this language. She also taught it to others, helping to keep it alive.
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Marie's Early Life
Marie Wilcox was born on November 24, 1933, in Visalia, California. She grew up on a ranch. Marie was the youngest of seven children. Her parents were Beatrice Arancis and Alex Wilcox.
Her grandparents raised her in a small, one-room house in the Venice Hills. After finishing eighth grade, Marie started working. She worked on farms and packed fruit. Marie had four daughters and one son with Joe Garcia. She lived in Woodlake, California. Marie passed away in a hospital in Visalia on September 25, 2021.
Saving the Wukchumni Language
Marie's grandmother spoke the Wukchumni language. After her grandmother passed away, Marie wanted to honor her. She decided to create a dictionary for the Wukchumni language. This was a huge project that took over 20 years.
Building the Dictionary
Marie worked hard on the dictionary. She got help from Nicholas Luna, who is Apache. He helped her with computers and other tools. Marie made sure to include sound recordings for every word in the dictionary. This way, people could hear how the words were spoken.
Bringing the Language Back
In 2014, a short film about Marie's work appeared in New York Times. This film made her family and other members of their tribe very interested. They wanted to help bring the Wukchumni language back to life.
Marie and her daughter started teaching the language. Even at the time of her death, Marie was teaching classes. These classes were held at the Owens Valley Career Development Center. The classes are still continuing today!
The Wukchumni dictionary was officially copyrighted in 2019. However, it has not been published yet. In 2014, there were fewer than 200 members in the Wukchumni tribe. In the early 2010s, Marie became the last person who spoke Wukchumni fluently. But by the time she passed away, at least three other people could speak it. One of them was her own daughter. Marie's dedication helped save her language.
