Wailaki language facts for kids

Wailaki and other California Athabaskan languages.

Wailaki, also known as Eel River, was a language spoken by Native American people in northern California. It is now considered an extinct language, which means there are no longer any native speakers. The last known speakers lived around the 1960s.

What Was the Wailaki Language?

Wailaki was part of a larger group of languages called Athabaskan languages. These languages are spoken by many different Native American groups across North America. Wailaki belonged to a smaller family known as "California Athabaskan" languages. This group includes several languages spoken in the California area.

Who Spoke Wailaki?

The Wailaki language was spoken by several groups of people who lived near the Eel River in northern California. These groups were part of the Eel River Athapaskan confederation. They lived in the area that is now the Round Valley Reservation.

The Wailaki language had different ways of being spoken, called dialects. These dialects were used by four main groups:

• The Sinkyone
• The Wailaki
• The Nongatl
• The Lassik

These groups all spoke forms of Wailaki, showing how connected they were.