Showing posts with label Marie Wilcox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marie Wilcox. Show all posts

Friday, October 8, 2021

Marie Wilcox, Who Saved Her Native Language From Extinction, Dies at 87; The New York Times, October 6, 2021

Katharine Q. Seelye , The New York Times; Marie Wilcox, Who Saved Her Native Language From Extinction, Dies at 87

"For many years, Marie Wilcox was the guardian of the Wukchumni language, one of several Indigenous languages that were once common in Central California but have either disappeared or nearly disappeared. She was the only person for a time who could speak it fluently...

After 20 years of labor, of hunting and pecking on her keyboard, Ms. Wilcox, who died at 87 on Sept. 25, produced a dictionary, the first known complete compendium of Wukchumni...

The dictionary was copyrighted in 2019 but has yet to be published; Ms. Wilcox also recorded the words so that others would know the correct pronunciation."