Eyak language dead
Like all forms of living thing, languages can also become extinct; and this is precisely what has happened in January 2008, as Marie Smith Jones aged 89, passed away.
Marie Smith Jones, a resident of Alaska, was believed to be the last native speaker of the Eyak language in the State. The traditional Eyak homeland runs along almost 300 miles of the Gulf of Alaska, but over centuries the use of the Eyak language declined. This was particularly exacerbated during the 20th century when the use of any other language other than English was actively discouraged and sometimes harshly enforced.
Marie Smith Jones married a white Oregon fisherman and had seven children; however, none of them learned Eyak, because of the aforementioned social discouragement. Gradually all the remaining Eyak speakers passed away, culminating with the death of Mrs Jones…and the death of the language.
The language has not totally disappeared without trace though; in the years before her death Mrs Jones worked in close collaboration with the University of Alaska to compile an Eyak dictionary and to preserve as many other aspects of the Eyak language as possible.
Marie Smith Jones believed passionately in preserving something of the Eyak language for posterity…thanks to her diligent efforts, she managed to do just that before her passing.