Washo elders help compile online dictionary


Elders of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California are working with a linguist on an online dictionary of the Washo language.

Ramona Dick, 74, learned Washo from her grandparents. But her sons and daughters don't know the language, putting at risk of dying out.

Alan Yu, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, hopes to change the situation. With a $160,000 federal grant, he is working with elders like Dick on an online dictionary that will be finished in 2009.

Of the tribe's 1,500 members, only about 20 or 30 can speak Washo fluently.

Get the Story:
A final say? They hope not (The Los Angeles Times 9/21)
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$rl Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California - http://www.washoetribe.us
Washo Language Documentation and Revitalization - http://washo.uchicago.edu

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