Tututni Language (Rogue River Athapaskan, Mishikhwutmetunne, Coquille)
Tututni is an Athabascan language of southwest Oregon.
A second language, Upper Coquille, is considered by most linguists to be
a dialect of Tututni. (The word "upper" does not have anything to do with the language, but refers to the original location of
the people on the upper part of the Coquille River. The "Lower Coquille," or
Miluk Coos, speak a
Penutian language completely unrelated to Upper Coquille.)
Like many other West Coast Indian tribes, the Tututni and Coquille Athabaskans were relocated to the Siletz Reservation in
California during the 1800's, where they were merged with other native peoples and their languages rapidly vanished.
Today the Coquille language is no longer spoken and the Tututni language is only spoken by a few elders, but some young
people are working to learn their ancestral language again.
Tututni Vocabulary:
List of vocabulary words in the Tututni language, with comparison to words in other Athabaskan languages.
Tututni Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions
A Tututni Language Lesson
Audio files of Tututni words being spoken.
Elder Helps Save Tribal Language
Article on one of the few remaining speakers of Tututni, and the tribe's language revival effortsi.
Coquille
Profile of the Coquille tribe with a map and language chart.
Tututni Language
Tututni demographic information from the Ethnologue of Languages.
Pacific Northwest Language Domains:
Language map of Rogue River and other Northwest Coast languages of Washington, Oregon and California.
Native American Nations
Tututni Vocabulary:
Contacts and FAQ page
