Wailaki Language (Sinkyone, Lassik, Nongatl, Eel River Athabaskan)
Wailaki is an Athabascan language of California.
Though the Wailaki people are culturally most closely associated with the
Wintu, their language was most similar to
Hupa.
Unfortunately there are no native speakers of Wailaki any longer, though Wailaki people still live together with Yuki,
Cahto, and Maidu Indians
on the Round Valley Rancheria.
Three other California Athabaskan languages,
Sinkyone,
Lassik,
and Nongatl, are usually considered dialects of Wailaki;Kato is thought by some linguists to have been a dialect of
the same language, by others a closely related but distinct language of its own. Unfortunately the point is moot, as none of
these languages is still spoken today.