Native Languages of the Americas: Wiyot (Weott, Sulateluk)
Language: Wiyot is an Algic language
once spoken in Northern California. Sadly, its last native speaker died in 1962, but some members of the Wiyot tribe are trying to
revive the language from audio recordings for cultural purposes.
Wiyot is related to Yurok but not to the other languages of Northern
California--known to linguists as the Ritwan languages, Wiyot and Yurok are actually distant relatives of Algonquian languages
like Ojibway and Cree.
People: The Wiyot people traditionally lived on the far northwest coast of California, along the shores
of Humboldt Bay. Unlike most native peoples of the west coast, the Wiyot were
Algonquian speakers. There are about 500 Wiyot Indians on four
rancherias in Northern California today; in some places, they have merged with their neighbors the
Yurok.
History: Always a small tribe, the Wiyot Indians were known as friendly and hospitable people and got along well with
white settlers until gold was discovered in California. Like most Native Americans in the region, the Wiyot tribe
was trampled underfoot in the Gold Rush and its aftermath. The Wiyots suffered a worse fate than most, though.
In 1860, a local man named Hank Larrabee--called a "thug" even by the other rowdy white miners in the area--stormed
Indian Island with a few followers while the Wiyot women and children were preparing sacred ceremonies there and killed almost
all of them. The survivors of this massacre have mostly merged together with their allies the
Yurok.
The descendants of the Wiyot nation are currently trying to buy Indian Island back from its white owners. If you'd like to help
them, you can click here.
Wiyot Vocabulary:
List of vocabulary words in the Wiyot language, with comparison to words in Algonquian languages.
Wiyot Pronunciation Guide:
How to pronounce Wiyot words.
Wiyot Animal Words:
Illustrated glossary of animal words in the Wiyot language.
Wiyot Body Parts:
Online and printable worksheets showing parts of the body in the Wiyot language.
Wiyot Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions
Wiyot Language Revival:
Drafts of Wiyot language learning materials from linguist Lisa Conathan (PDF format).
Wiyot Language:
Wiyot phonology and orthography information, and an excerpt from a Wiyot story.
Wiyot (Wishosk):
Wikipedia article overviewing the Wiyot language.
Wiyot Language Preservation and Usage
Wiyot:
Demographic information about the Wiyot language from the Ethnologue of Languages.
Pacific Northwest Language Domains:
Language map of Wiyot and other Northwest Coast languages of Washington, Oregon and California.
Wiyot Dictionaries, Audio Tapes and Language Resources
American Indian Culture
Wiyot Language Resources
Wiyot Language Resources
Wiyot Vocabulary:
Wiyot Handbook II 
