Soulatluk (the language of the Wiyot people)

(Spoken by Della Prince & Nettie Rossig, 1956)

Soulatluk Speakers from gouche (the past):

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"Rou Soulatlouy" Soulatluk Conversation Book Project

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The Wiyot Tribe received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to create a Soulatluk (the language of the Wiyot people) Conversation Book. 

We are calling the project "Rou Soulatlouy", which means "we all speak Wiyot".

The project began with in-person workshops in late 2019, but had to move online due to COVID-19. We were granted extra time to complete the project due to COVID-related delays, and thanks to feedback from Wiyot youth and adults both online and via take-home surveys, we developed 34 short conversations in Soulatluk on topics including:

  • - greetings
  • - health & illness
  • - weather
  • - hunting & fishing
  • - cooking & mealtime
  • - school
    • ...and much more.

The final conversation book (with cover art by Lyn Risling) will be printed and mailed to enrolled Wiyot Tribal Members in the coming weeks! If you are not an enrolled Tribal Member, we will have extra copies available for sale as well.

Check out the Rou Soulatlouy page for a preview!

Counting in Soulatluk

2019-20 Language Calendar

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NEW! Counting in Wiyot

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Language signs

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Lhatsik Houmoulu'l (Cultural Department) Sign & Vocabulary

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Weaver Denman audio

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Della Prince audio

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Nettie Rossig audio

Nettie Rossig

Free Soulatluk Materials for Tribal Members

I have a number of language-related mini-"publications" available for Wiyot tribal members who would like to know more about the language. These are language materials which I have cleaned up and converted to standard Soulatluk spellings from their original (often handwritten) format. Please email Lynnika Butler for a free copy of any of the following:

  • An 1889 Wiyot vocabulary recorded by Jeremiah Curtis (booklet with index)
  • A 1924 Wiyot vocabulary recorded by Edward S Curtis (short booklet, no index)
  • Selected Wiyot stories in English and Soulatluk (as recorded by A.L. Kroeber, Gladys Reichard, Karl Teeter and others)
  • Transcripts of Soulatluk audio recordings (the complete audio recordings are available to download through UC Berkeley's California Language Archive (or you can email Lynnika to request copies on a CD-ROM); we have transcripts of over 30 word lists and are working to transcribe the remaining lists)
  • A variety of flash cards, phrase lists, and bookmarks for learning vocabulary, pronunciation, and some sentences. Many have QR codes that link to online audio.