Projects

Wi Soulatlouy ("we will speak Soulatluk") curriculum development project In 2022, the Wiyot Tribe was awarded a 3-year Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance Grant from the Administration for Native Americans. (July 2022-June 2025) We are developing two years of school-based Soulatluk (aka Wiyot language) curriculum content that will be piloted at Loleta School beginning in 2024.  We are also developing a 3-month, culturally-based rotating Soulatluk curriculum for the Wiyot tribal community which we hope to introduce virtually and in person in 2024.		Wiyot youth acting out phrases from the Soulatluk curriculum. (Click the photo for links to vocabulary posters & video lessons based on our curriculum content)
Draft language videosweather phrases (click image to view)	Harouklhamu'n ("what is watched") language video project In 2022, the Wiyot Tribe was awarded a 1-year (extended to 1.5 years) Living Languages Grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Econonomic Development. (July 2022-December 2023) See the OIED press release here Read/listen to Quinn Nelson's Northern California Public Media story about the project here (includes excerpts from an interview with Wiyot tribal member & Da Gou Rou Louwi' Cultural Center Manager Marnie Atkins + linguist Lynnika Butler) Our project aims to make Soulatluk more accessible and fun to learn for the Wiyot tribal community by creating a series of short videos in and about the language. Videos are being/will be created and edited by Wiyot Tribe staff and the Wiyot community, with expert guidance and training by Wiyot filmmaker Michelle Hernandez-Wenzler and her team.
Qhili Soulatluk ("Wiyot people & language are here") place name mapping project In 2022, the Wiyot Tribe was awarded a 2-year Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services Grant from the the Institute of Museum & Library Services (July 2022-June 2024) This project, which we are calling Qhili Soulatluk ("Wiyot language/people are here") is creating interactive and print maps of Wiyot territory: one for public use, containing no culturally sensitive details; and a comprehensive one for Tribal use only. We are thoroughly researching the pronunciation, meaning, location, and other historical/cultural/ecological import of ALL documented Soulatluk place names in and around ancestral Wiyot territory. Click the images at right to watch the recorded project kickoff meeting (Sept. 2022) or to view or download a PDF of the presentation slides.  →  To watch a partial video of the November 2023 progress update discussion or to view/download a PDF of the presentation slides, click the images below. ↓Qhili Soulatluk project update video (Wiya't & south) Qhili Soulatluk project update PDF presentation		Qhili Soulatluk kickoff meeting video Qhili Soulatluk kickoff/overview PDF presentation
Rou Soulatlouy Conversation Book Project  (Sept. 2019-August 2023; funded by grant no. MN-00-19-0028-19 from the Institute of Museum & Library Services) The conversation book has been completed! Enrolled Wiyot tribal members will receive their copy of the book in the coming weeks! Click the image below to learn more about the project and view an interactive online version of the book content:

Other Ongoing Activities (as of 2023)

• Virtual Soulatluk lessons led by Lynnika Butler (linguist)
• Transcribing & posting native-speaker archival audio recordings held by UC Berkeley's California Language Archive (Weaver Denman, Della Prince, Nettie Rossig)
• Collaborating with other Tribal departments to incorporate Soulatluk into departmental activities & programs. Examples include:
  • Reclamation of the Mouralherwaqh land parcel (August 2022)
  • Naming the Da Gou Rou Louwi' Cultural Center
  • Naming the Dishgamu Humboldt ("I love Humboldt") Community Land Trust
  • Establishing the Tsek Houdaqh ("where the children are") youth program
• Collaborating with outside groups & agencies to incorporate Soulatluk into local trail signage, venues, organization names, and projects such as:
  • Da' Yas ("where the western redcedars are") Park in Eureka (formerly 20-30 Park)
  • The Gutswurrak ("many people gather") Student Activities Center at Cal Poly Humboldt
  • The Rou Dalagurr ("everyone works") Food Sovereignty Lab at Cal Poly Humboldt
  • The Hikshari' (mouth of the Elk River) trail in Eureka
  • The Goudi'ni ("over in the woods" = Arcata) Art Gallery at Cal Poly Humboldt
  • This Soulatluk place name map created by then-HSU student Toby Valdes, in collaboration with the Wiyot Tribe (2015)
• Publishing language articles in the Wiyot tribal newsletter

Past Projects & Activities

This is only a partial list! Contact Lynnika Butler for more information and materials.

• Creating online language-learning resources
  • Soulatluk vocabulary & pronunciation primer (this began as a word-a-day calendar for the Tsek Houdaqh Wiyot youth program in 2019)
  • Wiyot plant & animal flash cards
• Creating print language-learning resources
  • Soulatluk wall calendars with words and phrases around themes (place names, traditional foods, family)
  • A 100-word Soulatluk mini-dictionary researched & created by tribal member Pilar James (2016)
  • A partial Soulatluk plant & animal glossary (2012)

Plans for the Near Future

• Multimedia dictionary creation

Long-Term Goals

• Creation of a digital database containing all known Wiyot words, phrases and texts from manuscript, print, and audio sources
• Publication of a comprehensive Wiyot-English / English-Wiyot dictionary
• Training of language teachers within the Wiyot Tribe