Doris McLemore
Last speaker of the Wichita language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doris Jean Lamar-McLemore (April 16, 1927 – August 30, 2016) was an American teacher who was the last native speaker of the Wichita language,[1] a Caddoan language spoken by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, indigenous to the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Texas.
April 16, 1927
Doris Lamar-McLemore | |
|---|---|
McLemore in 2010 | |
| Born | Doris Jean Lamar April 16, 1927 Anadarko, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | August 30, 2016 (aged 89) Anadarko, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Occupation | Teacher (of Wichita language classes) |
| Known for | Last native speaker of the Wichita language |
Early life
McLemore was born in 1927 in Anadarko, Oklahoma.[2] Her mother was Wichita and her father was European-American.[3] McLemore was raised by her fullblood Wichita maternal grandparents, and Wichita was her first language.[4]
McLemore graduated from Riverside Indian School, an American Indian boarding school, in 1947 and worked as a house mother there for 30 years.[4] She married twice and had a son and two daughters.[4] In 1959 McLemore moved back to live near Gracemont, Oklahoma, to live among her relatives.
Preservation of the Wichita language
In 1962, McLemore met David Rood, a linguist from the University of Colorado, and they collaborated to preserve the Wichita language.[3]
McLemore taught language classes for the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes[5] and before her death, was collaborating with linguist David Rood to create dictionary and language CDs.[3]
"Doris is amazing for being able to retain as much as she does without having anyone to speak it to on a daily basis," said former Wichita tribal chairman, Gary McAdams.[4] She died on August 30, 2016, at the age of 89.[6]
See also
- Tevfik Esenç, the last native speaker of Ubykh
- Ned Maddrell, the last native speaker of Manx
- Dolly Pentreath, the last native speaker of Cornish
- List of last known speakers of languages