Native Eyak may have a follower to carry on the dying language

Native Eyak language may have a follower

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Fairbanks linguist and a French aspiring artist are trying to carry on the dying Eyak language.

The last Alaska Native who could speak the language fluently died two years ago, leaving Michael Krauss. He studied the language for decades as a professor at the Unvirsity of Alaska Fairbanks.

Now 75, he’s teaching it to Guillaume Leduey, a 21-year-old from Le Havre, France, who began learning Eyak from instructional DVDs a few years ago. Leduey, who is visiting Anchorage this month, says it’s strange to learn a language that is likely to be never spoken by anyone.

Eyak was spoken by the indigenous people along the Gulf of Alaska coast.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com