ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A handful of people came to the first series of Eyak workshops held at the Anchorage Museum, a second chance at bringing back the endangered Alaska Native language. This weekend was a chance to use systematic techniques to help new speakers learn Eyak in a short period of time.
Guillaume Leduey, a 22-year-old man from France who taught himself how to speak the language, led the free sessions with University of Alaska Anchorage sociolinguist Roy Mitchell.
The Eyak language has lost its last native-born speaker, but the daughter of that speaker says this workshop is important because it brings back a culture and an identity.
“It is alive and well. It is not dead, it is not extinct,” said Ramona Curry. “We want to carry this on for as long as we live and then our children will continue to carry it.”
