Eastern Pomo language
| Eastern Pomo | |
|---|---|
| Bahca·l | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Northern California |
|
Native speakers
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1 (2006) |
|
Pomoan
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | east2545 |
The seven Pomoan languages with an indication of their pre-contact distribution within California
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Eastern Pomo, also known as Clear Lake Pomo, is a nearly extinct Pomoan language spoken around Clear Lake in Lake County, California by one of the Pomo peoples. It is not mutually intelligible with the other Pomoan languages. Prior to contact with Europeans, it was spoken along the northern and southern shores of Clear Lake to the north of San Francisco, and in the coast mountains west of Sacramento Valley. Eastern Pomo shared borders in the north with the Patwin and the Yuki languages, in the south with the Lake Wappo, the Wappo, the Southeastern Pomo, the Southern Pomo, the Central Pomo, the Northern Pomo, and the Lake Miwok. They also shared a border to the west with the Northern Pomo.
The southern and northern areas in which Eastern Pomo was spoken were geographically separate, and apparently represented differing dialects,split by certain lexical and phonological differences. Contemporary Eastern Pomo speakers refer to the north shore dialect area as Upper Lake, and the south shore dialect area as Big Valley.
A documentation project for the language, which had not been written down, started in 2003 at the Big Valley Rancheria. As of 2006, 59-year-old Loretta Kelsey was the one remaining Elem Pomo speaker, or "language keeper". A podcast interview is available which features Kelsey speaking the language. Although Kelsey is teaching younger speakers, it is not clear whether the language can be maintained based on her knowledge. In 2008, Kelsey, the daughter of a former tribal chief, was disenrolled from the tribe along with 24 family members, despite having "lived on the rancheria for most of her 59 years." Downloads of Elem Pomo documentation are available from the electronic repository of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center.
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