Mary Yee

Mary Yee
Born	Mary Joachina Ygnacio 1897 Near Santa Barbara, California
Died	1965
Occupation	Linguist
Known for	Last speaker of the Barbareño language
Children	Valentina Yee, Josie Yee, John Yee, Angela Yee, and Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto
Parent(s)	Mother, Lucretia García
Relatives	Grandmother, Luisa Ignacio

Mary Joachina Yee (née Ygnacio, 1897–1965) was the last first-language speaker of the Barbareño language, which was also the last Chumash language to have first-language speakers.

Born in an adobe house near Santa Barbara, the home of her grandmother, in the late 1890s, Yee was one of only a handful of children brought up to speak any Chumash language. She memorized several old Chumash stories.

In her fifties, Yee began to take part in the analysis, description, and documentation of her language, for many years working closely with the linguist J. P. Harrington, who had also worked with Yee's mother Lucretia García and her grandmother Luisa Ignacio. Yee and Harrington corresponded with each other in Chumash. After retiring in 1954, Yee worked with Harrington nearly every day. She also worked with linguist Madison S. Beeler. Over the course of her work she became a linguist in her own right, analyzing paradigms and word structure. She also illustrated stories published by her daughter Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto.

Yee's story appears in the documentary film, 6 Generations: A Chumash Family History.

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