Tolowa
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A language of United States
Alternate Names
Smith River
User Population
No known L1 speakers (Golla 2011), but emerging L2 speakers. The last fluent speaker may have died before 1990 (Golla 2011). Ethnic population: 1,000 (2000 A. Yamamoto).
Location
California: Smith River Rancheria, near Crescent City.
Language Status
9 (Reawakening). Language of registered tribe: Big Lagoon Rancheria, Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, Elk Valley Rancheria, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.
Language Use
One fully fluent L2 speaker in his 40s but growing numbers of younger emerging speakers with limited competence (Golla 2007). Shifted to English [eng].
Language Development
All L2 speakers are literate. Dictionary. Some successful language revival efforts (Golla 2011).