nativeamericannews:

Marie Smith Jones – the Eyak

Marie Smith Jones (May 14, 1918 – January 21, 2008) was the last surviving speaker of the Eyak language of Southcentral Alaska. She was born in Cordova, Alaska, was an honorary chief of the Eyak Nation and the last remaining full-blooded Eyak. In a 2005 interview, Smith Jones explained that her name in Eyak is Udach’ Kuqax*a’a’ch which, she said, translates as “a sound that calls people from afar”.

It’s really, really sad to know that a language just forever died.