Doris Lamar-McLemore | |
---|---|
Born | Doris Jean Lamar April 16, 1927 |
Died | August 30, 2016 Anadarko, Oklahoma | (aged 89)
Occupation | Teacher (of Wichita language classes) |
Known for | Last native speaker of the Wichita language |
Doris Jean Lamar-McLemore (April 16, 1927 – August 30, 2016) was an American teacher who was the last native speaker of the Wichita language, [1] a Caddoan language spoken by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, indigenous to the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Texas.
McLemore was born in 1927 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. [2] Her mother was Wichita and her father was European-American. [3] McLemore was raised by her fullblood Wichita maternal grandparents, and Wichita was her first language. [4]
McLemore graduated from Riverside Indian School, an American Indian boarding school, in 1947 and worked as a house mother there for 30 years. [4] She married twice and had a son and two daughters. [4] In 1959 McLemore moved back to live near Gracemont, Oklahoma, to live among her relatives.
In 1962, McLemore met David Rood, a linguist from the University of Colorado, and they collaborated to preserve the Wichita language. [3]
McLemore taught language classes for the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes [5] and before her death, was collaborating with linguist David Rood to create dictionary and language CDs. [3]
"Doris is amazing for being able to retain as much as she does without having anyone to speak it to on a daily basis," said former Wichita tribal chairman, Gary McAdams. [4] She died on August 30, 2016, at the age of 89. [6]