Yana

/ˈjɑːnə/ noun

Definition

a Native American people from northeastern California, or their extinct language.

Etymology

From Yana autonym meaning 'person' or 'human' in their own language. Documented by linguists in the early 20th century before the language disappeared.

Kelly Says

The last native speaker of Yana, Ishi, was discovered in 1911 living alone in the California wilderness—his story shows how colonization erased not just peoples but entire languages and ways of knowing.

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