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Cayuse Indian Language (Waiilatpu)

Cayuse was a language isolate (a language unrelated to any other known living language) once spoken in the northwest United States. Though the Cayuse people still live on combined reservations in Oregon and Washington state, their native language has not been spoken since the 19th century. Some Cayuse Indians still speak Nez Perce, the language of a neighboring tribe with whom many of them took shelter in the 1800's. The Cayuse language itself has left few traces. It was once said to be related to Molalla, but this was apparently just a rumor retold as fact; the records that remain of the language do not seem to have anything in common with Molalla or the Sahaptin languages at all.

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ImageCayuse Language Resources

ImageVanishing Tongues:
    Article about a Cayuse/Nez Perce linguist working to save the languages of his ancestors.
ImageCayuse:
    Information on the Cayuse language in Spanish, including a language map of the Great Basin.
ImageCayuse Language Tree:
    Theories about Cayuse's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.

ImageCayuse Culture and History Links

ImageConfederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation:
    Official homepage of the combined Umatilla/Walla Walla/Cayuse tribe of Oregon.
ImageTamastslikt Cultural Institute:
    Interpretive center designed by the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes to tell their own history.
ImageThe Wallawalla, Umatilla, and Cayuse:
    Curtis' early 20th-century ethnography of the Cayuse Indians and their neighbors.
ImageCayuse:
    Information about the Cayuse Indians from the University of Oregon.
ImageCayuse Tribe:
    Article on Cayuse history and culture.
ImageCayuse Legends:
    Collection of Cayuse Indian legends and folktales.
ImageCayuse Indians:
    History of Cayuse interactions with the Lewis and Clark expedition.
ImageCayuse Authors:
    Cayuse writers, their lives and work.
ImageFour Directions: Cayuse:
    Timeline and links about Cayuse history.

ImageBooks For Sale On The Cayuse
Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links

ImageThe Cayuse Indians: Imperial Tribesmen Of Old Oregon:
    Book on the Cayuse tribe for sale online.
ImageCayuse Indians: The Art of Michael G Booth:
    Coffee-table book depicting the Cayuse people in photographs and artwork.
ImageYakima, Palouse, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Wanapum Indians:
    Ethnography of the Cayuses and other Northwest Plateau Indian tribes.

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Links, References, and Additional Information

   Wikipedia: Cayuse People:
   Encyclopedia articles on the Cayuse tribe.
   Pueblo Cayuse: * Los Cayuse: * Idioma Cayuse:
   Information about the Cayuse Indians and their language in Spanish.

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