STEWART: Well, now, people want to make sure that the language is preserve and I know you're working really hard at that with some linguists. And they weren't allowed to speak their language. And it was during that time when they would take them, they went to Riverside Indian School and they'd take them in the fall and even though they didn't live that far away, they would leave them there until spring. McLEMORE: This was way back in my mother's time. STEWART: There was a time, though, when children were punished for speaking the language. McLEMORE: And we've been doing that now for, I don't know how many years - for two years. She is the last known fluent speaker of the Wichita tribal language.ĭoris, were you able to teach anybody else the language to pass it on? Were people interested in learning it?
STEWART: We're speaking with Doris McLemore. McLEMORE: Well, my mother died in '97, and she was 92, and we talked all the time. STEWART: So, Doris, when was the last time you remember being able to have a conversation with someone who spoke Wichita fluently? And when my grandmother shopped or anything, I would be with her and, you know, to tell her the prices and that's whenever she shopped. STEWART: How about around town? Were you able to go into a store and speak Wichita to somebody when you were a young girl? McLEMORE: I don't know exactly, but it just - overtime, it just happened. STEWART: Do you remember when it started to go - the balance went the other way, where more people spoke English than Wichita? So ever since I've had a memory I could speak Wichita and English, and I can remember when everyone spoke Wichita. My mother was full-blood Wichita and she left me with my grandparents and my grandmother did not speak English. STEWART: And which side of your family is Native American? STEWART: So, Doris, I'd love to get a little information about where you grew up and how you grew up and where you went to elementary school and high school. DORIS McLEMORE (Last Fluent Speaker of The Wichita Tribal Language): I'm fine. And she joins us on the phone, now, from Oklahoma. She is working with a linguist to help record as much of the language as possible so it can be preserved for generations to come. Her name is Doris McLemore, and she is a busy woman. And so is the last fluent speaker of the Wichita tribal language. Bureau of Indian Affairs is located there. Now, according to Census data, about 42 percent of the population of Anadarko is Native American, and the U.S. That's about 60 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Our next guest hails from Anadarko, Oklahoma.
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