Help us REPRINT the Kalapuya dictionary

Qá pai. ( Hello! )

UPDATE:

Hello Relatives,

It has been some time so I wanted to share some updates.

Firstly. The creator of the Kalapuya dictionaries, Paul McCartney, passed away shortly after the dictionaries were complete and before we raised enough money to print them. It was one of his last wishes to see his work be published and put to good use. We continue to carry on Paul's legacy and thank him for his contributions to our language work every time we gather to work on the project and every time we get to donate another set of dictionaries. We were able to donate a full set of dictionaries to Paul's family after the first printing. We would not be where we are today without Paul and his dedication to helping us restore our language.

Over the past 4 years, we have printed 250 full-volume sets of the Kalapuya dictionaries, that is 1000 individual books! Many of these sets were donated to schools, libraries, Native organizations, and tribal families within Oregon.

As of now we no longer have any sets of dictionaries available for sale or donation. As we continue to work towards more language projects and continue to work with the dictionaries we have continued to have people reach out to us about buying sets of the dictionaries. So, we are working on another printing session for the dictionaries. As of right now, we are aiming towards a goal of another 100 full-volume sets to be printed. Along with looking for grants we also wanted to reach out to our relatives online to help foot the cost of these printings. Past donations were so successful and we are forever grateful to all of our donors.

NOTE: If you would like to purchase a dictionary please get in contact with me (Aiyanna) or another KCPA member to order. If you put a $150 donation on this site it will just go towards our general fundraising account as a donation and will not notify us that it was to purchase a set.

I do apologize for any extended responses, however, as we get another go at fundraising I will be more able to readily respond to messages directly through this site.

Tci tanq’ua’t Aiyanna, tsum Kommema Kalapuya

(My name is Aiyanna Brown and I am Kommema Kalapuya), an indigenous tribe from Oregon. We are working with local linguist Paul McCarty to learn our native language (Kalapuya).

Paul has worked hard over the years with the limited resources available and is in the final stages of making sets of dictionaries of our language with notes and examples of usage.

With no living speakers of the language, very few audio files, and ethnographies, it has been challenging to bring this language back to life. A dictionary of this size and detail would make a tremendous difference in our ability to study and share our language with others. Copies would be free of charge to universities, tribe,s and any native group trying to learn about NorthWest native languages and culture.

Although the dictionaries are not completely comprehensive, they serve as a crucial starting point for beginning language learners to become more comfortable and confident in taking back their language.