Eyak word of the week

Help preserve the Eyak language by visiting new websiteThe Eyak Language Project's "Word of the Week" went live online Jan. 1 as part of an effort to preserve the indigenous Southcentral Alaska language whose last native speaker, Cordova-born Chief Marie Smith Jones, died in 2008. The Word of the Week gives everyone a chance to participate, says the homepage for the project, directed by Anchorage filmmaker Laura Bliss Spaan. "Whether you learn a few words that mean something to you or endeavor to become fluent, your efforts will mean that this irreplaceable way of speaking and thinking about the world will never be lost."

The first featured word is "iishuh," the Eyak equivalent of "hello."