Doris Jean Lamar-McLemore (April 16, 1927 – August 30, 2016) was an American teacher who was the last native speaker of the

Wichita language Wichita is a Caddoan language spoken in Anadarko, Oklahoma by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. The last fluent heritage speaker, Doris Lamar-McLemore, died in 2016, although in 2007 there were three first-language speakers alive. This has ...

, a

Caddoan language The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of sp ...

spoken by the

Wichita and Affiliated Tribes The Wichita people, or , are a confederation of Southern Plains Native American tribes. Historically they spoke the Wichita language and Kichai language, both Caddoan languages. They are indigenous to Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Today, Wich ...

, indigenous to the U.S. states of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Early life

McLemore was born in 1927 in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in and the county seat of Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. History Anadarko got its name when its post offic ...

. Her mother was Wichita and her father was European-American. McLemore was raised by her fullblood Wichita maternal grandparents, and Wichita was her first language. Somby, Liv Inger, publishe
USA: The Last to Speak Wichita Language.
''Gáldu.'' (retrieved 3 Oct 2009) McLemore graduated from

Riverside Indian School Riverside Indian School (RIS) is a Bureau of Indian Education-operated boarding school in unincorporated area, unincorporated Caddo County, Oklahoma, Caddo County, Oklahoma, with an Anadarko, Oklahoma, Anadarko address, for grades 4–12. It is ...

, an

American Indian boarding school American Indian boarding schools, also known more recently as American Indian residential schools, were established in the United States from the mid-17th to the early 20th centuries with a main primary objective of "civilizing" or assimilat ...

, in 1947 and worked as a house mother there for 30 years. She married twice and had a son and two daughters. In 1959 McLemore moved back to live near Gracemont, Oklahoma, to live among her relatives.

Preservation of the Wichita language

In 1962, McLemore met David Rood, a linguist from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

, and they collaborated to preserve the Wichita language. McLemore taught language classes for the Wichita and Affiliated TribesWichita Language Class.
''Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.'' 18 Feb 2009 (retrieved 3 Oct 2009) and before her death, was collaborating with linguist David Rood to create dictionary and language CDs. "Doris is amazing for being able to retain as much as she does without having anyone to speak it to on a daily basis," said former Wichita tribal chairman, Gary McAdams. She died on August 30, 2016, at the age of 89.

References

External links

with sample vocabulary
Wichita Language Documentation Project

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLemore, Doris 1927 births 2016 deaths Last known speakers of a Native American language People from Anadarko, Oklahoma Educators from Oklahoma Wichita people 21st-century American educators 21st-century American women educators 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American people Native American people from Oklahoma 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators