Editing Eyak language (section)

==Current status and revival==
The last surviving native speaker was [[Marie Smith Jones]] (May 14, 1918&nbsp;– January 21, 2008)<ref>[https://archive.today/20120729204845/http://www.adn.com/189/story/290580.html ADN.com]</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7206411.stm | work=BBC News | title=Last Alaska language speaker dies | date=January 24, 2008}}</ref><ref>
"[http://www.slate.com/id/2182949 How Do You Learn a Dead Language?]", Christine Cyr, ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'', January 28, 2008</ref> of [[Cordova, Alaska|Cordova]].<ref>John McWhorter,"No Tears For Dead Tongues"[https://www.forbes.com/2008/02/21/language-death-english-tech-cx_jm_language_sp08_0221death.html], [[Forbes]],2/21/2008 @ 6:00PM.</ref>

The spread of [[English language|English]] and suppression of aboriginal languages are not the only reasons for the decline of the Eyak language. The northward migration of the [[Tlingit|Tlingit people]] around [[Yakutat, Alaska|Yakutat]] in precontact times encouraged the use of [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] rather than Eyak along much of the [[Pacific Coast]] of Alaska. Eyak was also under pressure from its neighbors to the west, the [[Alutiiq]] people of [[Prince William Sound]], as well as some pressure from the people of the Copper River valley. Eyak and Tlingit culture began to merge along the Gulf Coast, and a number of Eyak-speaking groups were absorbed by the Gulf Coast Tlingit populations. This resulted in the replacement of Eyak by Tlingit among most of the mixed groups after a few generations, as reported in Tlingit oral histories of the area.

===Revival===
In June 2010, the ''[[Anchorage Daily News]]'' published an article about [[Guillaume Leduey]], a French college student with an unexpected connection to the Eyak language. Beginning at age 12, he had taught himself Eyak, utilizing print and audio instructional materials he obtained from the [[Alaska Native Language Center]]. During that time, he never traveled to Alaska or conversed with Marie Smith Jones, the last native speaker.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hopkins|first=Kyle|title=Extinct Alaska Native language interests French student|url=http://www.adn.com/2010/06/27/1343777/unlikely-passion-may-save-eyak.html|access-date=15 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610140310/http://www.adn.com/2010/06/27/1343777/unlikely-passion-may-save-eyak.html|archive-date=10 June 2011}}</ref>

The month that the article was published, he traveled to Alaska and met with Dr. [[Michael E. Krauss|Michael Krauss]], a noted linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Dr. Krauss assisted Leduey with proper Eyak phonological pronunciation and assigned further instruction in grammar and morphology—including morphemic analyses of traditional Eyak stories.

In June 2011, Leduey returned to Alaska to facilitate Eyak language workshops in Anchorage and Cordova. He is now regarded as a fluent speaker, translator, and instructor of Eyak.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gibbins|first=Jennifer|title=Preserving Alaska Native culture|url=http://www.thecordovatimes.com/article/1125preserving_alaska_native_culture|access-date=15 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327162901/http://www.thecordovatimes.com//article/1125preserving_alaska_native_culture|archive-date=27 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite his fluency, Eyak remains classified as "dormant" as there are no native speakers. On the [[Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale]] (EGIDS) Eyak is graded a 9 (dormant); the language serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community, but no one has more than symbolic proficiency.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ethnologue |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/eya}}</ref> Currently, Leduey provides instruction and curriculum assistance to the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140301154401/http://www.eyakpeople.com/project Eyak Language Project] from France.

The Eyak Preservation Council received an Alaska Humanities Forum Grant that enabled them to start a website devoted to the preservation of the Eyak Language. Other funding supports the annual Eyak Culture Camp every August in Cordova. The Project provides countless language resources including immersion workshops, an online dictionary with audio samples, and a set of eLearning lessons, among others.

In June 2014, the Eyak Language Revitalization Project announced an online program called "dAXunhyuuga'", which means "the words of the people."<ref>{{Cite web
| last = Hintze
| first = Heather
| title = Program seeks to revitalize extinct Eyak language
| work = KTVA CBS 11
| access-date = 2014-06-28
| date = 2014-06-25
| url = http://www.ktva.com/program-seeks-to-revitalize-extinct-eyak-language-474/
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140705070042/http://www.ktva.com/program-seeks-to-revitalize-extinct-eyak-language-474/
| archive-date = 2014-07-05
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>