Coos Language
The Coos language, historically spoken by the Coos, Coosan, or Kusan peoples, was prevalent in the region around Coos Bay on the southwestern coast of Oregon. This language is classified as part of the Macro-Penutian language family and is noted for its distinct dialects spoken by the four bands of the Kusan peoples. Although some tribal members view their language as largely unrelated to neighboring languages, it is important to recognize the complex linguistic landscape of the region, which includes influences from other language groups like Athapaskan and Salish.
Despite its rich cultural heritage, which is deeply intertwined with the maritime and riverine environments of the Coos territory, the Coos language is now largely extinct. The last native speakers died in the 20th century, with the final fluent speaker passing away in 1972. Documentation of the language primarily comes from early 20th-century linguists who recorded and analyzed what remained of it. As a result, the Coos language represents not only a mode of communication but also a rich tapestry of myths and stories reflective of the Kusan peoples' connection to their land and history.
Coos Language
Culture area: Northwest Coast
Tribes affected: Kusan peoples
The Coos language is spoken by the Coos, Coosan, or Kusan, peoples, who traditionally occupied the lands around Coos Bay, on the southwestern Oregon coast. Remnants of the original tribe still live in the area and have a small reserve in Empire, Oregon. The language of the Kusan is commonly classified as a part of the Macro-Penutian language phylum, spoken by a number of tribes of possibly related Yakonan stock in the Columbia River basin, along the Oregon coast, in Northern California, and elsewhere to the south.
The Kusan peoples consist of four bands which are known to have spoken distinct yet related dialects. On the other hand many Coos tribal citizens believe themselves and their language to be unrelated to, or only distantly related to, the languages of their immediate or distant neighbors. Eastward and inland, the speakers of Athapaskan and Siouan languages dominated. North of the Columbia River, speakers of the Salish language were in the majority. Regional trade languages such as Chinook jargon also developed across the Columbia Plateau in response to the need for commerce between diverse groups of unrelated stock. At the time of first contact with whites in the early 1800’s, Coos informants used Chinook jargon to communicate with the explorers.
Isolates of Coos were spoken by the Melukitz, the Naseemi, the Miluk, and the Hanis bands of the Kusan peoples. Other isolates of the Macro-Penutian language family are thought by scholars to have been spoken by the Nez Perce, Kuitish, Alsea, Siuslaw, Umpqua, and Yaquina to the north of Coos territory and by the Klamath, Modoc, Maidu, Mayas and others far to the south. Some scholars have argued that there is evidence to support the theory that speakers of these languages may have migrated to the Pacific Northwest from Central America or southern Mexico; perhaps, it has been suggested, they originally came to the Americas from the South Pacific. The dominant theory, however, is still that they migrated across Beringia, the Bering land bridge. There is evidence to suggest that Macro-Penutian speakers migrated into the coastal areas and river basins from the north. Tribal stories suggest that the peoples who spoke the Coos language were created in, and have always resided in, the territories they occupy today. Thus the origins of the Coos language are uncertain.
The language of the Coos Bay peoples gives evidence of its origins in the sea. It is rich in myths, legends, and stories reflective of the rich maritime, estuarine, and riverine environments they occupied. Today it is, for the most part, lost. The last original speakers died out in the 1920’s. The Kusan language died with the last native speaker, Martha Johnson, in 1972.
What remains today was recorded and remarked upon by Leo J. Fractenberg, and later by Melville Jacobs, around the time the last of the Coos speakers and informants were dying out. They made a number of recordings of the language and wrote about their findings in linguistic and textual analyses still regarded by scholars as definitive.