Komemma Cultural Protection Association donates new Kalapuya dictionary to NILI!

Esther and Shannin Stutzman present a copy of the Kalapuya Dictionary to Robert Elliott of NILI.

After years of efforts, the Kalapuya Dictionary, compiled by day-sri Paul Stephen McCartney, Sr. (1940-2021) was completed and printed in the fall of 2021. McCartney worked closely with the Komemma Kalapuya families to breathe life into this sleeping Oregon language. Komemma Kalapuya elder, Esther Stutzman, founder of the Komemma Cultural Protection Association, stopped by NILI with her daughter Shannin Stutzman to donate a copy of this four-volume set. We are so honored to receive this amazing body of work and bear witness to the effort that has created a lasting resource on the Kalapuya language.

This dictionary is compiled from hand-written notes collected on 11 dialects of Kalapuya as found in the Jacobs collection at the University of Washington in Seattle. It also includes newly-coined words for modern terms such as ‘car’, and ‘cell-phone’. Paul became interested in the Kalapuya language when researching the origin of the name for the town of Noti, Oregon. He fell in love with the language and began to digitize and compile the hand-written notes. When he realized there were Kalapuya people left he approached them and offered to help them get their language back. Paul worked selflessly for over seven years on this project; He crossed only weeks after the dictionary’s completion.

A huge setback in an endeavor like this is finding the funding to publish such a large body of work. Aiyanna Brown, granddaughter of Esther launched a GoFundMe in the summer of 2021 to support the publishing of this amazing resource and interest was so high, she reached her goal in three weeks. The Komemma Cultural Protection Association is currently requesting donations for a second printing, as interest in this dictionary has been so high. To find out more or offer your support please email kalapuya71@live.com.