elder speaker Bios
Biographies
Honoring Those Who Carried the Language
The Nuu-da’ Mv-ne’ is built upon the voices, memories, and dedication of many individuals—language speakers, cultural knowledge holders, linguists, teachers, and community leaders—who have contributed to the survival of our languages.
This page is dedicated to sharing the stories of those who made this work possible. Their lives and legacies offer not only context to the materials in this archive but also inspiration for ongoing language revitalization.
We are adding to this list as we are able and would love to work with community members to highlight the contributions of their own family members or teachers to our language's revival!
A big thanks to Megan England for her work in compiling and writing the speaker biographies below.
BIRTH ~1848• The Village of Chvn-taa-t'aa-dvn, Oregon
DEATH 1946 • Buried at Siletz, Oregon
Coquelle thompson, sr.
Coquelle Thompson, Sr. is remembered as a master storyteller, a keeper of Upper Coquille language and culture, and a leader of the Siletz Tribe during early reservation times.
BIRTH 1868• Village of Lht’vsr-me’, California
DEATH 1979• Buried at Xaa-wan'-k'wvt (Smith River), CA
amelia brown
Yuu-k’wvt-day-na, also known as Amelia Brown, played a crucial role in passing down cultural knowledge and community history to younger generations. With her outgoing and caring personality, she was remembered affectionately in the Smith River community for many years as a matriarch.
BIRTH 1872• Kings Valley, Oregon
DEATH 1963• Buried at Siletz, Oregon
hoxie simmons
Hoxie Simmons was a tribal historian and leader from the Siletz community. Hoxie had extensive knowledge about the culture and history of the Upper Rogue River area, where the easternmost speakers of Nuu-wee-ya’ lived until their removal to reservations.
BIRTH 1862• Siletz, Oregon
DEATH 1946• Buried at Siletz, Oregon
lucy smith
Lucy Smith was a fluent speaker of Nuu-wee-ya' who was born at Siletz and grew up in the Gold Beach area after she and her mother escaped from the Siletz Reservation, which at that time was run like a prison camp. She kept and shared rich knowledge about the language, ancestral Dv-ne/Dee-ni’ village sites, history, stories, and ecology.
BIRTH ~1878• Otis, Oregon
DEATH 1983• Buried at Siletz, Oregon
ida bensell
Ida Bensell is remembered as a culture bearer and master basketry artist from Siletz. Her family played a very important role in maintaining and reviving traditional basketry at Siletz, and she worked with linguists for decades to document Nuu-wee-ya'.
BIRTH 1883• Siletz, Oregon
DEATH 1964 • Buried at Siletz, Oregon
millard (miller) collins
Miller Collins was a Mii-k’wvn-nu (Mikwanu) speaker of Tututni whose family was removed to Siletz. Miller was a source of knowledge about the history of the Rogue River region and southern Oregon coast, including the events surrounding the Rogue River Indian Wars. He was a speaker of both Tututni and Tal-dash (Galice dialects) of Nuu-wee-ya'.
BIRTH 1929• Siletz, Oregon
DEATH 2009• Buried in Siletz, Oregon
gilbert towner
En-sal-sun, also known as Gilbert Towner, was a Korean War veteran, pow-wow Whipman, and language teacher with Tututni ancestry. Gilbert stopped speaking Nuu-wee-ya' as a child, but later in life, he worked extensively to revitalize Tututni, working with his own knowledge and the recordings of his aunties and uncles.
