Native to United States Extinct prior to 2012 | Ethnicity Holikachuk people | |
Region Alaska (lower Yukon River, Innoko River) Language family Dené–Yeniseian?
Na-Dené
Athabaskan
Northern Athabaskan
Holikachuk Writing system Latin (Northern Athabaskan alphabet) | ||
Holikachuk (own name: Doogh Qinag) was an Athabaskan language formerly spoken at the village of Holikachuk (Hiyeghelinhdi) on the Innoko River in central Alaska. In 1962, residents of Holikachuk relocated to Grayling on the lower Yukon River. Holikachuk is intermediate between the Deg Xinag and Koyukon languages, linguistically closer to Koyukon but socially much closer to Deg Xinag. Though it was recognized by scholars as a distinct language as early as the 1840s, it was only definitively identified in the 1970s. Of about 180 Holikachuk people, only about 5 spoke the language in 2007. In March 2012, the last living fluent speaker of Holikachuk died in Alaska.
James Kari compiled a short dictionary of Holikachuk in 1978, but Holikachuk remains one of the least documented Alaska Native languages.