Mattole language
Extinct Athabaskan language of California
title: "Mattole language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["indigenous-languages-of-california", "pacific-coast-athabaskan-languages", "mattole-people", "extinct-languages-of-north-america"] description: "Extinct Athabaskan language of California" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattole_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct Athabaskan language of California ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Mattole |
| altname | Mattole–Bear River |
| states | United States |
| region | California |
| ethnicity | Mattole, Bear River |
| extinct | 1930s (Mattole) |
| | familycolor | Dené-Yeniseian | | fam2 | Na-Dené | | fam3 | Athabaskan | | fam4 | Pacific Coast Athabaskan | | map | Lang Status 01-EX.svg | | mapcaption | | | iso3 | mvb | | glotto | matt1238 | | glottorefname | Mattole-Bear River | | dia1 | Bear River | ::
| name = Mattole | altname = Mattole–Bear River | states = United States | region = California | ethnicity = Mattole, Bear River | extinct = 1930s (Mattole)
after 1922 (Bear River dialect) | familycolor = Dené-Yeniseian | fam2 = Na-Dené | fam3 = Athabaskan | fam4 = Pacific Coast Athabaskan | map = Lang Status 01-EX.svg | mapcaption = | iso3 = mvb | glotto = matt1238 | glottorefname = Mattole-Bear River | dia1 = Bear River
Mattole, or Mattole–Bear River, is an extinct Athabaskan language once spoken by the Mattole and Bear River peoples of northern California. It is one of the four languages belonging to the California Athabaskan cluster of the Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages. It was found in two locations: in the valley of the Mattole River, immediately south of Cape Mendocino on the coast of northwest California, and a distinct dialect on Bear River, about 10 miles to the north. The Mattole have expressed interest in reviving their language.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/California-athabaskan.svg" caption="Mattole and other California Athabaskan languages"] ::
References
- Goddard, Pliny Earle (1929). "The Bear River Dialect of Athapascan." University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 24 (5):291-334, 1929.
- Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian Languages. Berkeley: University of California Press. .
- Yeadon, David, "California’s North Face", National Geographic, vol. 184, no. 1, p. 48-79, July 1993.
References
- (2010). "Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". UNESCO.
- (2022<!--). "Implementing an Education and Resilience Center for the Northern King Range NCA and Rural Coastal Communities". Mattole Restoration Council.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::