WINDOW

WWU Linguist Edward Vajda has worked closely
with Ket speakers in Siberia, including Ulka, who
is one of the last remaining fluent speakers of the
language.
Photo by Edward Vajda
LINKED
THROUGH LANGUAGE
Linguistics Professor
Edward Vajda finds
clues to ancient North
American migrations in a
tiny Siberian village
By Matthew Anderson (’06)
There are no roads. There is no train. Most of this
area, a gorgeous land of forests, streams and lakes
beside the broad Yenisei River, is as undeveloped as it
was the day 400 years ago when Russian fur trappers
first documented this land.
There is no oil here deep in the north of Siberian
Asia. No natural gas. No gold.
But for those interested in the spread of civilization
throughout Asia and into North America, there
is something here of indescribable value.
Ket, a language spoken by fewer than 50 people,
could hold the key to understanding the origin of
many Native Americans.
Clues to a shared ancestry
Kellog Village comprises a handful of Russian-style
cabins huddled hard against the Yelogui River, one
of the Yenisei’s largest tributaries. Most of the 342
people who live here have never seen civilization any
bigger than this. The only way in is by helicopter
or, during the couple months of Siberian summer,
steamboat.
And yet, right now in North America are thousands
of people who share ancestry with the people
living along this river. They trolled it for fish and
floated to its center to avoid the swarms of mosquitos
clustered along its shore. They revered the spirit of the
sky but reviled his earthly wife, who they believe caused
sickness and misfortune among the people. They traded
squirrel pelts and used decomposed fish oil as poison
with which they’d daub their wooden arrows.
Continued on page 16
One language disappears
every two weeks. But the loss
of Ket is more than the loss
of just another language.
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