According to the US Census of 2000, just 553 individuals speak the Oneida language, with 429 of them living in Wisconsin.
In an effort to perpetuate what would otherwise be a dying language, the University of Wisconsin at Green bay has created a web site, in collaboration with a tribal elder from Oneida, to promote and sustain the language of the Oneida. Professor Clifford Abbot and 96-year-old Maria Hinton are using the Web site to transform a printed dictionary of this oral language into an online database, including sound samples.
The Oneida language is part of the Iroquoian family of languages and related more distantly to Cherokee.
According to Abbot and Hinton, approximately 4,000 words, with about 900 sounds, have been placed on the Web site.
Oneida reservations are located in New York and Ontario, Canada, in addition to Wisconsin.
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