Tlingit language

Tlingit is an endangered language indigenous to Southeast Alaska and parts of western Canada, spoken by the Tlingit people. Within the Na-Dene language family it forms its own independent branch, separate from the Athabaskan-Eyak languages. The language was first given a written form by Russian Orthodox missionaries using Cyrillic script, and after the United States purchase of Alaska, government and mission efforts to suppress Native languages sharply reduced the number of fluent speakers, though organized revitalization work began during the twentieth century. As of the early 2020s only a small number of elderly speakers remain fluent, and UNESCO classifies Tlingit as critically endangered; Alaska recognized it as an official state language in 2014.