Nancy Raven

Nancy Raven
Born
Nancy Chunestudy

c. (1868-12-25)December 25, 1868
Indian Territory
DiedMarch 25, 1957(1957-03-25) (aged 88)
Oklahoma
Other namesNancy Chunestudy Taylor Waters Raven
Occupation(s)homemaker, storyteller, language consultant
Known forlast fluent speaker of Natchez language[1]

Nancy Raven (c. December 25, 1868–March 25, 1957),[2] also known as Nancy Taylor, was a Natchez storyteller from Braggs, Oklahoma and one of the last two fluent speakers of the Natchez language.[3]

Her father was Cherokee and her mother Natchez, and she learned Natchez at home. A full-blood,[4] she never learned English, but was trilingual in Natchez, Cherokee and Muscogee.[5]

In 1907 she worked with anthropologist John R. Swanton who collected information about Natchez religion, and in the 1930s she worked extensively with linguist Mary R. Haas who collected grammatical information and texts using an interpreter.[1] Among the stories she told Mary Haas was one called "The Woman Who Was a Fox".[5] Sometimes she used the surname Taylor, which she had taken from her second husband.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Natchez (Naacee)". Omniglot. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Nancy Raven". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference kimball2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ohs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Kimball, G. (2013). "The Woman Who Was a Fox: The Structure of a Natchez Oral Narrative". International Journal of American Linguistics. 79 (3): 421–437. doi:10.1086/670925. JSTOR 670925. S2CID 144512594.