Kitsai language

Kitsai
Native toUnited States
Regionpreviously west-central Oklahoma and eastern Texas
EthnicityKichai
Extinct1940, with the death of Kai Kai[1]
Caddoan
  • Northern
    • Pawnee–Kitsai
      • Kitsai
Language codes
ISO 639-3kii
Glottologkits1249
Linguasphere64-BAB-a

The Kitsai (also Kichai) language is an extinct member of the Caddoan language family.[2] The French first record the Kichai people's presence along the upper Red River in 1701.[3] By the 1840s Kitsai was spoken in southern Oklahoma, but by the 1930s no native speakers remained. It is thought to be most closely related to Pawnee.[4][5] The Kichai people today are enrolled in the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi), Waco and Tawakonie), headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

  1. ^ Kitsai at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Sturtevant and Fogelson, 616
  3. ^ "Kichai Tribe". Access Genealogy. July 9, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  4. ^ Sturtevant and Fogelson, 68
  5. ^ Kitsai language at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009) Closed access icon (retrieved 3 May 2010)