Wikimedia Commons/National Park Service
Isabel Meadows’ Final Mission to Save Rumsen Ohlone
Isabel Meadows was the last person who could speak Rumsen Ohlone fluently.
Born in 1846 to an English whaler and a Rumsen Ohlone woman, she grew up hearing the native tongue daily. At age 86, she met Smithsonian linguist John Harrington who saw her unique value.
Soon after, Isabel moved to Washington D.C. for five years to help him save her dying language…