Ukiah High students help carry forward nearly lost Northern Pomo language

Four high school graduates earned a state distinction for demonstrating proficiency in Northern Pomo this year, a language spoken in Northern California for thousands of years that nearly disappeared, the Ukiah Unified School District announced earlier this week.

Kala Wright, Taylor Feliz Jr., Izzy Garcia and Zach Martinez received California’s Seal of Biliteracy in Northern Pomo at graduation in June after completing Ukiah High School’s Native Language program, which completed its fifth year of instruction during the 2025-26 academic year, the school district said. Last year, the program saw the first two graduating seniors receive the state seal for Northern Pomo.

As the school district noted in its announcement, Northern Pomo came close to being lost after generations of persecution for speaking the language, which is traditionally passed down through speech. The district said the students’ achievement represents not only academic excellence but the “continuing revitalization of a language that nearly disappeared.”

According to the announcement, the program grew out of several years of collaboration between the school district and the local tribal community, as well as research from the University of California, Berkeley, that helped shape the curriculum.

Buffie Campbell, who teaches the program’s courses, said the students she teaches are “courageous and brave to revitalize a dormant language.”

In July, Campbell started a Northern Pomo language club at the Ukiah library where students can continue practicing the language after graduation. She said students from Mendocino College’s Northern Pomo language course also attend the club’s meetings.

Campbell said she hopes to see use of the language “spread and ripple out into the community more.” Part of that hope, she said, is seeing more signage in the Ukiah area featuring Pomo language.

This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.