Welcome to all who come here.
The Yesa:sahį́ Language Project is a non-profit organization owned and operated by members of the various Yesáh communities. The YLP's mission is to preserve our ancestral language and catalyze a strong future for our culture and our communities by restoring Yesa:sahį́ to everyday use.
We are awakening the voices of our ancestors by living and speaking their language.
We have inherited this language from those who came before us, and we are preserving it for those who will come after us.
We accomplish our mission to restore and preserve Yesa:sahį́ through documentation, teaching, research, collaboration, and traditional practices, carried out by Yesáh community members, researchers, teachers, elders, storytellers, and learners.
The Yesa:sahį́ Language Project will be offering monthly language classes to members of the Yesáh communities starting in February, 2026!
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! 5 seats available per community!
We support a monthly, free online language class for members of Yesáh communities.
If you are Yesáh and would like to join our classes or extend our language offerings to your community, please use registration links above. Seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Our language exists in living relationship with our history, our present, and our future. It is a reflection and a guide to how and where we have lived, as well as how and where we live today. For that reason, effective language teaching must also incorporate cultural practices and worldviews.
We provide a variety of opportunities throughout the year for members of Yesàh communities to learn more about our history, spirituality, and cultural practices.
We are working to create a permanent home for the Yesa:sahį́ Language Project and establish digital archives (images, recordings, etc.) for our linguistic revitalization work. Archives will be made available to Yesáh community members and approved researchers working through collaboration with Federal and State tribal entities within our service range.
If you are a non-Yesáh researcher or collaborator seeking information on our research or archival work, please reach out through our Contact Form.
We have oppened registration for the monthly Yesa:sahį́ class! There are 5 seats open per community, so register today!
The Annual Yesá Intertribal Language & Culture Gatherings began in 2022 at the College of William & Mary and have more recently been held at Virginia Tech. Please see our past events page for information on past language gatherings