In response to widespread language loss, many Native American communities are engaged in revitalizing their languages. This dissertation is a systematic account of a tribal member learning Mutsun in the context of a language reclamation project. The last fluent speaker of Mutsun, a Costanoan language of central California, died in 1930. This study seeks to increase our understanding about a particular type of language revitalization effort that is likely to become more prevalent as increasing numbers of languages lose their last speakers. This research provides a more detailed account of such a project than other accounts to date by focusing on the learner's work over a four-year period. I collected audio recordings made during regular meetings with the learner, Valentin Lopez, as I aided him in understanding and interpreting Mutsun language resources and linguistic structures. In a qualitative analysis of longitudinal data, I report on four discrete aspect of the learner's project: (1) goals, (2) materials and resources, (3) working methods, and (4) outcomes. I consider the project as an instance of self-directed learning (SDL), for which Mr. Lopez recruited me as a linguistic resource and learning partner. I propose the concept of "engagement" as the sustained interest in language necessary when learning almost exclusively from written sources. I explore how issues of colonialism and cultural repression manifested in the language reclamation context. This case study contributes to the overarching goal of understanding how a language may be acquired in the absence of a speech community. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]