small note on Michif & Leonard Peltier

[David Robertson]

LhaXayEm.

"Prison Writings:  My Life is My Sun Dance", by Leonard Peltier, United
States Prisoner #89637-132; published by St. Martin's Press, New York.
Edited by Harvey Arden.  Introduction by Chief Arvol Looking Horse.
Preface by Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark.  1999.

A good book, well worth reading for several reasons, the most surprising
of which is that on page 72 Peltier notes:

	"As a child, I became fluent in metis [Michif] -- a French -
	Indian mixture -- as well as English, and I also spoke some
	Sioux, Ojibway, and French words.  Since every language gives
	you a different view of reality, I soon saw that there were many
	realities you had to cope with in this life, most of them
	unpleasant."

Leonard Peltier is 55 years old, I think.  He speaks of being beaten for
"talking Indian" at BIA boarding schools in the mid-1950s.  In light of
Peter Bakker's definitive book on the Michif language and the people who
speak it, it is worth noting that Peltier considers it an Indian language.
Apparently many speakers consider themselves a group distinct from both
Indian people and Whites.

You will learn more if you read Leonard's book.

Dave



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