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<blockquote type=cite cite><br>
<tt>sent by Lona...thanks! <br>
<a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/news/3929news04-09-00.htm">http://www.abqjournal.com/news/3929news04-09-00.htm</a><br>
<br>
Indian Children Find Forum to Perform in Their Native Language<br>
<br>
By Brendan Smith<br>
Journal Staff Writer<br>
For almost a century, government and mission
boarding schools for Indian<br>
children sought to extinguish a vibrant culture by forbidding the
speaking<br>
of native languages and the practice of tribal religions.<br>
"Kill the Indian, save the man," was
the motto of Gen. Richard Pratt,<br>
founder of the first off-reservation federal boarding school in
1879.<br>
Because of this stifling legacy, many Native
American children today<br>
don't speak their native language, said Inée Yang Slaughter,
executive<br>
director of the Santa Fe-based Institute for the Preservation of
the<br>
Original Languages of the Americas.<br>
"It was a U.S. government policy to
assimilate the people," Slaughter<br>
said Saturday. "When children no longer speak or use the language,
it's<br>
considered an endangered language."<br>
The institute held its Second Annual Native
American Youth Language Fair<br>
& Pow Wow on Saturday at Santa Fe Indian School to showcase the
talents of<br>
Native American children in speaking and performing in their native<br>
languages.<br>
The language fair grew from just six contestants
last year to about 150<br>
this year from pueblos and reservations across New Mexico, said Santa
Fe<br>
actor Wes Studi, a Cherokee who has appeared in many movies including
"Last<br>
of the Mohicans." Studi, who was honored last year by the institute
for his<br>
work in language preservation, served as master of ceremonies
Saturday.<br>
"It's becoming a popular event," Studi
said. "Language doesn't have to<br>
be something serious. It can be fun to do."<br>
Each contestant, ranging in age from 8 to 19,
received a medal and a<br>
gift, with additional awards in three age categories.<br>
Autumn Gomez, 13, and her 9-year-old brother,
Matthew, gave a puppet<br>
show with 8-year-old Julian Wahnee. The trio, who take Comanche
language<br>
lessons in Santa Fe, sang the alphabet and some numbers in Comanche
before<br>
offering a Comanche rendition of "Old McDonald Had a
Farm."<br>
"We are all going to speak Comanche
again," Autumn told the audience<br>
after the puppet show. "From now on, we're going to speak Comanche
forever."<br>
Autumn said she became interested in learning
the language from her<br>
grandmother, who speaks Comanche fluently.<br>
The youths participating in the fair had to work
with teachers, parents<br>
or other relatives to create their presentations in about 20 Native
American<br>
languages, so the fair is a "wonderful community-building
activity,"<br>
Slaughter said.<br>
The Institute for the Preservation of the
Original Languages of the<br>
Americas hopes to expand and hold more Native American language fairs
in<br>
other parts of the country, Slaughter said.<br>
Out of 300-plus original Native American
languages, only 175 still<br>
exist.<br>
During an intermission Saturday afternoon, Blue
Star Singers, a group of<br>
five teen-age girls from Santa Fe, sat around a large drum, beating a
rhythm<br>
while they sang, their voices rising in unison.<br>
The language fair, which was followed by an
intertribal powwow with<br>
gourd dancing, is meant to instill pride in Native American children
in<br>
using their native language, Slaughter said<br>
<br>
<br>
Reprinted under the Fair Use
<a href="http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html">http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html</a>
doctrine of international copyright law.<br>
<><<<<<>>>>><><<<<><br>
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)<br>
<a href="http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/">http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/</a> <br>
<><<<<<>>>>><><<<<><br>
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<hr>
</blockquote><br>
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