From rzs at TDS.NET Fri Dec 1 03:07:51 2006 From: rzs at TDS.NET (Richard Smith) Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:07:51 -0800 Subject: Study: Native language may affect rhythm In-Reply-To: <20061130163735.ayzjhckoogc4sw04@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: This one is hilarious! sounds so much like a government funded project > In future work, the scientists believe they might be able to predict how > people will hear rhythms based on the structures of their own languages. Wow...scientific predictions Actually when we have certain rising pitch structure over vowels, words and sentences sing themselves. When I create songs in the Wyandot language I practice phrases I'm desiring to express ...repetition practice of the phrases makes the music itelf Do we really need to be predicted? Too funny Richard Zane Smith Wyandotte, Oklahoma From nflrc at HAWAII.EDU Fri Dec 1 21:13:54 2006 From: nflrc at HAWAII.EDU (National Foreign Language Resource Center) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 11:13:54 -1000 Subject: 2007 Conferences & Workshops (in Hawai'i) Message-ID: Our apologies for any cross-postings . . . The National Foreign Language Resource Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa is pleased to announce the following 2007 professional development events . . . 1) 17th International Conference on Pragmatics & Language Learning Imin International Conference Center, Honolulu, Hawai‘i March 26-28, 2007 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/pll/ The conference will address a broad range of topics in pragmatics, discourse, interaction and sociolinguistics in their relation to second and foreign language learning, education, and use, approached from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Conference highlights include: • Plenary talks by Junko Mori (University of Wisconsin-Madison) & Steven Talmy (University of British Columbia) • Invited colloquia on Study Abroad Experiences from a Language Socialization Perspective (Convener: Haruko Cook, University of Hawai‘i) & Negotiating the Self in Another Language: Discourse Approaches to Language Learning as Cross-cultural Adaptation (Convener: Christina Higgins, University of Hawai’i) • Invited workshops on Using Questionnaires in Research on Pragmatics (Kenneth Rose, City University Hong Kong) & Teaching and Learning L2 Pragmatics in Computer-mediated Environments (Julie Belz, Monterey Institute of International Studies • Over 100 paper presentations and 25 poster presentations • An optional reception at the Waikiki Aquarium Register early to get special rates! The preregistration deadline is February 15, 2007. For more information, visit http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/pll/ 2) 2007 NFLRC Summer Institute Developing Useful Evaluation Practices in College Foreign Language Programs University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI May 28 - June 6, 2007 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/si07d/ This NFLRC Summer Institute is designed to help college foreign language administrators and teachers engage in useful, practical, and effective program evaluations to meet a variety of purposes. It takes seriously the values, goals, and constraints that characterize college language programs and will provide language educators with a user-oriented approach to developing evaluations that maximize benefits for language learners and teachers, while minimizing potential negative consequences. It will also provide participants with tools and strategies for making program evaluation a systematic and consistently useful component of their FL departments. The Institute will be run by Dr. John M. Norris (UH Dept. of Second Language Studies), an expert in language program evaluation and assessment. Activities over the 9-day institute will include lectures and demonstrations, in-depth analyses of practical evaluation examples, invited guest speakers (language evaluation experts), social events, and extensive hands-on development and discussion of evaluation plans, procedures, and instruments for immediate use in the participants’ specific program settings. This workshop is intended for foreign language administrators and teachers who are directly responsible for program evaluations in their foreign language departments. It assumes no prior grounding in program evaluation theory or practice, but it requires a willingness to help increase evaluation capacity in college FL education. In order to maximize the impact of this event across U.S. colleges, participants will be purposefully selected to represent diverse FL program types, based on size, languages taught, geography, and institutional status. Some financial support is available to all participants in the NFLRC Summer Institute, on a competitive and space-limited basis. Summer Institute participants will be expected to participate in the 2007 ADFL Summer Seminar West, which will directly follow the workshop on the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa campus. For more information or the online application form (submission deadline - February 15, 2007), visit our website at http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/si07d/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 4454 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Dec 2 05:31:15 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 22:31:15 -0700 Subject: Tories cut fund to save native languages (fwd) Message-ID: Tories cut fund to save native languages By Robert Freeman The Progress rfreeman at theprogress.com Dec 01 2006 http://www.theprogress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=39&cat=23&id=783961&more= The Sto:lo Tribal Council is demanding the Conservative government in Ottawa restore $160 million cut from a fund to save aboriginal languages from extinction. “B.C. First Nations have two-thirds of aboriginal languages, but get only one-tenth of national funding (for languages),” STC president Clarence Pennier said in a letter to Heritage Minister Bev Oda. He reminded the minister that the federal government has a “fiduciary obligation to First Nations to protect, revitalize and maintain our languages. No First Nation language can be allowed to go extinct.” Tyrone McNeil, STC vice-president and chair of the First People’s Heritage and Culture Council, said there are only a dozen fluent speakers of Halq’emeylem left among the 5,000 Sto:lo, and a “fair number of people” who have picked up the language - but not well enough to teach it to others. Restoration of the funds cut by Oda is “urgently needed now,” he said, because “we’re losing our elders daily” who can speak Halq’emeylem. According to a 2001 national survey just 24 per cent of North American Indians, Inuit and Metis can still converse in their native language, a drop from the 29 per cent measured five years ago. Minister Oda cut funding to $5 million a year for 10 years, for a total of $50 million, effectively cutting the fund by 68 per cent. In 2002 the previous Liberal minister had set aside $172.5 million over 11 years. McNeil said the federal Tories should follow the lead of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell who has doubled provincial funding for native languages to $2-million and embarked on a “New Relationship” with the aboriginal people of this province. “He sees the value in First Nations learning more about their identity (through language) and the positive impact that has,” McNeil said. “He sees there’s no better way of improvement, than we do it ourselves.” The federal Tories “should be doing the same thing,” McMeil added, “but it’s just not happening.” © Copyright 2006 Chilliwack Progress From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Sun Dec 3 01:23:43 2006 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 17:23:43 -0800 Subject: Loss Of My Great Aunt Violet Message-ID: Violet Ruth Super. Auntie Vi passed away in her sleep as a result of a fire that destroyed her home on the evening of November 29, 2006 in Orleans California. She was born on her families Indian Allotment known as “Butlers Flat” on the Salmon River in Siskiyou County on December 3, 1917 and lived all her life along the Klamath and Salmon rivers, and kept a home for several years in Castella and Dunsmuir south of Mt. Shasta. She was a full-blooded member of the Karuk Tribe of California Her family was from the villages of Katimiin, Ike’s and Amikiyaarem. Her Indian name was Vasihtínihich She was a fluent speaker, teacher and strong advocate of the Karuk language. She lived her life full of vim, vigor and vinegar, always young at heart. She was preceded in death by Elvis, her Grandparents, Red Cap Jenny, Red Cap Johnny and Susie Charles, Parents Bob and Mary Johnny, husbands Leonard Super and Orel “Heem” Hillman, brothers Martin, Dave, Dan and Theodore Johnny, sisters Agness, Carolyn, and Hazel Johnny and nieces Hazel Wilder-Ward and Roselynd Norris-Tungate and special cousins Ramona Tripp-Starritt and Elizabeth Snapp. She is survived by her cousins Josephine Peters, Burl and Frank Grant Sr., nieces Jeanerette Jacups-Johnny, and Marlene Crumpacker-Wilder and numerous great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews, great great great nephews and all those that met, knew and loved her by simply calling her Auntie. Services are tentatively scheduled to be held at Orleans Elementary School at 1 PM on Friday December 8, 2006 followed by a community meal. Internment will be held at in Yreka at 1 PM on Saturday December 9, 2006 at Evergreen Cemetery with a community memorial and meal to follow at the Greenhorn Grange Hall on Ranch Street. For more information call the Karuk Tribal Offices. In lieu of flowers please make donations to either the Karuk Tribe- Karuk Language Restoration Committee http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/ index.html KLRC P.O. Box 1016 Happy Camp, CA 96039 9530) 493-1600 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AuntieHat.jpg Type: application/applefile Size: 67672 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AuntieHat.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 224738 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mikinakn at SHAW.CA Sun Dec 3 04:55:05 2006 From: mikinakn at SHAW.CA (Rolland Nadjiwon) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 23:55:05 -0500 Subject: Loss Of My Great Aunt Violet Message-ID: Sorry to hear that Andre...our thoughts go with you and your family. My wife and I, our families, are dealing with my wife's mother's illness with terminal cancer. She is in palliative care right now on pain medications. She is 86 years old, a residential school casualty, a language speaker(Odawa and Ojibway), a craftsperson, a mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother. We do not know if she will be with us tomorrow or for Christmas. She is 86 years old. A good lady and mother-in-law. My wife is with her family right now. I will be with them next week so soon as I can pull away. Another hard Winter for our elders maybe, eh. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: Andre Cramblit To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 8:23 PM Subject: [ILAT] Loss Of My Great Aunt Violet Violet Ruth Super. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auntie Vi passed away in her sleep as a result of a fire that destroyed her home on the evening of November 29, 2006 in Orleans California.? She was born on her families Indian Allotment known as ?Butlers Flat? on the Salmon River in Siskiyou County on December 3, 1917 and lived all her life along the Klamath and Salmon rivers, and kept a home for several years in Castella and Dunsmuir south of Mt. Shasta.? She was a full-blooded member of the Karuk Tribe of California? Her family was from the villages of Katimiin, Ike?s and Amikiyaarem.? Her Indian name was Vasihthich? She was a fluent speaker, teacher and strong advocate of the Karuk language. She lived her life full of vim, vigor and vinegar, always young at heart.? ? She was preceded in death by Elvis, her Grandparents, Red Cap Jenny, Red Cap Johnny and Susie Charles, Parents Bob and Mary Johnny, husbands Leonard Super and Orel ?Heem? Hillman, brothers Martin, Dave, Dan and Theodore Johnny, sisters Agness, Carolyn, and Hazel Johnny and nieces Hazel Wilder-Ward and Roselynd Norris-Tungate and special cousins Ramona Tripp-Starritt and Elizabeth Snapp.? She is survived by her cousins Josephine Peters, Burl and Frank Grant Sr., nieces Jeanerette Jacups-Johnny, and Marlene Crumpacker-Wilder and numerous great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews, great great great nephews and all those that met, knew and loved her by simply calling her Auntie. ? Services are tentatively scheduled to be held at Orleans Elementary School at 1 PM on Friday December 8, 2006 followed by a community meal.? Internment will be held at in Yreka at 1 PM on Saturday December 9, 2006 at Evergreen Cemetery with a community memorial and meal to follow at the Greenhorn Grange Hall on Ranch Street.? For more information call the Karuk Tribal Offices. ? In lieu of flowers please make donations to either the Karuk Tribe-Karuk Language Restoration Committee http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/index.html KLRC P.O. Box 1016 Happy Camp, CA 96039 9530) 493-1600 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:22:07 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:22:07 -0700 Subject: Media Advisory - Assembly of First Nations - National Protest to Save Our Legacy (fwd) Message-ID: Media Advisory - Assembly of First Nations - National Protest to Save Our Legacy http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2006/03/c3141.html OTTAWA, Dec. 3 /CNW Telbec/ - The Chiefs of Ontario, and Assembly of First Nations, are holding a National Protest to Save Our Legacy, beginning at 11.30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. The demonstration will leave at 11 a.m. from the Westin Hotel, 11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, and proceed to Parliament Hill. "First Nations poverty is Canada's shame," said AFN Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse. "We live in a country that is rated 6th best in the world in which to live, according to the United Nations Human Development Index. Yet First Nations citizens live predominantly in impoverished conditions without the basics such as clean water, and safe homes." "First Nations poverty is the greatest social justice issue in Canada today," said National Chief Phil Fontaine. "For this reason, and to raise awareness for all Canadians and politicians, we recently launched Make Poverty History: The First Nations Plan for Creating Opportunity. Some 12,000 Canadians have signed our on-line petition." "This rally is to underscore that First Nations people are here to stay, and that we will not remain out sight and out of mind," added Regional Chief Toulouse. "We want what all people want for our children - good health, safety, education and equal opportunity. We will not accept less". The rally will also call for the implementation of recommendations in the 10-year-old Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples; implementation of the Kelowna Accord; as well as reinstatement of last month's $160 million in Aboriginal language funding cuts. More details on the rally are posted at www.afn.ca From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:29:10 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:29:10 -0700 Subject: Preservation - Tribes protect, revive cultural heritage (fwd) Message-ID: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2006 PRESERVATION _Tribes protect, revive cultural heritage_ BY ALLISON COX[1] of the East Oregonian SUNDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2006 http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=27&SubSectionID=92&ArticleID=56977&TM=78692.78 Jess Nowland, visitor services coordinator, holds a hand woven traditional basket made of cedar root, corn husk and bear grass that dates back to the 1940s in the artifact vault at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Photo by E. J. Harris. Master teacher Cecelia Bearchum, a native Walla Walla speaker, listens in on a Walla Walla language class at the Nixyaawii Community School in Mission. Photo by E. J. Harris. Say the word "culture" and most people think of pageants, religious practices and colorful clothing. To certain members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, culture means much more, and they're doing what they can to preserve it. Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, located near Wildhorse Resort & Casino, is dedicated to preserving American Indian culture, historical accuracy and contributing to the tribal economy. The museum is recognized around the world as a boiler plate of American Indian cultural preservation and restoration. Institute Director, Roberta Conner, explained preserving culture is not just a romantic whim. "People think of our culture as quaint customs, instead of the backbone of survival," said Conner. "Stereotypes include the belief that our reverence for our historic cultural lifeways is a desire to return to the past, and it's not. We've lived in this landscape for so long there's knowledge, the equivalent to an enormous library, imbedded in the culture." Conner said the accumulation of information gathered over eons is as valid today as it was in the past - and is relevant to every aspect of life in this geographical region. "Look at the tribal languages and understand that not only is there a window into the philosophy, culture and law, but also into vast amounts of information about this ecosystem, " she added. That tie to the land, expressed as culture, provides knowledge regarding stewardship of the land and the animals and people who dwell on it. With the arrival of Lewis and Clark, and the subsequent invasion of non-native people that followed, that connection to the past was almost severed. "While it's changed our lives drastically, the core values remain intact - this tie to the land," Conner said of the years between the Lewis and Clark expedition and today. "If our culture hadn't kept us together and sustained us, we would be culturally extinct, and 50 years ago that's what experts expected. I'm delighted they were wrong." While the museum provides a way to preserve items of historical importance, and at the same time educates the public at large, the tribes are pro-active when it comes to using other methods to ensure the continuation of the culture. In the same complex as Nixyaawii charter school, and in the same building as Cay-Uma-Wa Head Start, is a modern language and computer lab. Next to the lab is an office, which doesn't feature desks but instead a large conference table. This is the elders' office. The elders, revered for the wisdom of their years and their memories, are a vital and treasured part of the tribal cultural preservation plan. Not only is it evident in the way they are deferred to by younger tribal members, it's also evidenced by the central location of their office and the reserved parking spaces for them out front. Out of the office, a group of about nine elders, men and women, work as language teachers. They, and everyone else, understand time is of the essence. While there are elders to teach the Umatilla and Walla Walla languages, the Cayuse language is considered lost. Only 400 words remain, contained in a small dictionary. The elders teach high school students, as well as the preschool children at Cay-Uma-Wa, who often overflow into the elders' office. "The little ones that we have here, the Head Start students, are real good students," said Elder Cecilia Bearchum, who teaches the Walla Walla language. "Their little brains are just like sponges, they catch on easy." But, as with other aspects of American Indian culture, it's not just about the language. The language is a valuable and important reason to encourage closeness between the young ones and the elders, but it's by no means the only reason. The benefits of pursuing the language are far-reaching and complicated, as everything associated with American Indian culture seems to be. "That is where they learn traditional values such as respect, from the elders," said Sophia Enos, a teacher at Cay-Uma-Wa. "It's part of their lives and part of their heritage." "A lot of them don't have grandmas, so we're grandmas to them all," Bearchum said. "Once in a while they'll come in and shake hands and say good morning in whatever language they remember. It makes our day." Conner believes, and hopes, that in preserving the culture, the people will be preserved as well. "The part of our culture that we are still trying to restore is how we take care of one another," Conner said. "It's a tenet of our culture that no one goes hungry or is orphaned. But our current social ills make that no longer true. When we examine our modern problems, addictions and self-destruction, we look at the culture that we once had, we recognize that our once strong, wholesome, well-rounded people have been broken by acts of history. And the culture can make them whole again." Jess Nowland, Tamastslikt Visitors Services Coordinator, is immersed in the culture of his people. During the day he has access to some of the most treasured artifacts and information his people possess, and a venue to learn about the ways of his people. During his off time, he remains absorbed in the culture as an involved, engaged member of the modern tribal community. But Nowland wasn't raised in the culture. He spent most of the first 15 years of his life on a ranch near Rock Springs, Wyo., where he was the only American Indian for miles around. "When I went to high school in Wyoming, all you had to do was say you were Indian, and that was enough," said Nowland. "But here people ask you things. It was embarrassing not to know, and that sort of inspired me to learn about my heritage." At the age of 15, he embarked on a mission to learn as much as possible about his people. It started with spending time with five uncles. "That's when I was introduced to the sweathouse, hunting, fishing, language, dancing - our ways," he said. Each of the customs is but a piece in the whole cloth of culture, according to Conner, which is why it's so important to preserve and integrate all of the culture into modern life. "There is a knowledge of how and where and when that comes from through thousands of years of exposure to one homeland," Conner said. "Look at the tribal languages and understand that not only is there a window into the philosophy, culture and law, but also into vast amounts of information about this ecosystem." And still, as always, there's more to it. "So, when you ask why is it important to preserve the culture? We have to do it to save our people. Our culture is not static, it's dynamic," Conner said. "In an age when all people are transient, we don't expect our people to live here all the time. But there's a sense of belonging and a state of grace that comes from belonging to a place." Suggested reading Recently released, "As Days Go By, Our History, Our Land and Our People" is a look at the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, as written by nine tribal and three non-tribal members. "It's unique in that it's about us and by us," said Roberta Conner, one of the contributors to the book. Conner said an atlas of native places and names, also developed by tribal members, will come out in 2007. "The idea was sparked by the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial," Conner explained. "We were reminded during the observance that Lewis and Clark were naming rivers and places. Since we want our people 100 years from now to know the names we called places, we began this project." Conner suggested the following books for those interested in learning about American Indian population, culture and history: • "Nch'i-Wana: The Big River," by Eugene S. Hunn. • "The Si'lailo Way: Indians, Salmon and Law on the Colorado River," by Joseph C. Dupris, Kathleen S. Hill, and William H. Rodgers, Jr. • "Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth," by Mary Dodds Schlick. • "A Song to the Creator: Traditional Arts of Native American Women of the Plateau," by Lillian A. Ackerman. • "Peoples of the Plateau: The Indian Photographs of Lee Moorhouse, 1898-1915," by Steven L. Grafe. RELATED LINKS ------------------------- Content © 2006 East Oregonian Software © 1998-2006 1UP! SOFTWARE, All Rights Reserved Links: ------ [1] MAILTO:ACOX at EASTOREGONIAN.COM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 22184 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 10005 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:35:49 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:35:49 -0700 Subject: Tribal community finds a voice through ICTs in Bangladesh (fwd) Message-ID: Tribal community finds a voice through ICTs in Bangladesh Rahul Kumar December 4 2006, Bangladesh: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/143336/1/1138 “We migrated to Sitakund, hundreds of years ago and have since adjusted to the local Bengali culture. Only a handful of the elderly people in my village now remember songs in our language” says Lakshmi Tripura. These were the reactions that staff of the Youth Community Multimedia Centre (YCMC) Sitakund encountered when they visited the village of the indigenous community’s called Choto Kumira Tripura Para, situated 14 kms from the Chittagong city in Sitakund upazilla, Bangladesh. The YCMC uses the local cable network for content dissemination reaching about 1200 households. The Tripura adivasis (indigenous community) have been living in this area for over a few centuries. Most of them have no knowledge of their ancestral history and the wealth of their oral indigenous knowledge and culture is now lost in time. Out of the seventy families in this village, only a hand few are literate and almost all work as labourers because they do not own land. Since they live scatteredly in remote isolated hills, the community has no access to any kind of media like cable television or computing technologies. In January, 2006 the members of this community approached local NGO and CMC partner, (Youth Power in Social Action) to support them with a television. They also approached the Chairman of the Sitakund Municipality with the request for a Video Compact Disc (VCD) player. They fundraised within their community and came up with the money to buy a diesel generator. On a weekly basis now, they borrow local programmes produced by volunteers of CMC Sitakund and watch it in their community school. Recording and broadcasting programmes is the first step towards preserving a culture that is soon disappearing. ‘Though we are citizens of this country we have no civic rights. No government service ever reaches our doorstep. We have no source of pure drinking water; education or heath services. Our men are paid lesser than the Bengali labourers and our women have no social security. It’s like we have no voice in anything whatsoever’ commented Rabindra Tripura, the village leader. As part of its mission the Youth CMC has taken the initiative to partner with the indigenous communities. Lakshmi Tripura, the school teacher from Choto Kumira Tripura Para joined the CMC management committee as secretary to ensure that his community use the CMC facility to voice their concerns. In a recently held sustainability workshop by UNESCO, they formed an action plan to develop a series of audio-visual documentaries on their problems, needs and concerns which they plan on using as an advocacy tool. Cable broadcasts and narrowcasting of these programmes will sensitise the local civil society and thus build public opinion in favour of their issues. ‘We have no wealth, nor power or respect, what was the use of taking birth in this world’- this was the literal translation of the indigenous song performed by an elderly singer – one of the last remaining indigenous artist of Sitakund. “Now we need to see if new media technologies can play a role in transforming this situation and how”. The Youth CMC in Sitakund developed out of a UNESCO supported cross-cutting theme project on ICT innovations for poverty reduction. The establishment of the community multimedia centre is currently being supported by UNESCOs International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC). SOURCE: Story contributed by Debobroto Chakraborty (Debu) and Seema Nair of UNESCO. Debu works as a Programme Officer in local partner NGO, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) and can be contacted at debobroto.c at gmail.com IPDC (International Programme for the Development of Communication) is a major forum in the UN system designed to develop free and pluralistic media with a global approach to democratic development. By integrating traditional and new media, community multimedia centers link local and global networks and bring digital tools and new opportunities within the reach of millions, opening new gateways to information, communication and knowledge. A community multimedia centre (CMC) combines traditional local media, like radio, TV and newspapers, with new technologies, such as computers, internet, photocopiers and digital devices like cameras and audio players. CMCs are a unique way for poor communities, often in remote rural areas, to overcome common obstacles to their full and profitable use of ICTs, including the vast potential knowledge resources of the internet and other digital media. UNESCO’s global pilot project with CMCs is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation For more information, contact: UNESCO New Delhi UNESCO Communication and Information Sector Community Multimedia Centre Initiative www.unesco.org/webworld/cmc Jocelyne Josiah ACI/NDL j.josiah at unesco.org Seema Nair CMC Asia Coordinator s.nair at unesco.org From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:40:06 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:40:06 -0700 Subject: Researching Indian rhetoric (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Mon, Dec. 04, 2006 Researching Indian rhetoric John A. Berteaux Connections http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/16159673.htm Prof. Ernest Stromberg stopped by my home last week to share a pot of coffee and discuss his new book American Indian Rhetorics of Survivance. An associate professor in the Department of English, Communication and Journalism, Ernie travels to California State University-Monterey Bay from a trim home in Seaside where he lives with his wife, Sherry. He grew up in Arcata. In Arcata, he advises, "Diversity meant Native American people." But in other parts of the United States, from Humboldt State University, where he received his bachelor's degree to Eugene, Ore., where he wrote his dissertation about American Indian Literatures, to Harrisburg, Va., where he taught at James Madison University before moving to the Peninsula, Ernie found, "it easy to forget that American Indians continue to exist." Growing up with American Indian kids in school and sleeping over he noted early on that the idea of Indians in the popular media and the life he saw his friends living were quite different. Seamlessly, he ties his childhood experiences into a central idea in the book. "From first contact," Ernie warns, "for American Indians the problem was mental as well as physical... When they got here Europeans had already conceived the individual." I took him to mean that nonwhite and white were not simply descriptive terms of skin color; rather, from first contact they were used for social categorization, social control and social relationships. America's indigenous population acknowledged and used to their advantage the fact that the way they spoke (and looked) stood in for intellect, moral sense and character. They acknowledged that there is a connection between the language we use and stories we tell. I recalled something attributed to French linguist Saussure, who asks us to think about what had to be overcome to say "Black is beautiful." This is something that came out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Up until the time that someone said "black is beautiful," black was considered ugly, dirty, and stupid. And then someone said "black is beautiful." According to Saussure this wasn't just saying something new; rather, it was conceiving the world in a way it had not been imagined before. "So American Indians recognized in their initial encounter with Europeans that we don't speak language so much as language speaks us?" I chimed in. Ernie nodded in agreement. I asked about the word "survivance" that appears in the title. "It ties in," he says. "The book is about 'rhetorics of survivance.'" Survival suggests images of someone just hanging on -- on the edge of existence. "Survivance," he quotes the text, "goes beyond mere survival to acknowledge the dynamic and creative nature of indigenous rhetorics." He writes, from the early debates about treaty rights and native lands to present day controversies about casinos and team mascots America's indigenous populations continue to draw on the art of persuasion. Nevertheless, Ernie adds, "While rhetorical studies have been enriched by important research done in women studies and African American rhetoric the rhetorical practices of America's indigenous people remain significantly incomplete." To begin filling that gap in our knowledge, Ernie has produced an edited collection that is worthy of note, unique, readable, and accessible for a non-academic audience. John Berteaux, an assistant professor of philosophy at CSU-Monterey, writes a monthly column. He can be reached at john_berteaux at csumb.edu. © 2006 Monterey County Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.montereyherald.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:42:17 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:42:17 -0700 Subject: INDIGENOUS FILMS FROM CHILE PREVIEW IN NEW YORK (fwd) Message-ID: INDIGENOUS FILMS FROM CHILE PREVIEW IN NEW YORK http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12354&topic_id=15 (December 1, 2006) The 13th Native American Film and Video Festival began Thursday at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Of the 550 entries submitted, four Chilean films have made the final festival, including the new music video from Mapuche hip hop artist JAAS. One hundred and twenty-five films will premiere in their native language at this year’s festival, which features a mix of fiction, short film and animation from the U.S., Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Ecuador and Guatemala. Amongst Chile’s contributions are a Mapuche music video, directed by Jennifer Aguilera Silva and a documentary about Mapuche activism by Australian resident Juan Francisco Salazar. In “Newen” (Life Force), JAAS calls on her Mapuche ancestors in native language Mapadungun to awaken the warrior spirit within the Mapuche people of today. Salazar’s documentary, “De la Tierra a la Pantalla” (From Land to Screen), offers a journey into the lives and work of three Mapuche media activists working in radio and video. They counter mainstream media coverage of events with Mapuche perspectives and images. The festival aims to offer perspectives of what it means to be indigenous in the 21st century. Works includes narratives, animations, and documentaries on issues of personal identity, struggle for native lands, community strengths, and the impact of multi-nationalism. Border and cross-cultural realities infuse many of the pieces. “Indigenous Latin American fiction film is very rare,” said Amalia Córdova, Chilean and Coordinator of Latin American Programs at the New York museum. “The majority are documentaries due to lack of funding.” According to Córdova, the key question is: where is the audience for a film about Chile’s indigenous population? “In the majority of cases it’s for their own small community, or for the developed world as a form of political activism,” she said. SOURCE: LA NACION By Beatrice Karol Burks (editor at santiagotimes.cl) From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:47:11 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:47:11 -0700 Subject: Alaskana: Education first (fwd) Message-ID: Alaskana: Education first NETTIE PERATROVICH Since receiving food stamps, welfare and decent housing, the Native population has blossomed. I think we Natives have made a difference. Interviewed by JUDY FERGUSON Last of two parts (Published: December 3, 2006) http://www.adn.com/life/story/8462552p-8356424c.html Nettie Peratrovich, a Haida-Scot educator, arrived in Anchorage just before the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was passed. She was among those pushing for new education policies. In the pre-pipeline days, the majority of the state's budget came from education monies, and little of that went to rural Alaska. When I discovered after a year in Washington, D.C., that $7.5 million of federal Johnson O'Malley Act (JOM) monies intended for the education of Natives was signed over to the Department of Education, I protested. The summer of 1971, Sen. Bill Ray met with our statewide JOM committee. He slammed his fist down: "Where were you when we were going through the education bills?" I asked, "How do those bills include us when you know where all the money goes?" I reminded him that we also had no bilingual program even though we had 5,000 non-English-speaking students in our schools. While I was finishing my degree in special education and in social studies, the Indian Education Law, Title IV, passed, providing grants for improving Indian education. Having heard about my previous innovative teaching at Fairbanks Native Association and knowing that I knew people from all over the state, Laura Bernhard of the State Operated School System came to see me in 1974. "We have a program," she said, "I'd like you to apply for." I did, and I was accepted as the district director of Indian Education Act Programs in charge of Title IV Party for the State Operated School System. We developed bilingual and bicultural programs. With Dr. Michael Krauss, Elaine Abraham and several others, I sat on the Native Language Board, where we studied the languages, our indigenous groups, made dictionaries and the map Native Peoples and Languages of Alaska. Because the main speakers of Haida were in Canada, I went to the governor's assistant and explained, "This is a dying people. We have to have ALL of our Alaska languages developed or we'll know nothing about them." TRAINING NEW TEACHERS I began traveling throughout the state, setting up parent advisory committees in 150 state-operated schools as well as forming regional and statewide boards. (Previously, the principal controlled everything in the village schools.) We had to educate the people: these books, these schools, these monies are yours, and only you can tell them how to use Indian ed monies. I told them, "You have the right to fail as long as you try again." We trained Native teacher-aides, bilingual/bicultural aides and, in the first year, I hired 15 Native teachers. We queried the people and carefully set up regions along cultural and linguistic borders. These became the model for today's Alaska Rural Education Attendance Areas. Indian ed monies were used for many exciting programs, including the Alaska Native Land Claims textbook published in 1976 by the Alaska Native Foundation and editor Robert D. Arnold. Another important document was the Federal Field Committee report, 1968, the basis of land claims. This report stated that five-eighths of Alaska including rivers and ocean frontage was used by Alaska Natives. It documented the lifestyle, ethnology, linguistics, numbers of Native language speakers and acreage needed for subsistence foods. I tried to get both of these books in the hands of every school. In 1975, I was sent to D.C. to sit on the regulations board for Public Law 93-638, the new Indian Self Determination Act, giving Indian tribes the authority to contract with the federal government to operate programs serving their tribal members. I made sure we were referred to as "Alaska Natives," not as "Alaska Indians," so all would be included. Alaska Federation of Natives then contracted Johnson O'Malley monies from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. AFN funded the fledgling regional nonprofit corporations like the Aleut League and Tanana Chiefs Conference. This gave those in the Alaska Bush a viable organization, the means to come in and be trained and, thereby, gain a voice. FOOD STAMPS FOR THE BUSH AFN president Don Wright asked me to go to Washington, D.C., to investigate the National Food and Nutrition Committee's new food stamp program. I tried to educate the NFNC on the widespread poverty, lack of food and inadequate stores in rural Alaska. I suggested that food stamps might sufficiently boost the economy so that village stores might be able to install refrigeration. Not only had the state not referred the Bush as candidates for the food stamp program, but when I tried to get hot lunches for rural Alaska, lunches were improved only in the urban schools. There really were two Alaskas. The Molly Hootch consent decree in the late 1970s was a godsend; the state committed to provide local high schools for Native communities as it had in predominantly white communities. Using oil tax dollars, rural schools began to be built. Employed by BIA in charge of subsistence issues, I began funding regional studies required by the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In 1983, I became BIA area rights protection officer in charge of all Native lands in Alaska. I funded the subsistence salmon, walrus and waterfowl advisory boards and the new Eskimo Whaling Commission. I sat on the international salmon commission for subsistence. Prior to ANCSA and ANILCA, Natives had nothing to say about their schools, resources or the decisions the state or the bureau made relevant to them. Since receiving food stamps, welfare and decent housing, the Native population has blossomed. I think we Natives have made a difference. My husband, Frank, and I have spent our lives trying to equalize things. PROBLEMS REMAIN I feel one of the state and the corporations' largest failures was in not educating non-Natives and Natives about Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, nor were Natives properly prepared for the effects of ANCSA. A lot of Alaska Natives still feel today that they have no individual parcels of land, that they are landless. (The corporations absorbed the acreage per head count, sold off vast areas, and many at-large shareholders have received neither land nor compensation from those sales.) Today we need to train more Native teachers for urban and rural schools. In the village, we must compensate the Native teacher the same as the imported teachers who get housing and compensation for living in the village. In the city, if we can't get Native teachers, we should get Native counselors or trained individuals to bridge the gap between the school and the home. The dropout rate today is horrific. When we had BIA or the State Operated School System, there was no significant dropout rate and the standardized test scores were higher. At the college level today, Native students should be allowed to try until they succeed. Due to lack of finances, the parent advisory boards no longer exist. There needs to be a closer inspection today of how monies intended for Native education are used by the larger public schools. Getting involved is a requirement for change. Judy Ferguson is a publisher and a freelance columnist for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. She is the author of Alaska histories "Parallel Destinies" and "Blue Hills" and the children's books "Alaska's Secret Door" and "Alaska's Little Chief." Her Web site is www.alaska-highway.org/delta/outpost. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:58:09 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:58:09 -0700 Subject: Your speaking influences your hearing (fwd) Message-ID: Your speaking influences your hearing http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=339669&ssid=364&sid=ENV London, Dec 03: A new study by neuroscientists at the San Diego, US, has revealed that what a person speaks has the possibility of influencing what he might hear. According to the study, people perceive different patterns in the same sound sequences depending on their native tongue. People`s preference for longer or shorter notes at the beginning of a musical phrase apparently depends on their native tongue. This might be the reason why the short, first note of “Greensleeves” may sound naturally elegant to those who sing the tune, but might sound awkward to the ear of a native Japanese speaker. For their study, Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California, US, and colleagues recruited a group of 100 volunteers, half of whom were American and the other half Japanese. The volunteers were made to listen to sequences of alternating long and short or loud and soft tones. Scientists already know that human hearing naturally group sounds together, but Patel and his team wanted to know how people from different cultures grouped non-identical sounds. According to New Scientist, when Japanese participants heard the tones, many of them grouped them in reverse order, with the shorter tones at the end of each sound pairing. Patel believes this difference might result from the fact that, in Japanese, shorter words – such as articles and prepositions – tend to come at the end of a phrase, while in English, these short words tend to come at the beginning. Also previous studies by Patel have suggested that a composer’s native language influences how they write music. The findings were presented at a joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bureau Report From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 21:12:11 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 14:12:11 -0700 Subject: Native American Legislative Update: December 1, 2006 (fwd msg) Message-ID: ----- Forwarded message from pat at fcnl.org ----- Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 12:07:42 -0500 From: Pat Powers Reply-To: indian at fcnl.org Subject: [fcnl-nalu] NALU: Not too late to save Native languages To: fcnl-nalu Native American Legislative Update: December 1, 2006 Not too late to save native languages Your advocacy is needed to pass a bill "dear to the hearts" of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Language preservation is an essential part of cultural preservation in Indian Country. Knowing this, legislators of both parties have supported dual language programs for tribes with enough elders to pass on their knowledge. The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006 (H.R. 4766) could become law with your immediate help. This modest ($8 million) expansion of an existing education program to teach native languages would be a major step toward preserving dying languages. The House passed this bill in September. The Senate leadership has agreed to pass this legislation by unanimous consent and it could win approval during the lame duck session of Congress in early December. But several senators are using parliamentary tactics known as "holds" to block final approval of this legislation. Language immersion programs provide Native children, who already know English, the opportunity to learn their heritage language as well. Small federal education grants go a long way to help cultural survival. The number of fluent speakers diminishes every year. At an August field hearing in New Mexico, a large crowd attended. Education advocate Ryan Wilson pointed out the crisis of dying languages and said that keeping them alive is "dear to our hearts." Take Action Now Your senators can ask their colleagues to lift their holds so that passage of H.R. 4766 will no longer be blocked. You can find a sample letter and contact your senators directly through FCNL's website. Please go to< http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=9187561&type=CO> ______________________ Contact Congress and the Administration: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/ < http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/> Order FCNL publications and "War is Not the Answer" bumper stickers and yard signs: http://www.fcnl.org/pubs/ < http://www.fcnl.org/pubs/> http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=bump < http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=bump> Contribute to FCNL: http://www.fcnl.org/donate/ < http://www.fcnl.org/donate/> Unsubscribe from this list: Send a message to fcnl-nalu-unsubscribe at fcnl.org << mailto:fcnl-nalu-unsubscribe at fcnl.org < mailto:fcnl-nalu-unsubscribe at fcnl.org> >>, or send an email to adamk at fcnl.org << mailto:adamk at fcnl.org < mailto:adamk at fcnl.org> >> with your request. Subscribe to this list: Send a message to fcnl-nalu-subscribe at fcnl.org << mailto:fcnl-nalu-subscribe at fcnl.org. < mailto:fcnl-nalu-subscribe at fcnl.org.> >>, or visit << http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls < http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls> >> << http://www.fcnl.org/listserv/quaker_issues.php < http://www.fcnl.org/listserv/quaker_issues.php> >> and select the fcnl-nalu list. Subscribe to other FCNL legislative, policy, and action alert lists: http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls < http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls> ______________________ Friends Committee on National Legislation 245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795 fcnl at fcnl.org * www.fcnl.org phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330 ----- End forwarded message ----- From manuela_noske at HOTMAIL.COM Tue Dec 5 21:53:54 2006 From: manuela_noske at HOTMAIL.COM (Manuela Noske) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 13:53:54 -0800 Subject: Report on "Storytelling with Technology" ILI Workshop Message-ID: This message reports on the fourth of a series of regional technology training workshops for Native Americans that is organized by the Indigenous Language Institute (ILI) and sponsored by IBM. ILI is based in Santa Fe, NM, and promotes and facilitates innovative community-based language revitalization initiatives through collaboration with Native organizations and individuals. The most recent workshop was held at the University Center, Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma from Nov. 16-18, 2006 and was hosted jointly by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, NSU, and the Oklahoma Native Language Association (ONLA). Previous workshops were held at the Pueblo of Pojoaque Training Center in Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico, and the Oneida Nation Community Education Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “Storytelling with technology” focuses on the creation of print Native language materials for teaching purposes. At the beginning of each workshop, participants receive keyboard lay-outs for their languages as well as a Unicode font which enables them to use commercial word processing and desktop publishing software for Native language typing. Through a mixture of lectures and hands-on practice, participants proceed to create Native language booklets, flyers, calendars, flashcards and other materials in their Native languages, using Microsoft Publisher 2003 as desktop publishing software. Participants also learn how to integrate digital images into their booklets and how to effectively use fonts, page lay-outs, as well as word and clip art to create reading materials which appeal to young and old readers alike. Throughout the workshop “sharing circles” are held which give participants a chance to show off their creations to other Native language practitioners and share “best practices” and ideas; these sharing circles also serve as community-building events and play a key role in the overall satisfaction participants express with the workshops. Participants were greeted by a host of speakers from Cherokee Nation, as well as NSU and ONLA officials, including Durbin Feeling, President of ONLA, and Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The blessings for each day’s event were given by Alicia Keahbone Gonzalez, Kiowa Elder, Maggie Studie, Cherokee Elder, and Harry Oosawhee, Cherokee language teacher. 49 registered individuals participated in this workshop, including 5 teams consisting of an Elder speaker and a younger tech-savvy learner. Registered participants represented 15 different tribes from 6 different states: Language Number of registered speakers Cherokee 15 Chickasaw 2 Choctaw 4 Comanche 2 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes 1 Eastern Band of Cherokee 2 Hupa/Yurok/Karuk 1 Kiowa 4 Miwok/Maidu 1 Muscogee Creek 3 Northern Arapaho 2 Osage 4 Pawnee 2 Poarch Band of Creek 1 Southern Cheyenne 5 For more information on ILI and the “Storytelling with technology” workshop series, please visit the ILI website at: http://www.indigenous-language.org/. For information on Native language keyboard lay-outs and fonts, please visit http://www.languagegeek.com/. The next workshop is tentatively scheduled to be held in Florida in the spring of 2007. If you know anybody who is interested in attending, please have them contact ILI so that they can be placed on the mailing list. _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with gadgets on Windows Live Spaces http://discoverspaces.live.com?source=hmtag1&loc=us -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Wed Dec 6 18:31:15 2006 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 10:31:15 -0800 Subject: Saving Serrano Message-ID: SAN MANUEL INDIAN RESERVATION - A quiet battle is being waged to save the ancestral language of the Serrano Indians. The Serrano language was once spoken by indigenous people throughout the San Bernardino Valley and High Desert. Today, there is only one man whose ability to speak that tongue approaches fluency, said Kaylene Day, a staff linguist for the Serrano Language Revitalization Project. The ultimate goal of the project - an effort of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians' Education Department still in its infancy - is to give tribe members the ability to use the Serrano language in daily conversation. "They want their children and future leaders to be versed in the culture so that identity is strong," education director Erin Kahunawaika`ala Wright said. The last person to be fluent in the Serrano language, Dorothy Ramon, died in 2002. With linguist Eric Elliott, Ramon compiled Serrano lore into the book "Wayta' Yawa'," the title of which translates to "Always Believe." Ramon's nephew, Ernest Siva, remembers the sounds of Serrano from his childhood. "My mother, she and my older aunt, everyone in the family spoke it," Siva said. Day said Siva is the only person who is almost fluent in Serrano. There are times, Siva said, when he'll use Serrano phrases, though he acknowledged that his aunt's ability to converse in that old language exceeded his own. Siva said Day and others visit him every Thursday to work on the language project. He also teaches Serrano classes at the Morongo Indian Reservation near Cabazon. He is president of the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center - a nonprofit created to preserve and share knowledge of Southern California's indigenous cultures. Preserving the Serrano language, Siva said, "has to do with our identity and our culture. The traditions that we had. It's like living on our land. A lot of us move away, but as you notice, we return to our roots." Historically, the Serrano language was spoken but not written, Day said. Written Serrano was not used until the 1990s, and part of the language project has been to craft a new Serrano alphabet that is different than the one used in Ramon and Elliott's book. Work to create a new alphabet began around September 2005, Day said. That effort has produced a 47-letter alphabet that uses many common letters as well as symbols not used in English. For example, the ' symbol is used as a letter that symbolizes the sound of a "glottal stop" - much like the sound between "uh" and "oh" in the English phrase "uh-oh," Day said. A curriculum is being developed to teach the tongue to other members of the tribe. At this point, the San Manuels are not telling the public how actual words would be written in the new alphabet. Wright said tribal members are concerned that to do so could lead to the misappropriation of their culture. Wright, a native Hawaiian, said the "tiki kitsch" that is often used as party decorations is an example of how the San Manuels would not want their culture to be represented. Wright considers the kind of island-themed ornamentations that can be purchased at party supply stores to be a bastardization of Polynesian ways. In Day's view, the most successful effort to revive a language was the reintroduction of Hebrew in modern Israel. The Torah and other Hebrew writings provided a wealth of knowledge for 20th-century speakers. The San Manuels do not have that much material to work with, but Day said there are 15 to 20 hours of recorded Serrano to guide the study of an almost-forgotten language. Siva can also draw on notebooks that he compiled while a USC student in the 1960s. As a student, Siva studied music and traveled to Washington, D.C., to research Luiseno Indian music. While at the National Archives, he got sidetracked and found research on Serrano that he transcribed into his own notes. "I realized I could read it," he said. Day was drawn to indigenous languages when she studied linguistic anthropology while a student at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. "I discovered American languages when I was in college. They were so different from anything I'd ever seen," she said. "Language loss ... made me sad, how much language diversity we're losing. It's sort of like losing a species." --------------------------------- What's in a name? The word "Serrano" is actually not part of the Serrano language - it's derived from Spanish. The ancestors of today's San Manuel Band of Mission Indians lived in the San Bernardino Mountains before Europeans came to California. Spanish settlers called tribe members Serranos. The word is similar to "sierra," the Spanish word for mountains. In their own language, the Serranos called themselves Yuhaviatam, which translates to "people of the pines." Source: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:34:31 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:34:31 -0700 Subject: Language translation device used to preserve Indian language (fwd) Message-ID: Language translation device used to preserve Indian language http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5778836 UNDATED A language translation device used in the 'war on terror' is now being used to preserve American Indian languages. The military developed the Phraselator to help troops translate spoken English into Middle Eastern languages. It wasn't long before the hand-held device was used for other purposes. Thornton Media says nearly 50 American Indian tribes have purchased the device, which runs about 33-hundred dollars. Thornton Media president Don Thornton says tribal families use the Phraselator in their homes to teach children their native language. Saint Croix (KROY) Chippewa education director Brooke Amman says she hopes her tribe will purchase more translating devices and use them in homes, classes and gatherings. Critics say the translating device shouldn't replace tribal elders who can speak the language with emotion. A demonstration of the Phraselator is scheduled for next Wednesday in the northern Wisconsin town of Hertel. ___ Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, Brian Bull Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:36:00 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:36:00 -0700 Subject: Indian Affairs Minister subjected to jeers and boos (fwd) Message-ID: Indian Affairs Minister subjected to jeers and boos December 6, 2006 - by Joseph Quesnel http://www.firstperspective.ca/fp_template.php?path=20061206boos Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice had to endure a barrage of jeers and boos as he tried to deliver an address to Aboriginal protesters on Parliament Hill yesterday. The group assembled in Ottawa to protest cuts to Aboriginal programs, particularly to First Nation language preservation. Minister Prentice was the only federal minister who braved the cold and came out to address the protesters. In one media account, Prentice was shouted down with cries of "liar" and "shame" when he tried to inform the crowd that Indian Affairs was not responsible for the $160 million cut to Aboriginal language programs. This money was cut by Canadian Heritage, he said, pointing out that it has been replaced by a a more predictable and permanent $5 million year for seven years. Despite being drowned out by the shouts, Prentice tried to argue that the Conservative government has provided more funds for Aboriginal issues than any previous government. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:38:54 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:38:54 -0700 Subject: Mayans excited about first feature film in their language (fwd) Message-ID: Mayans excited about first feature film in their language Unsure of Mel Gibson’s depiction December 6, 2006 By Mark Stevenson Associated Press Writer http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061206/ENT/61206011/1005 MEXICO CITY (AP) — Scenes of enslaved Maya Indians building temples for a violent, decadent culture in Mel Gibson’s new film “Apocalypto” may ring true for many of today’s Mayas, who earn meager wages in construction camps, building huge tourist resorts on land they once owned. Some Mayas are excited at the prospect of the first feature film made in their native tongue, Yucatec Maya. But others among the 800,000 surviving Mayans are worried that Gibson’s hyper-violent, apocalyptic film could be just the latest misreading of their culture by outsiders. “There has been a lot of concern among Mayan groups from Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, because we don’t know what his treatment or take on this is going to be,” said Amadeo Cool May of the Indian defense group “Mayaon,” or “We are Maya.” “This could be an attempt to merchandize or sell the image of a culture, or its people, that often differs from what that people needs, or wants,” Cool May said. Gibson employed Mayas, most of whom live on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, in the filming of the movie, and says he wants to make the Mayan language “cool” again, and encourage young people “to speak it with pride.” The film has been screened for some U.S. Indians, who praised the use of Indian actors. The Mayas haven’t seen it yet, but like Indians north of the border, they have seen others co-opt their culture, as in high-class Caribbean resorts like the Maya Coast and the Maya Riviera. But Indians are largely absent from those beach resorts, where vacationers tour mock Mayan Villages or watch culturally inaccurate mishmashes with “Mayan Dancers” performing in feather headdresses and face paint. “The owners are often foreigners who buy up the land at ridiculously low prices, build tourism resorts and the Mayas in reality are often just the construction workers for the hotels or, at best, are employed as chamber maids,” said Cool May. “Apocalypto” also portrays Mayan civilization at a low moment, just before the Spaniards arrived, when declining, quarreling Mayan groups were focused more on war and human sacrifice than on the calendars and writing system of the civilization’s bloody but brilliant classical period. Outsiders’ views of the Maya have long been subject to changing intellectual fashions. Until the 1950s, academics often depicted the ancient Mayas as an idyllic, peaceful culture devoted to astronomy and mathematics. Evidence has since emerged that, even at their height, the Mayas fought bloody and sometimes apocalyptic wars among themselves, lending somewhat more credence to Gibson’s approach. Warrior-kings and priests directed periodic wars among the ancient Maya aimed at capturing slaves or prisoners for labor or human sacrifice. Entire cities were destroyed by the wars, and whole forests cut down to build the temples. The latest trendy theory is a largely Internet-based rumor that the Mayan long-count calendar predicts a global calamity on Dec. 22, 2012. Some have woven that together with prophecies from the Bible. Mauricio Amuy, a non-Maya actor who participated in the filming of Apocalypto, says the production staff discussed the theory on the set. “We know the Bible talks about prophecies, and that the Mayas spoke of a change of energy on Dec. 22, 2012, and it (the movie) is somewhat focused on that,” Amuy said. “People should perhaps take that theory and reflect, and not do these things that are destroying humanity.” While they resisted the Spanish conquest longer than most Indians — the Mayas’ last rebellion, the War of the Castes, lasted until 1901 — many were virtually enslaved until the early 1900s on plantations growing sisal, used for rope-making, or in the jungle, tapping gum trees. Discrimination and poverty are probably their greatest enemies today. Just as Gibson’s use of Aramaic in “The Passion of Christ” sparked a burst of interest in that language, some Maya are hoping “Apocalypto” will do the same for their tongue. “I think it is a good chance to integrate the Mayan language ... for people to hear it in movies, on television, everywhere,” said Hilaria Maas, a Maya who teaches the language at Yucatan’s state university. Maas, 65, recalls that children were once prohibited from speaking Maya in school. There is still little bilingual education, and many of those who speak Maya can’t read it. One sign of progress is Yucatan radio station XEPET, “The Voice of the Mayas,” which began broadcasting in the Indian language in 1982. While it began with a mixed Spanish-Maya patois, it now broadcasts in 90 percent pure Maya. The station is trying to purge words borrowed from Spanish and revive a purer form of Maya. It broadcasts all sorts of music — from rock to rap to reggae — with Mayan lyrics. Still, the percentage of Maya speakers in Yucatan state fell from 37 percent in 2000 to 33.9 percent by 2005. Paradoxically, for a state that advertises the glories of the Mayan culture for tourists, it is having a hard time keeping the present-day Maya there; many are migrating to the United States. “For tourists that’s what sells ... what catches their attention are the archaeological sites,” said Diana Canto, director of the Yucatan Institute for the Development of Maya Culture. “We are trying to sell them on the living Mayas too, so that people get to know their cultural richness.” Today’s Maya are known mainly for their elaborate rhyming jokes, a cuisine based on pumpkin and achiote seeds, and loose embroidered white clothing. They’re largely peaceful farmers and masons who carry their goods on ubiquitous three-wheeled bicycles over table-flat Yucatan. Interestingly, some Mayas reach much the same conclusion as Gibson’s movie, which focuses on one man’s struggle to save his family as a metaphor for saving the future of a people. “Our culture hasn’t been destroyed, because the family is the base of it,” says Maas. “Perhaps some material things have been destroyed, but the real basis of the culture is what a family teaches their children, and that survives, and has survived.” From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:41:35 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:41:35 -0700 Subject: New Generation Benefits from Elders' Struggles Over Native Languages (fwd) Message-ID: New Generation Benefits from Elders' Struggles Over Native Languages Posted Tuesday, December 05, 2006 :: infoZine Staff By Hannah Guillaume - Two teachers, one who was beaten for speaking his native language and the other who dealt with cultural prejudice, are fighting to keep their languages from going extinct. Washington, D.C. - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - infoZine - In Fairbanks, Alaska, Professor Walkie Charles, 49, who was hit for speaking his parents' language in boarding school, is teaching college students an Eskimo language. Like many others, Walkie went to the boarding schools made mandatory in 1879 by the U.S. government's Indian policy. The schools used family separation and physical abuse to force Western assimilation as late as the 1970s in Alaska. In Farmington, N.M., Barbara Sorensen, 45, who has dealt with prejudice for being from two different cultures, is teaching Navajo to high-school students. "It's who I am," Sorensen said. "I wanted to be a role model for them. I'm bilingual and bicultural. I feel like I can switch between the two cultures. If I can do that, then they can do that." Inee Slaughter, spokeswoman for the Indigenous Language Institute in Santa Fe, N.M., said 400 to 600 languages were spoken in the U.S. in the 1400s. Today, linguists estimate there are 175 languages, 80 percent of them endangered. By 2010, Slaughter said linguists estimate only 120 will remain. "When children in the communities are not using the language, that means it's a generation away from endangerment," she said. "The dramatic decline began in the late 1800s with the boarding schools and a federal policy for assimilation," Slaughter said. "The smaller the number of speakers, the less resource there is to turn to for the language information." How to help maintain languages "Unlike hunger or homelessness or disease, people don't see it, but it is threatening the lives of cultures," said Inee Slaughter, spokeswoman for the Indigenous Language Institute. It's about helping people to help themselves, she said. Many tribes offer language workshops and welcome students and those who can teach or help put teaching tools online. Learn how to speak Alaska's native languages with one word a day, courtesy of Alaska's Native Broadcast Co. Tribes like the Nambe of New Mexico, which has 400 members and only 10 speakers, are the most at risk. Slaughter said communities must make a team effort with tribal elders to maintain language. "There's really no cookie-cutter way in which language can be preserved," she said. Charles teaches at the University of Alaska Fairbanks using a 500-page textbook written by a fellow professor. "I regard this piece of text almost as I would an elder," Charles said. His said his path to becoming a "Elitnaurista," or teacher, of Yup'ik started in 1970 when he attended the Wrangell Institute Boarding School in Southeastern Alaska. "I was one of the last kids to get hit for speaking my language," Charles said. "I tell my story about how I was repulsed about my own languages, so that others didn't know I spoke Yup'ik. ... I was trained to feel that way in school." He said it hurt him inside. When Charles attended UAF in 1980, he said he was amazed to find courses in Native languages. Today, just 89 people speak his mother's dialect of Norton Sound Kotlik. The oldest elder died Nov. 25. There are 10,000 fluent Yup'ik speakers. Sixty students are learning Yup'ik at UAF's Alaska Native Language Center. Six are majors. "It's very rigorous. It's very theatrical. It's a lot of analysis," Charles said. "People who have the skills to analyze do very well." The center was started in 1972 by the Alaska - three years before Charles completed boarding school. The school kept going because communities didn't have schools for them. Joel Forbes, 19, a UAF Yup'ik and music education major, is one of Charles' students. Forbes didn't learn how to speak his mother's Bristol Bay Yup'ik. His mother feared school would be harder for him if he didn't speak English as a first language. His father is from Oregon and doesn't speak Yup'ik. Forbes said he's learning now because he wants to be able to speak to his grandmother. "It's in my heritage," Forbes said. "My older brother who passed on already, he spoke it well. My grandma's a big inspiration to speak Yup'ik. I want to talk to her." He said the classes are comparable to math or chemistry. "You do a lot of adding and subtracting to put the words together," Forbes said. "It's a whole new point of view. It can help you solve problems." Navajo is taught in nearly the same way to children in at the Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico. Sorensen grew up speaking Navajo and was immersed in English in high school. Her childhood made her want to maintain the Navajo language. She said most of the school's 80 students show great interest in the mandatory language program. "We go to a trading post in Waterflow, New Mexico, and they will purchase items, and the people that work there, they help us out," Sorensen said. "They love it." April Hale, 25, a University of New Mexico journalism graduate who is returning for a bachelor's degree in geography, graduated from the Navajo Prep School. She said her parents made her want to learn Navajo. "It was quite the learning experience. Both of my parents are fluent in Navajo. So, I grew up in a home where Navajo was spoken," Hale said. Her father, Albert, is a former president of the Navajo Nation and is an Arizona state senator. Her mother, Geraldine King, is a teacher. Her parents spoke Navajo to each other, but not to her. She said neither her parents nor grandparents can read or write in Navajo. "The whole reading or writing of it is fairly new," Hale said. "Because there were no textbooks ... Navajo Prep designs their own." Students spoke Navajo in their dorms. She said the prep school and its language environment make an important contribution to the culture of her generation. "All too often, Navajo isn't spoken in the home, because our generation's parents went to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking the language," Hale said. "Language classes - no matter which culture - it's incredibly important to the contribution of sustaining of culture." Article link: http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/19428/ From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:43:33 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:43:33 -0700 Subject: Funding for Native language immersion moves forward (fwd) Message-ID: Funding for Native language immersion moves forward Posted: December 06, 2006 by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414089 WASHINGTON - In a race too close to call until two weeks after the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Republican Heather Wilson has regained her seat in the House of Representatives. New Mexico's District 1 voters, including many Indians, provided Wilson with just enough votes to edge Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid. Wilson's margin was fewer than 1,000 votes when Madrid conceded. Wilson's presence in Congress now and next January will continue momentum toward passage of a law to provide federal grant funding for Native language immersion schooling. Wilson introduced House Bill 4766 in the House. With the support of committee chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., the bill passed in the House prior to the election and now awaits Senate action. Ryan Wilson (no relation) said the Native vote protected Heather Wilson once her commitment to Native languages became evident. Ryan Wilson, president of the newly formed National Alliance to Save Native Languages, campaigned for the bill as president of the National Indian Education Association, which continues to support H.R. 4766 among its other priorities. In Washington for an appearance on Capitol Hill of Navajo code talkers, he said tribes had rallied as never before behind the bill. He called on American citizens at large to join them. ''Nothing is more American than the languages of her first people,'' he said. ''This is part of the sacred heritage of America, not just a treasured form of expression in Indian country.'' Noting the contribution of code talkers to U.S. war efforts, he referenced the recent film ''Flags of Our Fathers,'' focused on the iconic flag-raising at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima island during World War II. Only days after the opening of a Marine museum near Washington, its architecture abstractly modeled on the famous photograph of U.S. Marines - including Ira Hayes, a Pima soldier - transfixed the mid-Atlantic seaboard region and much of the nation, Wilson underscored the profound contribution of code talkers to the Pacific theater of operations in particular. By putting their oral language to use as an unbreakable code that kept military intelligence from imperial Japan, Native code talkers helped U.S. forces stage the storied combat that ultimately broke the islands. ''It was the Navajo, through their language, who helped uplift that flag at Iwo Jima,'' Wilson said. ''It was that language that helped get them up the mountain.'' From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:46:01 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:46:01 -0700 Subject: Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd (fwd) Message-ID: Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd Tue, 2006-12-05 20:08 National News By: SUE BAILEY http://www.cjad.com/node/448333 OTTAWA (CP) - Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice was booed and jeered Tuesday as he tried to speak to about 400 native protesters on Parliament Hill. Organizers of the rally say anger over perceived Conservative backtracking on First Nations rights has reached the boiling point. Over shouts of "Liar!" and "Shame!" Prentice tried to explain that his department was not responsible for cutting $160 million meant to preserve native languages. That cash was recently eliminated by Canadian Heritage and replaced with $5 million a year for seven years. The Tories say they'll use the money to craft more effective programs to keep about 50 fading languages from dying. But Prentice, the only federal minister to brave the placard-waving crowd as it huddled in a -5 C breeze, bore the full brunt of its frustration. He was almost drowned out by catcalls. The Conservatives, he said, have earmarked more money for native issues than previous regimes. "This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of aboriginal Canadians," he offered over a protester who countered: "Kelowna does that!" The national $5-billion Kelowna Accord reached a year ago to improve native education, housing and economic conditions was scrapped. Canada's long-standing support for a United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which first wavered under the Liberals, was pulled back under the Tories over concerns it would run counter to the constitution, defence laws and existing land deals. Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine says the Tory government has broken promises while making progress in very few specific areas. Prentice is being disingenuous when he includes in federal spending the $2.2-billion settlement to compensate former students of native residential schools, he said. "It's not a program or a service," Fontaine told chiefs from across Canada who began a three-day meeting here Tuesday. The Conservative budget actually committed just $450 million in new spending for 630 First Nations, Fontaine said. He reached that figure after subtracting the residential schools settlement along with $600 million promised for off-reserve and northern housing. "Our people are frustrated and angry," he said. "And they have a right to be. "We feel betrayed and we simply can't be silent about this betrayal." Fontaine said he'll keep trying to negotiate with federal politicians of all stripes. Another prominent leader said polite talks "have gotten us nowhere," and issued an urgent call to action. "This government has done nothing but lie, break promises and distort the truth at the international level," said Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. Aboriginal people across the country must set aside political differences and mobilize to exert united political pressure, he said. "For too long we've been too nice." Taking it all in was a 16-year-old girl from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory just east of Belleville, Ont. Her name, Kenhnonnianions, means "she who makes patterns," a Mohawk reference to buckskin and leather adornments. She is an immersion student who hopes to one day speak her native language fluently. People in her community are tired of being passed over and ignored, she said. "I just think it's time for them to listen," she said of the government. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:48:44 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:48:44 -0700 Subject: Students learn First Nations language (fwd) Message-ID: Students learn First Nations language By Jean COMPTON The Chronicle Dec 05 2006 http://www.ladysmithchronicle.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=18&cat=43&id=785187&more= Aurea Joe’s face lights up as she reads the morning phrases over the intercom at North Oyster Elementary school. “Uy skweyul - good day, i u ch uw uy al - how are you?” Aurea was chosen to make the Hul’qumi’num announcements that day, as one of the Chemainus First Nations students who make up over half of the school’s 140 students. Making the language prominent in the school is the job of Hul’qumi’num language support teacher Donna Wilford. “I don’t go into classes and instruct the language. My job is to make the language apparent, used in the school and recognized,” said Wilford. Each week, Wilford makes up a new word list with three or four words and expressions that get posted on a board in the front hallway, and read on the morning announcements. Classrooms compete for prizes in school-wide games based on the language, such as treasure hunts and quizzes. Students even get a chance to grade teachers on their use of greeting words. Wilford has developed materials and resources to support classroom teachers seeking ways to incorporate Hul’qumi’num words in their classroom. One example are the language boxes, one for each season, with games, posters and flash cards for primary and intermediate grades. She has also developed an extensive resource list that documents all the Coast Salish Culture resources in the district. “The feedback I’ve gotten is very positive. It’s not only keeping the speech alive, but the culture too,” said Wilford. “Each language has its own culture and way of thinking embedded into it.” Having their language used in the school helps with children’s self-esteem as well as with academics, such as mathematics. As well as reinforcing the native language of the First Nations students, learning Hul’qumi’num helps non-native speakers in several ways. Studies show that learning any language activates a part of the brain specifically devoted to language. “It makes children aware that the world is a big and interesting place,” said Wilford. Wilford is not a native speaker; she is Metis with a northern Manitoba Cree and Scottish heritage, and speaks many languages. She has studied Hul’qumi’num and picked up words from the native language speakers who used to work as educational assistants at the school. The educational assistants went on to train at Malaspina University-College as certified culture and language teachers, and as such are in great demand in the school district. “Trained Hul’qumi’num language teachers can get full-time jobs,” said North Oyster principal Don Anderson, whose budget allows only for part-time language support. Robyn Gray, District Principal of Aboriginal Education, said that the challenge is there are not enough fluent speakers from the community. There are 10-12 people enrolled in the MalU course. There are currently 45 people working as Aboriginal educational assistants in School District 68. North Oyster School student Aurea Joe reads the morning phrases over the intercom. JEAN COMPTON/ THE CHRONICLE From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Fri Dec 8 03:32:11 2006 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 19:32:11 -0800 Subject: Language preservation help needed #06-068 Message-ID: You may not have seen the latest news release but the language bill passed in the Senate Dec. 6 and is on the way to the President for signature. He has 10 days once it is received in the White House to sign or veto so it is important to contact/write the White House. There is no time to write so you need to call, email, or fax the White House. Contacting the White House Mailing Address The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Phone Numbers Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 Visitors Office: 202-456-2121 E-Mail Please send your comments to comments at whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For further up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website. Vice President Richard Cheney: vice_president at whitehouse.gov From NIEA: National Indian Education Association 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E. Suite 104 Washington, D.C. 20002 P: (202) 544-7290 / F: (202) 544-7293 December 7, 2006 Broadcast #06-070 H.R. 4766 is on the way to the President for signature!!!! Last night (December 6th) at approximately 8:45pm, the Senate passed H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Act of 2006, by unanimous consent National Indian Education Association 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E. Suite 104 Washington, D.C. 20002 P: (202) 544-7290 / F: (202) 544-7293 November 30, 2006 Broadcast #06-068 ACTION ALERT ON H.R. 4766, THE ESTHER MARTINEZ NATIVE LANGUAGES PRESERVATION ACT OF 2006- CALLING ON HELP FROM OKLAHOMA NIEA is still working hard to pass the H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Act of 2006 during the lame duck session. When Congress returned from the election recess, NIEA and Native American Code Talkers Samuel Tso (Navajo), Keith Little (Navajo) and Merrill Sandovil (Navajo) met with several Senate offices to discuss H.R.4766 and request removal of the current hold placed on the bill. We are asking for your help, particularly tribes, schools, educational groups, and religious organizations in Oklahoma to weigh in with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) expressing your support of H.R. 4766 and requesting him to lift his hold. Congress will return from their Thanksgiving break on December 4th and are expected to adjourn for the year the same week so there is little time left to pass H..R. 4766 this session. H.R. 4766 is a House bill that was introduced by Representatives Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Rick Renzi (R-AZ). Before Congress recessed at the end of September, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4766 on suspension on a bi-partisan basis. If Senator Coburn lifts his hold, then the Senate can pass the bill on the unanimous consent calendar when it re-convenes next week to wrap up its legislative business for the 109th Congress. Essentially, H.R. 4766 would provide assistance to on-going heritage language restoration efforts through a current authorized discretionary Native language grant program at the Administration for Native Americans at the Department of Health and Human Services. This bill is needed to provide a focus on grants that help create Native language fluency as opposed to other kinds of language grants. The bill does not create a new program. Instead, it simply varies the uses of grant funds in a current program. Further, the bill does not alter English proficiency requirements contained in current law. Instead, the bill simply provides additional opportunities to preserve Native languages. Please find below below a sample letter to send to Senator Coburn. Senator Coburn’s office phone number is (202) 224-5754 and fax number is (202) 224-6008. Please fax a copy of any letters sent to (202) 544-7293 so that NIEA can keep track of them. November________, 2006 The Honorable Tom Coburn, M.D. United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Coburn: I am writing to urge your support for Senate passage during the lame duck session of H.R. 4766. This legislation, which would amend an existing Federal Native language program to provide a broader range of language training options, passed the House on the suspension calendar and is under consideration for passage by unanimous consent in the Senate. We understand that you have raised concerns about the bill. Native languages are not spoken anywhere else in the world; and, if they are not preserved, then they will disappear forever. Unfortunately, Native American languages are disappearing at an alarming rate. Language scholars estimate that there were approximately 300 languages spoken in North America prior to the arrival of Columbus. Some project that only 20 indigenous languages will remain viable by the year 2050. H.R. 4766 would help to preserve Native languages by allowing for increased opportunities for students, both young and old and Native and non-Native, to learn a Native language. The federal government should support the preservation of Native languages. After all, Native languages are one of the treasures of this country’s heritage and history. Native American languages have contributed to the rich fabric of what makes our country so great. For example, many states, cities, towns, streets, rivers, and other geographical places in our country are Native words. It would be a shame to continue to lose the languages from where these words are derived. Also, another reason that the federal government should play a role in preserving Native languages is due to the federal government’s much-criticized assimilation policies in the 1950’s and 1960’s, which is one of the main reasons that Native American languages are dying out. During that time, the federal government followed a policy to eradicate Native languages by harshly forbidding the speaking of Native languages at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. The architect of this policy summed up the policy as “Kill the Indian . . . and save the man.” Now these children are adults and have not taught their children their Native languages, given their experiences at these schools. It is well-proven that individuals who participate in programs such as those provided for in H.R. 4766 realize many positive gains from learning a new language. Further, in learning a Native language, these individuals learn about the history of the community in which they live and gain a better appreciation for it. I urge you to work for quick passage of this legislation in the lame duck session of the 109th Congress. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, --------------------------------------- If you would like to be removed from our list-serve, please send your request to niea at niea.org. Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:16:54 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:16:54 -0700 Subject: New Tools Help Preserve Old Ways (fwd) Message-ID: UBC Reports | Vol. 52 | No. 12 | Dec. 7, 2006 New Tools Help Preserve Old Ways Remote, marginalized peoples use high-tech to record and share culture and knowledge By Bud Mortenson [photo inset - Video recording and digital mapping tools are being used by many indigenous communities around the world - photo by Jon Corbett] In 1962, residents of remote Turner Island near the north end of Vancouver Island were relocated, ostensibly to provide them with better access to government services. The people of the Tlowitsis nation found themselves in Nanaimo, Victoria, the Lower Mainland and as far afield as Manitoba. Over time, relocation had a devastating impact on the community’s knowledge of their traditional territory. “They needed to do something to re-engage in the relationship between themselves and the land,” says UBC Okanagan Geography Prof. Jon Corbett. He received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SHRCC) grant to work with the Tlowitsis community, providing them with cameras and training to video record elders as they revisited Turner Island more than four decades after leaving. “We wanted to look at how technologies like these can be used from a cultural and participatory perspective -- how they can contribute to nation-building,” he says. “It was amazing to see people in their 60s and 70s going back to Turner Island for the first time since they left in 1962. The elders were sharing wonderful stories with young people who really had no connection with this place. It was helping them build a sense of national identity.” Community members developed a DVD of the nation’s culture and heritage and presented it at the Tlowistis annual general meeting. “Many in the audience had never been to Turner Island because it’s so hard to get to,” he recalls. “They were overwhelmed.” His research has taken him to many remote indigenous communities -- from Indonesia, the Philippines, the Australian outback, and more recently on Vancouver Island. “One of the great joys of geography is the scope you have to explore things,” says Corbett, who once spent two years living in a Borneo longhouse as part of his research. “I engage in research with people in the community, and they are co-researchers. It’s all done collaboratively, the research process itself can become a form of emancipation.” Every community uses and responds to the technology differently. In one Indonesian village, the women described where they drew their water and how they carried it home. “In another community, illegal logging was taking place on their land and using a camera they were able to record video to use as evidence. “We went back to one community 18 months later and found that they had become so skilled with the video camera that other people came to them and asked, ‘Do you think you could make us a video?’ In another community we found them recording wedding ceremonies -- their video camera had broken and they raised the $250 to fix it straight away. It had become an economic resource for them.” Gathering histories on tape and connecting maps with information about people and culture is important, but it’s not the whole point, he cautions. “This is a lot more complex than just creating a digital repository of information. The key is the process -- it’s about young people learning new skills and learning from elders, and learning more about themselves.” A larger project through the SHRCC-funded Community-University Research Alliance has Corbett working with several First Nations on Vancouver Island to record their languages. An interactive DVD with clickable maps allows viewers to choose from among Vancouver Island’s 14 long houses. Selecting a site on the map presents a video of elders speaking in their native language with English subtitles, and in English with the native language subtitles. His work has the attention of the European Union-funded and French-administered Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). Corbett is now on the steering committee for a major international conference in Rome in September 2007 and is exploring several near-term research projects with CTA. “They’re looking at how social computing -- things like YouTube and virtual communities -- can be used in a developing world context. I’m hoping this is something we’ll build on with projects at UBC Okanagan around the power of maps and the web, looking at how we manage information and whether the medium of a map can be an effective way to do that,” he says. One of his next projects is to create a system using GoogleMaps technology to help people organize their car-pooling requirements. “It’s not necessarily the technology that will make car pooling work, but it would make car pooling much easier to organize.” A car-pooling helper could take your postal code and quickly look at all the options, produce a map of the best routes and even reserve your spot in a car. Simplifying the task could make community programs more successful here at home and in developing countries. “I really enjoy what I do,” Corbett says. “Ultimately, I’m fascinated with how we can use technology to benefit marginalized people in society -- and bring about positive change.” Last reviewed 07-Dec-2006 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:27:52 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:27:52 -0700 Subject: Film won't open indigenous floodgates (fwd) Message-ID: Film won't open indigenous floodgates By Jonathon Moran December 08, 2006 01:28pm Article from: AAP http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20893633-5005361,00.html# TEN Canoes may have won best picture at this year's AFI awards but don't expect a flood of indigenous language films in Australian cinemas, warns the movie's director Rolf de Heer. Australia's first indigenous language feature film cleaned up at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards yesterday, scooping best film and best direction. But de Heer said today: "I don't think there will be a flood of indigenous language films. "I hope there will be some more but I don't think this will open the floodgates or anything like that." Ten Canoes beat Candy, Jindabyne and Kenny to take Australia's top film honour. De Heer and Peter Djigirr won best direction, and the film, shot in remote Arnhem land, also took home best original screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best sound. De Heer also received the Byron Kennedy Award for his contribution to Australian filmmaking, while Ten Canoes cinematographer Ian Jones was honoured with a lifetime achievement award. "My voice is a bit croaky and the legs are a bit tired but I'm okay," de Heer said today after just three hours' sleep. Starring Jamie Gulpilil and Frances Djulibing, the comedy was filmed predominantly in the Ganalbingu language. "They were really utterly delighted," de Heer said of the film's indigenous cast and crew. "To them it is another step ... each little step that the film takes is validation to them of their culture, of themselves as people who can achieve things. They are more confident and a bit more forward looking and I think that is a great thing." Ten Canoes has won a string of prizes since premiering at the Adelaide Film Festival in March. It received a special jury prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in May and is Australia's official entry in the foreign language category at next year's Academy Awards. "A film can do in a very general sense only this tiny little bit," de Heer said. "It can make a tiny contribution and hopefully Ten Canoes has made a contribution. Where it has made a bigger contribution has been in the community." Also winning top honours at the 48th annual AFI Awards were best actress Emily Barclay, for her performance in Suburban Mayhem, and best actor Shane Jacobson, for toilet humour comedy Kenny. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:31:28 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:31:28 -0700 Subject: United States Supports Research To Document Endangered Languages (fwd) Message-ID: United States Supports Research To Document Endangered Languages National Science Foundation, National Endowment for Humanities give grants http://newsblaze.com/story/20061207145244tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html Throughout the world, thousands of languages are at risk of disappearing, but researchers are documenting and recording these linguistic links to history. Examples abound: Only one-fourth of the Northern Cheyenne tribe in Montana speak their native language. In Nigeria, Defaka is spoken by just 200 people. And there are fewer than a dozen native speakers of N/uu, one of several African languages that use distinctive clicks for some consonants. A program sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) - Documenting Endangered Languages - has awarded $9.4 million over the past two years to researchers and native speakers seeking to document and create digital records of languages threatened with extinction. About half of the grants support work on American Indian languages. More than half of the world's 7,000 existing languages "are headed for oblivion in this century," according to an NEH/NSF press release. One reason is globalization: People increasingly find it necessary to do business in the most widely spoken languages, such as Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian and Hindi. The Internet and print and television media also speed the rate of language loss. Ten languages account for nearly 80 percent of Internet users, with English and Chinese alone accounting for 42 percent, according to internetstats.com, a search engine that provides Internet, business, financial and advertising statistics. By creating audio and video recordings, transcriptions, dictionaries and grammatical guides, linguists can work with speakers of a language to create a permanent digital archive. These materials can be put on the Internet "and suddenly it opens up the language to the entire world," said Doug Whalen, an NSF program director. Linguists are working with the N/uu speakers, who live on the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert, to create a dictionary and grammar that will support research into the language and history of the people and help the N/uu teach their children to write the language. Linguist Amanda Miller of Cornell University uses a portable ultrasound machine to produce images of the way the tongue moves when a N/uu speaker makes clicks and other complicated sounds. "When I go to southern Africa, I have people [from other ethnic groups] say, 'When will you come back and work on my language?'" said Bonny Sands of Northern Arizona University, one of three principal investigators for the project. "People understand how important language is." Africa has the highest concentration of disappearing languages, according to UNESCO. Akinbiyi Akinlabi of Rutgers University received a grant to document Defaka, which has only 200 speakers, and Nkoroo, a related language that has 5,000 speakers. "No language should be allowed to die out without being scientifically documented," he said. "A language tells us about the culture of a people, their way of life, their history." In both Sands' and Akinlabi's projects, as well as most others funded under Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL), graduate students, native speakers and other investigators from the country that hosts a language play vital roles in the research. "The quality of the data is much higher if native speakers are involved in decision-making and data collection," said Arienne Dwyer of the University of Kansas, who employs two dozen people in China for a project to prepare a grammar of Monguor, an unwritten endangered Mongolic language of northern Tibet. Dwyer stressed that the DEL projects focus on documentation. "It's not our business to decide whether a language survives or disappears," she said. "We can only present ourselves as resource people." Helen Aguera, acting deputy director for preservation at NEH, said the program can "help create the resources that the community will be able to adapt and use for their own efforts at revitalization." For example, a scholarly grammar book or dictionary can be simplified into a "learner's dictionary" for use in teaching. Veronica Grondona of Eastern Michigan University is documenting Wichi, a language that has about 25,000 speakers in northern Argentina and Bolivia but is considered endangered because children are not learning it in sufficient numbers and because of the population's intense contact with Spanish speakers. She said she was working in the community on two other indigenous languages "and the Wichi speakers came to us and said, 'We want you to document our language and help us preserve our language.'" Grondona always meets with the chiefs of the community to determine what they want, such as interviewing as many elders as possible or producing teaching materials. "In many cases you end up doing work that may help in the maintenance of the language because the speakers ask you to do that," she said. NEH and NSF are evaluating applications for 2007 DEL grants, whose recipients will be announced next spring. A special report on endangered languages and lists of DEL grantees for 2005 and 2006 are available on the NSF Web site. For more information on U.S. policies, see Population and Diversity. Source: U.S. Department of State judythpiazza at gmail.com Copyright © 2006, NewsBlaze, Daily News From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:32:56 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:32:56 -0700 Subject: Language bill will go to president following Senate passage (fwd) Message-ID: Language bill will go to president following Senate passage © Indian Country Today December 07, 2006. All Rights Reserved Posted: December 07, 2006 by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414125 WASHINGTON - Late Dec. 6, the Senate passed a bill authorizing a grants program for Native language nest and language survival schools within the Department of Health and Human Services. H.R. 4766 passed the Senate by unanimous consent after coming over from the House of Representatives, where it had been introduced by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. The bill will become law upon the president's signature. The grants program it authorizes will be administered by the Administration for Native Americans within HHS. ANA already administers discretionary grants to Native language programs. The bill overcame many obstacles as its advocates argued that learning a Native language in an immersion school setting, alongside the usual use and study of English, would improve Indian academic achievement. The bill had to make headway in an ''English only'' climate and overcame the initial opposition of Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. Its final opponent proved to be Sen. Charles Coburn, R-Okla., who relented when assured that Native language immersion schooling is not a hindrance to English language acquisition. Ryan Wilson, president of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages, campaigned for the bill from his current position and as past president of the National Indian Education Association. He said the appearance of Navajo code talkers - veterans who had provided the U.S. military forces with an unbreakable communications code based on the unwritten Navajo tongue - on Capitol Hill in November had convinced key senators to support the bill. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:36:49 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:36:49 -0700 Subject: Amoc is rapping the Sámi language onto the map (fwd) Message-ID: Amoc is rapping the Sámi language onto the map http://www.finland.org/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=58074&intIGID=25&intCatID=&LAN=FI&contlan=&Thread=58074,56735,56359,56358,56394,55810,55525,54179,57179,55744,55217,54984,56903,56789,55385,&intThreadPosition=0 Rapper Amoc alias Mikkal Morottaja, 21, raps intense rhymes in one of the most endangered languages in the world. Young people who speak Inari Sámi, comprise only about 20 people but his music attracts attention from a much wider audience.] [photo inset - Mikkal Morottaja alias Amoc. Photo: Harri Nurminen] Mikkal Morottaja was born and raised in Inari, the home of his father's family. His father is an Inari Sámi, and his mother is from Turku. Mikkal learnt both languages as a child as did his two brothers. The family's common languages are both Finnish and Inari Sámi; his mother understands Inari Sámi and can even speak the language a little. Mikkal is recorded in the population register as an Inari Sámi speaker from birth. At the moment there are about 350 people who can speak Inari Sámi — most of them over middle age. "When I went to school I was the only child in my age-group who spoke Inari Sámi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. He was, however, educated at school in the Inari Sámi language and took his matriculation exam native language test in Inari Sámi, and he believes he is one of the first ten students to have done this. Mikkal Morottaja currently teaches Inari Sámi at the upper secondary school in Inari. He has a total of five pupils. "More and more pupils want to study Inari Sámi with each new year group. The future looks bright," says Mikkal Morottaja. He believes this development is a result of the 'language nest' method. 'Language nests' are child day care groups where Sámi children who speak Finnish as their mother tongue learn the language of their tribal unit naturally. There are now teaching groups at school where all the teaching is provided in Inari Sámi, while only a few years ago no Sámi children under the age of 7 could speak Inari Sámi. Mythical rhymes about the Arctic wilderness Mikkal Morottaja claims that he could even write a love letter in Inari Sámi. He says he has written text messages in Inari Sámi even though some of the characters used in Inari Sámi are missing on mobile phones. Some words do not even exist in Sámi. Mikkal's dad, Matti Morottaja, who is a retired teacher, actively works to preserve and develop the language and has helped Mikkal find and think up expressions for his raps. Mikkal Morottaja's interest in rap started in his early teens around the same time that the first Finnish rap albums came out. "At first I just came up with some rather amusing rhymes in Finnish. When I was in the 6th form I decided to try and see if it was possible to come up with rhymes in Sámi. When my friends told me they thought this worked well, I started writing almost all my raps in Sámi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. The inspiration for Morottaja's Sámi raps is the Arctic wilderness; the mindscape is rugged and mythical. He raps about a golden axe, heaven and hell. Even though few understand his lyrics, Amoc's live gigs are popular amongst Nordic audiences. "Young people who can speak other Sámi languages understand some of my lyrics. I want my rap to have a good beat and flow, my voice control to sound good and my stage show to be interesting. Those who are curious can find the Finnish versions of my raps on the Internet. Amoc's first CD was released in spring 2006. Language preservation is self protection This young man is planning to apply to study media at Tampere, Oulu, Rovaniemi or Helsinki. His long-term goal is, however, to return to the North. "I travel a lot but home is always so much nicer than anywhere else." If Morottaja becomes a father, he will definitely speak Inari Sámi to his children and carry on the ancient culture to the next generation. He believes he is not the only one to think this way and that there are other young people who value language and traditions and want to stay in Lapland. How does Mikkal Morottaja explain the motive for putting so much effort into preserving the archaic language of one small community? "It is important to me as it is part of the fight for self preservation which is a part of human nature. It would be very sad if the language died out," he explains. "I hope that this type of popular music will promote this cause. And if other people listen to this music then young Sámi can feel proud of their language and culture. Thank goodness music is eternal." Adapted from article by Salla Korpela for Virtual Finland. From jtucker at STARBAND.NET Fri Dec 8 22:27:01 2006 From: jtucker at STARBAND.NET (Jan Tucker) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 17:27:01 -0500 Subject: Amoc is rapping the S=?UTF-8?Q?=C3=A1mi?= language onto th e map (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20061208133649.36ljtw0c0scoso8g@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: www.mikseri.net/amoc Link to listen to Amoc, Sámi Rapper. It's pretty cool. I'd like to hear that Lakota rapper also if anyone has a link. I have some indigenous rap but it's in English: WarParty. click Lofi or Hifi to listen. Jan -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]On Behalf Of phil cash cash Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 3:37 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] Amoc is rapping the Sámi language onto the map (fwd) Amoc is rapping the Sámi language onto the map http://www.finland.org/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=58074&intIGID=25&intCatID=&LAN=FI&contlan=&Thread=58074,56735,56359,56358,56394,55810,55525,54179,57179,55744,55217,54984,56903,56789,55385,&intThreadPosition=0 Rapper Amoc alias Mikkal Morottaja, 21, raps intense rhymes in one of the most endangered languages in the world. Young people who speak Inari Sámi, comprise only about 20 people but his music attracts attention from a much wider audience.] [photo inset - Mikkal Morottaja alias Amoc. Photo: Harri Nurminen] Mikkal Morottaja was born and raised in Inari, the home of his father's family. His father is an Inari Sámi, and his mother is from Turku. Mikkal learnt both languages as a child as did his two brothers. The family's common languages are both Finnish and Inari Sámi; his mother understands Inari Sámi and can even speak the language a little. Mikkal is recorded in the population register as an Inari Sámi speaker from birth. At the moment there are about 350 people who can speak Inari Sámi — most of them over middle age. "When I went to school I was the only child in my age-group who spoke Inari Sámi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. He was, however, educated at school in the Inari Sámi language and took his matriculation exam native language test in Inari Sámi, and he believes he is one of the first ten students to have done this. Mikkal Morottaja currently teaches Inari Sámi at the upper secondary school in Inari. He has a total of five pupils. "More and more pupils want to study Inari Sámi with each new year group. The future looks bright," says Mikkal Morottaja. He believes this development is a result of the 'language nest' method. 'Language nests' are child day care groups where Sámi children who speak Finnish as their mother tongue learn the language of their tribal unit naturally. There are now teaching groups at school where all the teaching is provided in Inari Sámi, while only a few years ago no Sámi children under the age of 7 could speak Inari Sámi. Mythical rhymes about the Arctic wilderness Mikkal Morottaja claims that he could even write a love letter in Inari Sámi. He says he has written text messages in Inari Sámi even though some of the characters used in Inari Sámi are missing on mobile phones. Some words do not even exist in Sámi. Mikkal's dad, Matti Morottaja, who is a retired teacher, actively works to preserve and develop the language and has helped Mikkal find and think up expressions for his raps. Mikkal Morottaja's interest in rap started in his early teens around the same time that the first Finnish rap albums came out. "At first I just came up with some rather amusing rhymes in Finnish. When I was in the 6th form I decided to try and see if it was possible to come up with rhymes in Sámi. When my friends told me they thought this worked well, I started writing almost all my raps in Sámi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. The inspiration for Morottaja's Sámi raps is the Arctic wilderness; the mindscape is rugged and mythical. He raps about a golden axe, heaven and hell. Even though few understand his lyrics, Amoc's live gigs are popular amongst Nordic audiences. "Young people who can speak other Sámi languages understand some of my lyrics. I want my rap to have a good beat and flow, my voice control to sound good and my stage show to be interesting. Those who are curious can find the Finnish versions of my raps on the Internet. Amoc's first CD was released in spring 2006. Language preservation is self protection This young man is planning to apply to study media at Tampere, Oulu, Rovaniemi or Helsinki. His long-term goal is, however, to return to the North. "I travel a lot but home is always so much nicer than anywhere else." If Morottaja becomes a father, he will definitely speak Inari Sámi to his children and carry on the ancient culture to the next generation. He believes he is not the only one to think this way and that there are other young people who value language and traditions and want to stay in Lapland. How does Mikkal Morottaja explain the motive for putting so much effort into preserving the archaic language of one small community? "It is important to me as it is part of the fight for self preservation which is a part of human nature. It would be very sad if the language died out," he explains. "I hope that this type of popular music will promote this cause. And if other people listen to this music then young Sámi can feel proud of their language and culture. Thank goodness music is eternal." Adapted from article by Salla Korpela for Virtual Finland. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Dec 9 00:03:06 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 17:03:06 -0700 Subject: A note on DVD media... Message-ID: fyi, Just a quick note to film-based media makers.  I have been looking into quality media for creating "archival" (whatever that means) film-based media products with a high rate of flawless burns.  At the link below is a listing of the top "1st Class Media" as found at digitalFAQ.com. Interestingly enough, "media ID's" are far more important than what name brand a blank-media DVD falls under.  And that is part of the problem it appears as you can not find the media-ID on the name brand package.  Some special software (freeware) is available that reads for this kind of info (you will find links on the digitalFAQ.com website).  Anyway, check out the info & comparison charts at: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm   Phil Cash Cash (cayuse/nez perce) UofA ILAT mg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 11 20:49:06 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:49:06 -0700 Subject: A Cowichan school for Cowichan children (fwd) Message-ID: A Cowichan school for Cowichan children [photo inset - Kierra Thomas pours flour into the play-dough mixture while classmate Gabby Joe looks on in a kindergarten class at Quw’utsun’ Smuneem elementary school.] By Aaron Bichard The Pictorial http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=9&cat=43&id=789680&more= Dec 09 2006 Quw’utsun Smuneem translated from Hul’qumi’num to English means our Cowichan children and there’s no doubt the small elementary school on Glenora Road takes its name seriously. The small First Nation school run by the Cowichan Tribes has been quietly growing and adapting for the past four years, trying desperately to preserve both language and culture amongst local children. “It really provides a sense of belonging for the children,” principal Maryann Thorne said about the school that only teaches First Nations children. “Some people say it is wrong for a school to be exclusive, but I feel it’s very important for our children and our culture to survive. “It’s a safe place with people who only look out for their well-being, and the kids are able to behave in ways that are culturally appropriate.” The school began with Fran Rose who held a daycare in the Anglican Church basement in 1966. During the years that passed, Cowichan Tribes saw the need for daycare increase with high population growth rates. In 2002, nestled in a remote rural area with large expansion potential, the school was built to house kindergarten classes. Now, five classes — two kindergarten, two Grade 1 and one Grade 2 — are held to accommodate more than 90 students. The school, built with a main cedar wall to represent a traditional salmon weir, has dozens of windows, bathing the learning in light. A fulltime speech language pathologist rounds out the cast of 20 staff members who look after the kids. “I’d say about 90 per cent of our teachers are Cowichan,” Thorne said. “The number of staff is good for the kids. There’s a lot of one-on-one teacher time.” The school is slowly amassing resources, with its library growing steadily. It has 18 computers in its lab and a fully furnished kitchen where traditional fare is cooked regularly. “I’m proud of this school,” Thorne said. “It’s a nice feeling to have our own people teaching our children.” Part of the curriculum makes it mandatory for the students to learn Hul’qumi’num, which they start right away. “It doesn’t take them long to understand kinship and be able to name household objects,” Thorne said. “But it’s difficult teaching the language because there are so few fluent speakers still alive.” Thorne hopes the school will be able to expand during the next few years to accommodate up to Grade 6, but isn’t holding her breath it will happen right away. “It’s up to the people giving us the funding,” Thorne said. © Copyright 2006 Duncan News Leader and Pictorial From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 11 20:51:23 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:51:23 -0700 Subject: Young ones give voice to old tongue (fwd) Message-ID: Young ones give voice to old tongue By Jo Roberts December 12, 2006 http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/young-ones-give-voice-to-old-tongue/2006/12/11/1165685610958.html# [photo inset - Youthful members of the Aboriginal Children's Choir.] The February debut performance of the Aboriginal Children's Choir didn't quite go as planned, recalls the choir's musical director, Belinda Gillam. The choir gave its first concert in its hometown of Healesville as part of the Queens Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games. Well, half a concert, anyway. The children didn't realise there was more singing to be done after interval, so they all wandered off home or to the nearby skate park. Tomorrow, when the choir performs as part of Federation Square's Christmas Carols program, Gillam says there will be about eight adults, including guest singer Lou Bennett, to keep an eye on the 20 or so children. "Hopefully I'll be able to keep them all in the one place at the one time," laughs Gillam. The choir was formed by the Yarra Ranges Children's choir and the local indigenous community as part of the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games, but also as a way to give indigenous children the chance to learn Woiwurrung, the language of the Wurundjeri people. There are no fluent Woiwurrung speakers alive, says Gillam. "There are a few elders who know a few phrases, but even Aunty Joy is learning language back from written text." "Aunty Joy" is Wurundjeri elder Joy Wandin Murphy, who was inspired to help form the choir after seeing how a similar choir had helped revive the language of New Zealand's Ngai Tahu Maori people. She has written her own Christmas carol in Woiwurrung, Pirn Wandeat Ngamat Ho (A Star Fell from Heaven), that the children will perform tomorrow. "My feeling is that we're never going to get people fluent in Woiwurrung again because there's no one to learn it from," says Gillam. "But what we're trying to do is reclaim as much of the language as we can." The Aboriginal Children's Choir, with Lou Bennett, performs in Federation Square tomorrow from midday to 1pm. For more information on the square's carols program, which runs until December 22, go to www.fedsquare.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 11 20:53:40 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:53:40 -0700 Subject: Tradition helps community thrive (fwd) Message-ID: Tradition helps community thrive MARIE WADDEN http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1165792212430&call_pageid=1024322086066&col=1024322199686 Map shows location of Old Crow, Yukon (Dec 11, 2006) The pride and joy of Canada's most remote and healthiest Aboriginal community is plain to see on its website. Oldcrow.ca shows photos of this year's high-school graduates -- four young men and two women -- outside the school. The young men wear their caps and gowns with flair; one has his arms crossed and his head cocked as though challenging the world to defeat him. One female has her arm around an elderly Gwichin man. Six high-school graduates from a community of 300 may not seem like a big accomplishment. But think of the challenges. Old Crow is in the Yukon and has no roads connecting it to anywhere else. It's 200 kilometres above the Arctic Circle and closer to the Alaskan border than to any place in Canada. If you think of Canada having four corners, Old Crow is the most northwestern corner. After university, many of these graduates will want to go home because, despite its remoteness, Old Crow is a good place to live. There hasn't been a suicide in Old Crow since 1996. That death might not even have been a suicide. "It was a person with a mental disorder," Chief Joe Linklater explains, "and we might have prevented it had we been able to act more quickly." This is remarkable considering the suicide rate in many other Aboriginal communities is many times higher than the Canadian average. One academic study always cited on the subject of Aboriginal suicide rate was conducted in B.C. by professors Chris Lalonde and Michael Chandler. The professors looked for the factors that made communities with low suicide rates different. They learned that the healthiest communities are the most self-governing. The less Ottawa, the less suicide. Old Crow has had self-government since 1995. That's also when Linklater was elected to lead the community at the age of 30. "We've learned more about governance in the past 11 years than all our years under the Indian Act," he says. "We've come a huge distance in a short while, especially when you consider the Territorial government is 70 years old, and the Canadian government is 140 years old. I'm proud of what we've accomplished." Linklater leads a very inclusive governing system. His small band council, just four elected members, administers the community's services. Policy is set by the Elders Council, a Tribal court and the General Assembly. You can get a surprising amount of business done this way. "We held a general assembly this weekend," Linklater says, "and 40 to 50 people attended. We passed 24 resolutions in three hours. There was no yelling or screaming. We got consensus and compromise." Self-government must also lower addiction rates. Old Crow is so comfortable with its social health, it is considering dropping a 15-year-old ban on the consumption and possession of alcohol. You wouldn't tamper with something that's not broken, so why consider abolishing a law that seems to be keeping everyone sober? "There's more alcohol here now than there was 15 years ago," says Linklater. Bootleggers have been able to get alcohol and drugs past the RCMP even in this remote place. Drinking and drug use are not big problems in the community, but Linklater is afraid if the bootleggers are not put out of business they may start smuggling worse things. Not everyone in town is comfortable with lifting the alcohol ban. When Linklater tried to strike a committee to make recommendations, he couldn't find anyone who was neutral. So an independent facilitator is to be hired to chair community meetings until a consensus is reached. Some feel Old Crow has enough going for it to make moderate drinking possible. They might be right. Old Crow hasn't suffered the same losses as most other Canadian Aboriginal communities. The habitat of the Porcupine River caribou herd, the community's main food source, has not been destroyed by a hydro electric project or a logging operation. Old Crow's isolation has been its saving grace. The people still have their land. On the town's website, the radiant pictures of the 2006 graduating ceremony provide insight into the source of the chief's confidence about its future. Saskatchewan sociologist Dr. Richard Thatcher says Aboriginal students who are grounded in their culture and raised to be comfortable outside of it have the best chance to avoid social problems. Bicultural youth have greater choices. Children in Old Crow learn from the B.C. curriculum, but there are lots of additions, like the Gwitchin language and traditions. "The school is an integral part of the community life and many of the local people work with the students. This is especially true of the elders who spend a lot of time teaching the pupils legends, how to trap, fish and hunt," the website explains. Chief Linklater wants to strengthen the students' grasp of math and the sciences with more instruction on the land. "We'll study biology while out trapping the animals," he says, "and physics by looking at the property of snow. Our environment is a living laboratory." The challenges his students face have been turned into opportunities. This year's graduates -- Wade Kaye, Amanda and Travis Frost, Malinda Bruce, Robert Linklater and Floyd McGinnis -- had to leave home after Grade 9 to attend high school in Whitehorse, 600 kilometres south. For three years, they lived away from their families, returning only in the summer. But their families never left them. Old Crow is one big extended family and Gwitchin families in Whitehorse support the students so they won't get too homesick. "Strength of culture would be one reason we're a healthy community," Linklater says. "The strength of the Gwitchin language is another. Third, our strong sense of community -- everybody looks out for one another. And finally, we all feel ownership of what's going on because we have self-government." Linklater believes his community is on the right course, where alcoholism and other addictions will not be an issue in another generation even if the prohibition is lifted. There is, however, another potential threat. The United States has been talking about developing oil and gas projects in the sensitive calving and wintering grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd. If these projects go ahead and the caribou herd is affected, the Gwitchin of Old Crow may suffer the kind of trauma that has harmed so many other Aboriginal people. Marie Wadden received an Atkinson Fellowship to research a project on a topical public policy issue. From gmccone at NAL.USDA.GOV Tue Dec 12 15:12:36 2006 From: gmccone at NAL.USDA.GOV (McCone, Gary) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 10:12:36 -0500 Subject: A Dead Indian Language Is Brought Back to Life Message-ID: This page was sent to you by: gmccone at nal.usda.gov A Dead Indian Language Is Brought Back to Life By David A. Fahrenthold MATTAPONI INDIAN RESERVATION, Va. -- "Muh-shay-wah-NUH-toe. Chess-kay-dah-KAY-wak." Gary K. McCone Associate Director, Information Systems National Agricultural Library 10301 Baltimore Avenue Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2351 (301) 504-5018 Fax. (301) 504-6968 "We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing." -- R. D. Laing -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 22:56:15 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:56:15 -0700 Subject: Language can be revived (fwd) Message-ID: Language can be revived expert Kerry Benjoe The Leader-Post Tuesday, December 12, 2006 http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/city_province/story.html?id=4571fcbe-177b-4402-ab20-303eabe8eb46 Brent Galloway says bringing a language back from the dead is not impossible. Galloway, a professor at the First Nations University of Canada, has been working at reviving aboriginal languages since the 1970s. His work in preserving languages has become even more important since the recent cut in federal funding for aboriginal languages. Galloway's interest in languages began while he was pursuing his doctorate at the University of California in Berkeley. He continued his work after leaving Berkeley and soon found himself in the Vancouver area, working with different aboriginal groups. He was successful in helping to re-establish the Helkomelem language for the Sto:lo Nation. Galloway is particularly proud of his contribution that helped bring the Nooksack language back from the dead. It was through salvaged field notes and field notes that he gave back that the once-dead language was revived. Galloway said his work in aboriginal languages caught the attention of the First Nations University of Canada -- then known as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College -- in the mid-1980s. He accepted a position there and became the department head. He is no longer the head of the department but is still working in the department and his interest in preserving aboriginal languages has not diminished. Galloway believes preserving any aboriginal language is possible and is important for people to pursue. He's spent decades working towards saving endangered dialects and says there are four essential steps: Preserving it, developing a means to teach it, teaching it, and ensuring there are places to use it. Galloway has plans to continue his work with preserving languages after he retires from teaching in a couple of years. He said developing dictionaries and grammar systems are essential components to saving and recording languages. Once a language has a good dictionary of about 3,000 words, people can work to reviving it. He said the biggest factor that contributed to the demise of aboriginal languages was the residential school system. Many parents in fear of having their children punished for speaking their traditional language opted to teach them only English. Galloway said parents thought it would also help ensure their children were more successful in life. "You could actually be raised as a bilingual speaker and be brighter and be as good as anyone else, better than most," said Galloway. He believes the cut of $160 million in federal funding for aboriginal languages announced last month will have a detrimental effect on language preservation in Canada. Galloway calls the recent cuts short-sighted and notes that the FNUC passed a resolution urging the government to restore the funding. "If (the government) is serious about saving the languages and keeping them alive, (it) has to put some serious funding behind it too," he said. Galloway said bands depend on that funding to pay for the necessary work. When a linguist is writing a description of a language they typically pay the language speaker for their time because the speaker can't afford to just drop everything. "To be really successful and wide-spread (they) do need the funding," he explained. © The Leader-Post (Regina) 2006 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 22:59:21 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:59:21 -0700 Subject: Linguistic diversity keeps dwindling (fwd) Message-ID: Linguistic diversity keeps dwindling Dorothy Illing December 13, 2006 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20917380-12332,00.html THE number of languages taught across Australian universities has plummeted to 26, with some of those spoken by our nearest neighbours at risk of disappearing. Thai, Vietnamese and Hindi are among the languages languishing in faculties that once enjoyed strong enrolments in these subjects. But it is the decline of some Middle Eastern languages that has caused most concern, with one leading academic warning of the implications for Australia's security and business interests. "We are not that well prepared in terms of having people who can learn a language for, say, security reasons - possibly terrorism - and business," said Anne Pauwels, dean of arts at the University of Western Australia. Professor Pauwels is leading an $800,000 languages study being carried out by the Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. Funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training, the study is expected to present solutions to the crisis and suggest new ways of delivering courses. A national stocktake has so far revealed that in the past five years the number of languages taught in universities has halved. Although many institutions have various languages listed on their books, they do not have anyone studying them. Those still taught widely are Japanese, Mandarin, French, Italian, Indonesian, German and Spanish. Enrolments have been surging in Italian, Spanish and Mandarin. Less common but still available are modern Greek, Korean, Latin (which is enjoying a resurgence), Russian, ancient Greek and Arabic. But at least 14 languages are now taught at only one or two universities. Among these are Vietnamese, Urdu, Croatian, Hebrew, Hindi, Turkish and Swedish. Professor Pauwels said at least three Australian indigenous languages, including Pitjantjatjara, are no longer taught. She said there were now far more languages available in schools than in universities, which meant students could not go on to study them at a higher level. Indonesian remains one of the more popular languages, but it too has been in decline. The head of the South-East Asia Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra, George Quinn, said the subject remained reasonably strong at ANU, where more than 100 students took Indonesian; but he acknowledged a national decline. He attributed this to several factors, including the Bali bombings, the Schapelle Corby affair and the secessionist movement. "That's all bound up with with an anti-Islamic sentiment in Australia," Dr Quinn said. Another factor was that since the bombings, students no longer went on field trips to Indonesia, so they missed out on direct contact with the culture. Despite the national trend, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it continues to receive a lot of job applications from people with at least basic language skills across a range of areas. "For example, among the 47 graduates due to start in February 2007, 40 have at least social-level language skills, across 19 languages," a spokesman said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:03:41 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:03:41 -0700 Subject: fyi: OpenOffice.org 2.1 Message-ID: fyi, The OpenOffice.org Community announce the release of OpenOffice.org 2.1, the latest version of the leading open-source office suite. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb490038.htm From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:10:36 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:10:36 -0700 Subject: Cherokee Nation Selling Baseball Caps In Cherokee Language (fwd) Message-ID: Cherokee Nation Selling Baseball Caps In Cherokee Language AP - 12/11/2006 5:29 PM - Updated 12/12/2006 2:15 PM http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=116188 TULSA, Okla. (AP) Call it a little bit of culture on the front of a baseball cap. In efforts to preserve and promote its language, the Cherokee Nation has created baseball caps depicting the logos of three Oklahoma universities written in Cherokee. Fans of the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University or Northeastern State University can purchase the hats for $14.99 each at several Cherokee gift shops across the state. And the caps, which hit stores last week, are already being snapped up by shoppers. By Monday, about half the 720 hats ordered had been sold, and at least one store reported it was out of the OU brand. About 70 cents of each dollar from the merchandise will go back to the nation for education, job creation, health and social programs, such as Cherokee language immersion classes offered in Tahlequah to 4-and 5-year-olds. "You're always teetering on the edge unless you keep this thing up, you're in danger of having your language die out," said Amanda Clinton, a spokeswoman for Cherokee Nation Enterprises, a unit of the Cherokee Nation that designed the ball caps. At Northeastern State, which shares its home base in Tahlequah with the Cherokee Nation, the caps take on a greater significance: the university is believed to offer the nation's only four-year Cherokee language degree program. "Each year, Northeastern State University confers more degrees to Native American students than any other publicly funded university in the United States," NSU president Larry Williams said in a statement. "NSU has students representing 29 tribes on our campuses, and we enjoy a unique historic connection to the Cherokee Nation that has helped to define this institutions rich culture and traditions." Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, said the caps are a way to show pride both in the Cherokee heritage and a favorite university. "One of our goals as a nation is to make use of our language on a day-to-day basis," Smith said. "These hats are a symbol of that idea, and their popularity is a sign of our progress towards that goal." Hats can be purchased at several Cherokee retail, casino and tobacco shops in Catoosa, Tahlequah, Fort Gibson, West Siloam Springs and Roland. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:13:29 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:13:29 -0700 Subject: High School Students Learning Passamaquoddy Language (fwd) Message-ID: High School Students Learning Passamaquoddy Language Web Editor: Aaron Roberts, Reporter Created: 12/12/2006 2:14:04 PM Updated: 12/12/2006 3:53:21 PM http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=47397 This is the first year the class is being taught at Shead High School in Eastport. Most of the students are Passamaquoddy, but some are not. Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute On Tuesday the students were using flashcards to learn the alphabet and work on vocabulary. Students are also learning conversation. The class focuses on the Passamaquoddy language, but also addresses the history and culture. Shead High School's principal recruited Margaret Apt, who is Passamaquoddy, to teach the class. Apt likes teaching to pass on her language and culture. The class meets four times a week. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:32:53 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:32:53 -0700 Subject: Sacred gift: Bois Forte Chippewa delight in return of scrolls (fwd) Message-ID: Sacred gift: Bois Forte Chippewa delight in return of scrolls By LARRY OAKES Star Tribune of Minneapolis The Associated Press - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 TOWER, Minn. http://www.wctrib.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8LUO9UO0 For those who believe in spiritual forces, the story of the sacred scrolls of the Bois Forte Chippewa offers a wonderful affirmation. For those who believe we walk alone, the story offers an amazing coincidence. In September, members of the northern Minnesota tribe gathered at Spirit Island on Nett Lake for a ceremony. There, according to witnesses, a drumkeeper named Shane Drift recounted his recent dream that forgotten stories and songs of the tribe would somehow "come back to us." About two weeks later, in early October, the phone rang at the new Bois Forte Heritage Center and Cultural Museum, next to Fortune Bay Casino. The caller was Raymond Cloutier, a physician in Bowling Green, Ky. Cloutier said that hanging in glass cases on the walls of his study were 42 birch bark scrolls inscribed with symbols and pictures. Cloutier said the scrolls had come with a letter saying that some of the scrolls were more than 200 years old, and all originated "at Nett Lake on the Bois Forte Reservation." The letter - a report from a historical society that had sought interpretation from Ojibwe medicine men - said the scrolls depicted ceremonial songs "concerning the most fundamental laws and needs of the (Ojibwe) people." Cloutier told the astounded museum curator, Bill Latady, that he had cherished the scrolls for decades, but he had come to believe they belonged with the tribe. Last week the band announced that the scrolls are back at Bois Forte, in a climate-controlled museum room, after untold decades away. A group of elders has confirmed that they are long-lost records of the Bois Forte lodge of the Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, a selective Ojibwe religious order that preserved its rites on birch bark and was driven underground for most of the 20th century, when Indian religions were outlawed by the U.S. government. "Spiritually, this is probably the most important thing that has ever happened (to the tribe)," said Rose Berens, the tribe's preservation officer. "I was awe-struck." The Bois Forte Reservation is largely in Koochiching County in far northern Minnesota. The band's elders decided the scrolls cannot be photographed, or even seen, by anyone who doesn't belong to the religious order, except for curator Latady. Berens says that even she has not seen them, and won't until she is initiated into the order next spring in a ceremony on the Red Lake reservation. Cloutier said his grandfather, Dr. Herbert Burns, acquired the scrolls when he was superintendent of Ah-Gwah-Ching tuberculosis sanatorium near Walker in the early 1900s. Bois Forte leaders speculate that poverty-stricken ancestors might have bartered them for treatment. Cloutier isn't so sure. He said Burns was a "Renaissance man" with many interests and collections, including a trove of Indian artifacts, most of which eventually went to a museum in Walker. Cloutier suspects his grandfather bought the scrolls and the authentication letter accompanying them, probably from another non-Indian. A few years after Burns died in 1949, the scrolls, packed in cardboard drums, went to Cloutier, then only about 12. The scrolls range from 9 by 3 inches to 6 by 2 feet, according to Latady. The drawings are on the brown side of the bark, some drawn with charcoal and others applied with red paint. Some images are carved, he said. Out of respect to the band's wishes, neither Latady nor Cloutier would describe the drawings, but experts who have studied similar scrolls say they most often contain "mnemonic," or memory-aiding symbols, to recall songs among a people with no written language. "The coming of the gods is portrayed bestowing creation of men and other creatures upon the land and in the waters of the earth," says the Bois Forte scrolls' accompanying report, written in the 1930s by the Becker County Historical Society. "The heralds of these gods, half land and half water spirits, serve the gods as ambassadors. ... Another song relates how the gods give the Indians the privilege of for the first time eating meat." Cloutier said that in the 1990s he became aware of a law requiring institutions that get federal funds to return sacred artifacts to Indian tribes. The law didn't apply to him, but he said a nagging idea grew in him: "The people the scrolls came from were not some dead Indians from a dead culture; they were still there, and they may have been suffering somewhat for having lost part of their culture. About the time I realized this, I stopped being an owner and became a guardian." He found the Bois Forte band's Web site, saw that a museum had opened in 2002, and decided to return the scrolls. His only stipulation was that the band retrieve them; he didn't want to risk shipping them. A few days after hearing from Cloutier, Berens, spiritual adviser Vernon Adams and Bois Forte elders Myra Thompson and Phyllis Boshey drove to Kentucky, dined with Cloutier and his wife, Joyce, and left with their precious cargo. "Once I got over the damage to my greed, it made perfect sense to return these things," Cloutier said. "Unfortunately, most of the time, these things were taken from their owners in ways that probably wouldn't make us proud today." Tribal Chairman Kevin Leecy wrote to Cloutier that his "thoughtfulness is deeply appreciated by everyone ... from the elders who listened to the songs and stories in their youth to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who will once again have that opportunity due to your generosity." Adams said he now wonders if the strange journey of the scrolls was fortunate. Similar scrolls were destroyed by missionaries and others during the century that the Midewiwin was outlawed. "To me, they took a path they were meant to take," Adams said. "They left, were preserved and now have come back. It's exciting to see. This is where our past meets the future." ___ Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com From jtucker at STARBAND.NET Wed Dec 13 16:50:13 2006 From: jtucker at STARBAND.NET (Jan Tucker) Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:50:13 -0500 Subject: Deadline for Digital Poster materials approaching . . . In-Reply-To: <007c01c7076e$b2e50920$993f14ac@LFPMIA> Message-ID: Mia, hello :) Jan -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]On Behalf Of Mia Kalish Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 4:57 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] Deadline for Digital Poster materials approaching . . . Hello, Everyone. I am writing to remind that the deadline for the submission of the digital poster materials for LSA in Anaheim in January is approaching as quickly as a Thanksgiving turkey. Some people have already submitted, and I am grateful to them. For everyone else, could you let me know where you are with this, whether I should expect your excellent, informative, and mind-changing materials to arrive in full control of their breathing, or skidding out of breath around the corner, doing that last minute thing for which some of us are so famous. J Ahee'hee Mia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Dec 14 01:07:22 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:07:22 -0700 Subject: Aboriginal language had ice age origins (fwd) Message-ID: Aboriginal language had ice age origins Judy Skatssoon ABC Science Online Wednesday, 13 December 2006 http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2006/1809514.htm?ancient [inset - A researcher has suggested that the origin of Aboriginal language can be traced back to a time when Australia and New Guinea were one (Image: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water)] Aboriginal languages may be much older than people think, argues a linguistic anthropologist who says they originated as far back as the end of the last ice age around 13,000 years ago. This challenges existing thinking, which suggests Aboriginal languages developed from a proto-language that spread through Australia 5000 to 6000 years ago. The key to the new hypothesis is prehistoric Australia's single land mass 13,000 to 28,000 years ago, when New Guinea and Tasmania were still attached, says Dr Mark Clendon in the journal Current Anthropology. Clendon says the continent, known as Sahul, was relatively densely populated on the land bridge connecting northern Australia to New Guinea, now separated by the Arafura Sea. The other populated area was along what is now Australia's eastern seaboard. The two population groups were separated by a vast, cold, windswept, arid stretch of land that covered most of the continent, says Clendon, who was with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education when he published the research. The eastern group spoke a tongue that became what is known today as Pama Nyugen and includes languages like Pitjantjatjara, Yolngu and Warlpiri. And the Arafuran group spoke another language used today in northern Australia today. "What I'm suggesting is that Pama Nyugen and non-Pama Nyugen languages go back about 13,000 years to when there was a land bridge between New Guinea and Australia," he says. Until now, the reason why these two Aboriginal language groups are so different, each with a distinct grammar and vocabulary, has been a mystery. Climate change Around 11,000 years ago what was the Arafura plain was flooded by rising seas as the ice age ended. This caused the northern people to migrate into either New Guinea or to northern parts of Australia. Meanwhile, increased rainfall and warmer temperatures made inland parts of the continent more habitable and sparked a westward migration of eastern dwellers. This introduced their language group to more central areas of Australia. Both groups maintained their distinct languages, Clendon says. His hypothesis provides an alternative picture to the traditional view that 6000 years ago a single proto-language spread from the Gulf of Carpentaria around Australia, eventually giving rise to existing Aboriginal languages. "We know about changes in climate and sea levels at the end of the Pleistocene era," Clendon says. "I'm suggesting the way languages are configured in Australia today are a result of those changes that happened at the end of the ice age." Provocative but unconvincing Writing in a reply to Clendon's article, Professor Nicholas Evans, an expert in Aboriginal languages from the University of Melbourne, describes Clendon's hypothesis as "fresh and provocative". However, he says there are flaws in the argument, including that there is only weak evidence of similarities between southern New Guinea and northern Aboriginal languages. Evans says he remains to be convinced about Clendon's proposal. "[But] it adds a welcome alternative to a field in which we are still a long way from having any clear picture of the unimaginably long human occupation of Sahul," he says. Related Stories Two groups may have populated Australia, News in Science 30 Nov 2006 Wollemi rock art shows Aboriginal Dreaming, News in Science 2 Dec 2005 Aboriginal astronomers see emu in sky, News in Science 16 Aug 2005 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Dec 14 23:58:10 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:58:10 -0700 Subject: Bush Signs `Esther Martinez' Bill (fwd) Message-ID: Bush Signs `Esther Martinez' Bill Written by Bruce Daniels - ABQnewsSeeker Thursday, 14 December 2006 http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1914&Itemid=2 Native Languages Preservation Act named for Tewa storyteller killed in Sept. A bill that will create more language restoration programs for Native American families and language immersion programs for Native American young people has been signed into law by President George W. Bush, members of New Mexico's congressional delegation announced in a joint news release. The Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Act -- named for the Ohkay Owingeh storyteller and linguist Esther Martinez, killed in a car crash in September as she returned from being honored in Washington, D.C. -- was introduced by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., as a way to assist the survival of native languages. The bill passed the House in September and was approved in the Senate earlier this month with the support of the entire New Mexico delegation, the release said. Only about 20 of more than 300 pre-colonial indigenous languages are expected to remain by the year 2050, the release said. As of 1996, some 175 of those languages remained but are being lost at an estimated rate of 12 languages every three years. Martinez had just received a National Heritage Fellowship award in Washington when she was killed in a car crash in Espanola on her way home to Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, according to earlier reports . She was 94 years old. A 44-year-old Nambe man, Jaime Martinez-Gonzalez, was the driver of the other vehicle and was arrested at St. Vincent Hospital where he was being treated for injuries he received in the crash and charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to earlier news reports . Espanola police found an empty bottle of tequila on the passenger-side floor of Martinez-Gonzalez's pickup truck and officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from both the driver and the inside of the truck. From hardman at UFL.EDU Fri Dec 15 18:46:07 2006 From: hardman at UFL.EDU (MJ Hardman) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:46:07 -0500 Subject: Mia's poster session In-Reply-To: <003c01c54dce$78a38030$68ba8945@CRIT01> Message-ID: > I would like to ask any of you that go to the LSA to give us feedback. As it > turned out, my young colleague¹s paper to SSILA on our project was rejected so > she will not be there. (I was quite [something] by the rejection since I was > the one who had encouraged her; I had wanted her to meet you-all and to see > what else was being done. Oh, well.) What we have done, I believe uniquely > (and would want to know if it is otherwise) is to provide, at the click of a > button, a full grammatical analysis of everything, including individual > morpheme identification, base form of the morpheme and morphological > conditioning rules, as well as concordance of all uses of the morpheme in the > database. Any feedback would be so very welcome by any of you who see our > movie at Mia¹s digital poster session. > > MJ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From akira at KU.EDU Fri Dec 15 21:45:47 2006 From: akira at KU.EDU (Akira Y. Yamamoto) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:45:47 -0600 Subject: Mia's poster session In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The way the proposal was presented may have been the reason for not included in the SSILA Sessions. You may want to post the abstract and get feedback on it from the friends here. AY At 1:46 PM -0500 12/15/06, MJ Hardman wrote: >I would like to ask any of you that go to the LSA to give us >feedback. As it turned out, my young colleague$B+c(Bs paper to SSILA on >our project was rejected so she will not be there. (I was quite >[something] by the rejection since I was the one who had encouraged >her; I had wanted her to meet you-all and to see what else was >being done. Oh, well.) What we have done, I believe uniquely (and >would want to know if it is otherwise) is to provide, at the click >of a button, a full grammatical analysis of everything, including >individual morpheme identification, base form of the morpheme and >morphological conditioning rules, as well as concordance of all uses >of the morpheme in the database. Any feedback would be so very >welcome by any of you who see our movie at Mia$B+c(Bs digital poster >session. > >MJ -- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 15 22:26:57 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:26:57 -0700 Subject: Protestors demand Kelowna Accord be honoured (fwd) Message-ID: Protestors demand Kelowna Accord be honoured author: Greg Horn http://www.easterndoor.com/news.php?id=466 “Liar!” protestors shouted, as Federal Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice tried to explain that it was not his Department’s responsibility for a $160 million cut in funding meant to preserve Native languages. The funding cut was announced by Canadian Heritage last month, and has since been replaced by $5 million a year for the next seven years. The $160 million was to be divided up for First Nations, Métis and Inuit language preservation initiatives. “Let’s just be clear,” Prentice said. “We didn’t cut that money. The money was earmarked [for language] years ago, and it was never used.” The minority Conservative government said that it would use the money to create more effective programs to keep about 50 struggling languages from dying. This national protest “To Save Our Legacy” was organized by the Chiefs of Ontario in response to this cut in language funding. The protest got underway at 11:30 a.m. on Parliament Hill, with several Native leaders speaking to some 400 Native protestors gathered at the foot of the Canadian Parliament. “This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of Aboriginal Canadians,” Prentice said to the group. One protestor shouted out a response: “Kelowna does that!” While Prentice was speaking, he was nearly drowned out by boos and catcalls. “It’s another black mark on this Party’s record that we have to go to these lengths,” Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Chief Mike Bush said in Ottawa. Last year’s $5-billion Kelowna Accord’s goal was to improve education, housing and economic conditions of First Nation’s People. The Kelowna Accord was negotiated and accepted by the various national Native organizations with the previous federal Liberal government, as well as with all the provincial and territorial governments across Canada. However, earlier this year, the Harper government scrapped it. There were also protestors who were upset over the Canadian Government’s refusal to back the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Harper government said it did not support it over concerns that it would be contrary to Canada’s Constitution, defense laws and existing land deals with Native Peoples. National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine said the Conservative government has broken promises to Canada’s Aboriginal People, and has made very little progress in other areas. In fact, Fontaine said the Conservative government’s budget commits just $450 million in new spending for 630 First Nations communities across the country. “Our people are frustrated and angry,” Fontaine said. “And they have a right to be. We feel betrayed and we simply can’t be silent about this betrayal.” “It was a good feeling to see how the protestors listened attentively and cheered their chiefs and representatives from across the country,” MCK Chief Keith Myiow said of the protest. New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton spoke to the protestors following Prentice. Layton criticized the Tories for backing down from the Kelowna Accord and for not doing enough to improve the quality of life of Canada’s Native people. Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitiohkwa Executive Director Donna Goodleaf said that this cut in funding prevents further expansion of KOR’s facilities, and of the services it offers to Kahnawake. “It keeps us down to operating on a shoestring budget,” Goodleaf said. KOR offers various language and cultural initiatives to Kahnawake, including the Kanien’kéha Ratiwennahní:rats adult immersion program and Kanien’kéha programming for our local television station, including the popular Tó:ta tánon Ohkwá:ri children’s television show. gregh at easterndoor.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 15 22:39:54 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:39:54 -0700 Subject: Native Venezuelans for Language Law (fwd) Message-ID: Native Venezuelans for Language Law http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BB40295C4-D549-4395-BE3F-42B6122B8100%7D)&language=EN Caracas, Dec 15 (Prensa Latina) The Venezuelan National Assembly's Indigenous Peoples Committee will present a draft Indigenous Languages Law intended to preserve the 34 native languages existing in the country. Noeli Pocaterra, committee chair, said that indigenous deputies are also preparing an Organic Election bill for the election of indigenous representatives. Thirty-four indigenous languages are spoken in the nation and we are to issue a legislation to preserve them, as was not done in the past, Pocaterra explained. She stressed that it is important for the indigenous population to learn Spanish and other languages without forgetting their own. About the election bill, the deputy said this complex legislation is related to the National Electoral Council as, among the benefits to the indigenous population by the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution, is their required representation in the National Assembly. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:18:52 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:18:52 -0700 Subject: Canada's cut in language preservation funding protested (fwd) Message-ID: Canada's cut in language preservation funding protested Posted: December 18, 2006 by: Shannon Burns / Today correspondent http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414200 OTTAWA - Hundreds of Natives from across Canada and northern New York marched on Parliament Hill Dec. 5, demanding that the new government reinstate funding that had been earmarked for language preservation in Native communities. The Canadian Heritage announced in November that it would not be providing $172 million that Native communities were expecting. Instead, $5 million a year for seven years would be allocated for language purposes. ''Our people are frustrated and angry,'' said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine. ''And they have a right to be. We feel betrayed and we simply can't be silent about this betrayal.'' Protesters, which included busloads of children, met at a hotel in downtown Ottawa, Canada's capital city, and marched together to Parliament Hill. Carrying aboriginal flags and signs critical of the government cuts, the group of roughly 400 made their case known. ''This rally is to underscore that First Nations people are here to stay, and that we will not remain out sight and out of mind,'' said AFN Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse. ''We want what all people want for our children - good health, safety, education and equal opportunity. We will not accept less.'' The rally, called the ''National Protest to Save Our Legacy,'' was organized by the AFN and Chiefs of Ontario. In 2002, the Canadian government announced that it was allocating $172.5 million to be distributed to Native communities over an 11 year period for ''protection, preservation and maintenance of Aboriginal languages.'' Native authorities were notified in October of this year that government officials had dropped that to $35 million. During the rally, speakers on both sides of the issue addressed the crowd. Using a bullhorn, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice attempted to tell the crowd that his department was not responsible for the cuts, but few could hear him over the loud jeers and boos. ''This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of aboriginal Canadians,'' Prentice said. Sault MP Tony Martin braved below-freezing temperatures to lend his support to the cause and defend the importance of language preservation. ''When language and culture are in the community, people can become healthy, in mind, body and spirit and the social problems will be properly addressed,'' Martin said. ''First Nations people in my community remind me of the importance of the language funding. This keeps their language alive, for the children in their communities, schools, and Native governments.'' Across North America, Native communities are struggling to retain their languages; and over the past decade, extreme measures have been taken to preserve a community's dying language. In Akwesasne, the Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education implemented an immersion program for elementary-aged students. Recent footage of students participating in the program has shown that school immersion can be successful. ''The program has taken on more of a holistic setting and is culturally based,'' said Kanienkeha (Mohawk language) specialist Kaweienonni Peters. ''Because we as Rotinonshon:ni [Iroquois] have a strong oral history, the program is designed to focus more on creating functional fluency among the students and less time on reading and writing of the language.'' Students in the immersion program rely on resources that are not always readily available. Over the past several years Peters has been developing various books, compact discs and DVDs in Mohawk so students in the immersion program have reinforcement of what they're learning. Funding for developing those resources comes from the Canadian government and the immersion program will be directly affected by language funding cuts. If the funding isn't there, Peters will have to find other sources to help keep the immersion program successful. Peters and students in the Mohawk immersion program participated in the rally. The students, who were approximately 10 and under, carried signs that read ''Respect Us.'' Canadian authorities have indicated that they hope to develop effective programs to help 50 languages at risk of extinction. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:24:10 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:24:10 -0700 Subject: A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo (fwd) Message-ID: A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo In a linguistics laboratory, Marsheena John of the Coyote-Pass Clan studies the science of language. Using books as microscopes and her culture as a lab coat, John delves into the language passed onto her by her grandfather. The language: Navajo. The laboratory: the University of New Mexico’s Department of Linguistics. [Photo: Marsheena John] Members of the Navajo Language Program Committee recently voted to give John the Robert Young Scholarship, which supports students who are engaged in the study of Native American linguistics. Fostering the Navajo language and furthering education are values, John said, imbued to her by her grandfather. “Growing up in the midst of bilingual educators I always thought I was going to be a bilingual teacher but I had my own interests, which were in the health science field,” John said. “Becoming a speech and language pathologist could enable me to make use of both my language and my interest in health sciences.” Recently adapted into a minor, UNM’s 36-year-old Navajo Language Program offers opportunities to students from small communities within the Navajo Nation, such as John’s hometown Tsaile, Ariz. The program accommodates students aspiring to obtain one of the many degrees offered at UNM according to Nancy Montoya, Department Administrator, Department of Linguistics. It also allows students from two-year institutions, such as Dine College and San Juan College, to continue onto a four-year degree at UNM, she said. “While enrollment by members of Native American groups is on the rise, it is still quite low,” Montoya said. “Many of these students have access, at best, only to junior college-level institutions in their areas. Hopefully, programs like this will help attract more of these students who would like to further their educations.” In August, John and several other Navajo students spoke to the Indian Affairs Committee of the State Legislature about the importance of the Navajo Language Program and its future expansion. This coincided with the Department of Linguistics’ proposal to the State Legislature seeking support to expand the program. The proposal is one of the top 2007 State Legislative Priorities. “This will serve the Navajo community and ensure that Navajo remains a vital language, actively learned by members of that community,” Montoya said. The scholarship achieved by John was in honor of past UNM Professor Dr. Robert W. Young, a key figure in the support and promotion of sustaining the Navajo language, Montoya said. He is the co-author of a dictionary of the Navajo language – a thick, blue book that John remembers flipping through during her youth. Posted by scarr at December 18, 2006 04:55 PM From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:25:16 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:25:16 -0700 Subject: A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20061218172410.4848g4okggw48gck@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: here is the url: http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/001618.html Quoting phil cash cash : > A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:29:07 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:29:07 -0700 Subject: Program aims to keep dying dialects alive (fwd) Message-ID: Program aims to keep dying dialects alive Patrick Springer The Forum - 12/18/2006 http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/149889 People gather every other Tuesday for soup and a bit of conversational Dakota language instruction inside the gym of the tribal college in Fort Totten, N.D. The idea is to create an informal educational setting for members of the Spirit Lake Reservation who aren’t fluent in their native language. “To do it in a non-classroom, non-threatening setting, just to get people talking,” says Cynthia Lindquist, president of Candeska Cikana – or “Little Hoop” – Tribal College. Spirit Lake, on the southern shore of Devils Lake, has perhaps 120 fluent native speakers – most of them elderly – on a reservation with a population of 4,435. “We’re losing these native speakers,” Lindquist says. So are many other tribes. No known fluent speakers of Arikara remain, for example, and just one fluent Mandan speaker is known to survive on North Dakota’s Fort Berthold Reservation. Lindquist was encouraged when she learned of legislation that recently passed Congress to establish several tribal “language nests” for young children, as well as language restoration programs and native language instruction materials. The legislation was pushed by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., ranking Democrat on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “It is part of retaining the Indian culture,” he said. Native language programs on some reservations have demonstrated benefits beyond preservation of endangered languages, with improvements similar to those for students taking foreign language or music instruction. “The fact is the kids who are participating in these programs also have better academic performance,” Dorgan said. Under the legislation, funding will be available for multiyear grants to three tribes, schools or other organizations to establish language survival programs, he said. That will present tribes in North Dakota and elsewhere with an opportunity to apply for funds to help safeguard their languages. “It’s an attempt to preserve an important part of the culture,” Dorgan said. “A good number of these languages are lost to history.” Linguists say more than 300 native languages were once spoken in North America. That number has dwindled to about 175, and one estimate predicts the number of viable native languages could drop to 20 by 2050. The Dakota language is spoken by 20,355 in the United States and Canada, according to figures compiled by Ethnologue, a language database. An estimated 6,000 Lakota speakers, a very similar dialect, also remain, making them among the most viable native languages. But the threat is increasingly critical for languages spoken fluently only by dying elders, Lindquist said. When she grew up, her grandparents spoke Dakota, but her parents, who attended boarding schools that forbade native languages, did not. “It would be very, very helpful,” she said of the language preservation measure passed by Congress. “We need a lot more help.” A renaissance of traditional cultures has been spreading through many tribes in recent years, which has helped American Indians reconnect with their heritage, she said. That, in turn, helped boost self-esteem and combat alcohol and drug abuse, among other problems. “The healing is coming through the culture,” Lindquist said. “Language and culture are entwined. Certain words and concepts, for example, don’t translate into English.” “It’s critical,” she said of the language preservation funding. “It’s about time.” Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:32:17 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:32:17 -0700 Subject: Kiowa Children’s Books Boxed for Christmas Delivery (fwd) Message-ID: Kiowa Children’s Books Boxed for Christmas Delivery CHICKASHA OK 12/17/2006 http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8462 Native author Alecia Gonzales of Anadarko is publishing a new box set of five Kiowa children’s books. Beginning Dec. 20, the box set will be available in the USAO Bookstore. The set includes Gonzales’ newest books, “Grandma Spider’s Song” and “The Prairie Dog Song.” Bookstore staff will handle shipping, too. Gonzales was named to the USAO Alumni Hall of Fame in 2005. – Five colorful Native storybooks are scheduled for special delivery in the form of a new box set – just in time for the holidays. On Dec. 20, “Winter Night Stories and Songs” will go on sale in the University of Science and Arts Bookstore. Five years after the release of her first Kiowa language textbook, author Alecia “Sahmah” Gonzales is compiling her five Kiowa storybooks into one complete box set targeted for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Grounded in her own Native roots, the stories are both educational and entertaining. “The stories and songs were told and sung to the children by the grandparents nightly,” Gonzales said. “The babies were held by the grandparents while the other children sat or laid around the grandparents. These are models, values, moral conduct and traditions learned and enjoyed for the future.” Gonzales, of Anadarko, said the preservation of language, culture and morals are the key components being taught through her storybooks. However, the underlying message of the books is clear. “These storybooks are designed to build the bonds of love and trust between mother and child as they interact together,” Gonzales said. Each storybook contains colorful, original drawings by Native artist Shaun Dae Chaddlesone. The box set includes the children’s books “Little Red Buffalo Song,” “A Mother Bird’s Song” and “Song for Grandma.” Gonzales’ newest books, “Grandma Spider’s Song” and “The Prairie Dog Song,” both released in 2006, also accompany the set. “All Kiowa mothers and grandmothers used to sing ‘Grandma’s Spider Song’ to newborns,” Gonzales said. “The rhythm of the song is like a heartbeat, so it calms them down; they usually go to sleep. It’s a song we sing to comfort the baby and let it know it’s in safety.” Gonzales teaches Kiowa language classes at USAO, where she approaches the Kiowa language from a “bicultural” viewpoint using two distinctly different languages: Kiowa and English. She also teaches at Anadarko High School. A woman of Kiowa and Apache descent, Gonzales was born in Fort Cobb. At birth, she was given her Kiowa name “Sahmah,” which means, “the lady from the North.” Readers see the bilingual stories in both Kiowa and English, shown parallel to one another on the page. For non-Native speakers, a special CD-ROM is included that features the author reading the story in both languages. Printed by USAO Printing Services, the box set will be available starting Dec. 20 for $125 at the USAO Bookstore on the corner of 17th Street and Alabama in Chickasha. The Bookstore will handle shipping, too. The five storybooks have been redesigned with special UV-transparent paper introduction pages and a Native parfleche painting on the gift box. Each limited edition box set is individually autographed by the author and numbered 1-250. Since her successful release of her first book, “Thaum Khoiye Tdoen Gyah – Beginning Kiowa Language,” in 2001, Gonzales has been honored nationally for her extensive knowledge of her Kiowa heritage. Her first book was praised as America’s first textbook for preserving and sharing the Kiowa language. Known for her lifelong devotion to teaching and preserving the Kiowa language, Gonzales was named to the USAO Alumni Hall of Fame in 2005. After the death of her parents and other elders, Gonzales said she realized the language would die without a systematic, written method of teaching it. “I was nurtured by my grandparents into education,” Gonazales said. “They believed deeply in the value of education, especially the tribal form of education. This was the seed from which we’ve grown today’s high-tech preservation of language. Today we publish a CD that helps people learn to hear and speak the language.” More information about purchasing the box set is available from the USAO Bookstore at (405) 574-1304. From jieikobu at HOTMAIL.COM Tue Dec 19 00:49:11 2006 From: jieikobu at HOTMAIL.COM (Derksen Jacob) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:49:11 +0000 Subject: Canada's cut in language preservation funding protested (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20061218171852.g4wko0sskcwsooog@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 27 21:24:27 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:24:27 -0700 Subject: Language empowerment key to aboriginal education (fwd) Message-ID: Language empowerment key to aboriginal education [photo inset - Andrew Leong/file. Jean Crowder makes her victory speech in January.] By Jean Crowder Dec 27 2006 http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=9&cat=23&id=800982&more= In schools: Put Aboriginal children in touch with their culture The year kicked off with Jean Crowder winning this riding in the federal election in convincing fashion. Year-end found her immersed in a federal issue that has a big impact here — aboriginal education. Language is critical. Without it, a culture cannot survive. Yet, in 1996, UNESCO indicated “Canada’s aboriginal languages are among the most endangered in the world.” It was the Assembly of First Nations that identified First Nation languages and cultures a priority in 1972, with its position paper called “Indian Control of Indian Education.” The paper stated: “Unless a child learns about the forces which shape him: the history of his people, their values and customs, their language, he will never really know himself or his potential as a human being.” For more than 30 years, the Assembly of First Nations has firmly maintained First Nation people must be in control of the revitalization and preservation of First Nation languages and cultures. Education is a critical factor in that revitalization. However, research shows First Nations’ education in British Columbia has lagged behind. Recent graduation rates for students living on reserve were 36 per cent lower than the overall provincial rates for non-aboriginal students. The 2004 Auditor General’s report on elementary and secondary education stated this gap was so serious, at the current rate of initiatives underway, it would take 28 years to close it. This is unacceptable. Elders, First Nations’ chiefs and councillors, community members, students and teachers have come together to talk about this issue and put initiatives in place. Of critical importance has been an ability to assert control, over not only the schools but also the curriculum and delivery methodologies that First Nations know will work in increasing their success rates. It is for this reason recent parliamentary activities are of such significance for First Nations. Earlier this year, an education agreement was signed between Canada, the province of British Columbia and the First Nations Education Steering Committee in B.C. The agreement enables First Nations in British Columbia to assume meaningful control over education on reserve at both the elementary and the secondary school levels. On Dec. 5, all parties in the House of Commons came together to fast-track and unanimously pass Bill C-34, an act to provide for jurisdiction over education on First Nation lands in British Columbia. Bill C-34 is the legislation that will provide the framework for a modern legislated school system driven by First Nations in B.C. It will build on the successes that we’re seeing in the community. Local examples of successful cultural initiatives include the Quw’utsun Syuw’entst Lelum Culture and Education Centre, Cowichan Tribes’ dictionary project, Quw’utsun Smuneem elementary school, and Cowichan Valley Aboriginal Education Improvement Agreement. Each of these initiatives acknowledges and honours Hul’qumi’num as the principal aboriginal language of this territory and promotes its inclusion in the development of programs and curriculum. These are examples of made-in-B.C. solutions. These agreements work for First Nations peoples across British Columbia because they were achieved through an extensive consultation process driven by First Nations communities. While noteworthy, there is so much more to do. My goal is to support positive change that is both meaningful and timely. This past year, I ensured that First Nations representatives from B.C. appeared at the parliamentary Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs to discuss the B.C. Treaty process for the first time. I put forward a motion urging the government to support the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights, contributed to a committee review of post-secondary education, and supported the historic Snuneymuxw Protocol. For decades, aboriginal peoples in Canada have been asserting their rights. As we enter into 2007, it is time for Canada’s government to translate talk into action. Jean Crowder is the Nanaimo-Cowichan MP and NDP Aboriginal Affairs critic. © Copyright 2006 Duncan News Leader and Pictorial From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 27 21:30:47 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:30:47 -0700 Subject: Vanishing vernacular (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Mon, Dec. 25, 2006 THE SPOKEN WORD | For one tribe, its native tongue is virtually foreign Vanishing vernacular In Siberia and elsewhere, thousands of languages are headed for extinction. By Alex Rodriguez Chicago Tribune FEDOR BARANOV | MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/16314284.htm [photo inset - In Bekovo, Russia, Marina Kushakova teaches children the Teleut language. She must rely on a Teleut picture dictionary and lesson materials in Shor, a similar language.] BEKOVO, Russia | The dying flickers of the Teleut language can be found here in southern Siberia, where the coal industry blackens the sky of what once was a thriving nomadic nation. In most Teleut households in this hamlet, only Russian is spoken. Teleut is kept alive by Bekovo’s older generation and Marina Kushakova, who weekly teaches a handful of 9-year-old Teleuts the rudiments of the language. Linguists have logged about 6,900 languages around the world, and they expect half to disappear in 50 to 100 years. When they vanish, whole cultures and vast storehouses of knowledge will be gone. “Language is the embodiment of human knowledge,” said Russian linguist Andrei Filchenko, who devotes much of his work to recording and preserving Siberia’s disappearing languages. “It’s the result of centuries of survival, and it’s our window into the way people understand the world around them.” The Teleut, a tribe that once spanned from the steppes of southern Siberia into northern Mongolia, speak one of those languages on the brink of extinction. Only 2,900 Teleut are left in Russia; only one in 10 speaks the language fluently. Once the Teleut language disappears, said Maria Kochubeyeva, president of the Association of Teleut People, “the nation disappears.” In parts of the world, linguists are battling to revive endangered languages. The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project researches scores of dying languages and creates dictionaries and textbooks for many of them. Roughly 1.6 million people make up what is left of Siberia’s 30 aboriginal tribes. For centuries, the tribes hunted, fished and raised reindeer relatively undisturbed. In the 16th century, Cossack explorers paved the way for Russian settlement, and by the 17th and 18th centuries, legions of Russian peasants escaping serfdom were streaming into the region. The biggest threat to the aboriginal groups, however, came with the advent of the Soviet era. The Soviet Union’s unspoken policy of forced assimilation wore away what once was a rich mosaic of indigenous peoples. The territorial lands of Siberia’s indigenous nations were wrested away by Soviet authorities. Families were herded into collective farms, where their languages and heritage began giving way to the sweep of Russification. In the 1960s, the decline of many tribes accelerated as the state laid claim to reindeer pastures and hunting grounds that held vast stores of oil, natural gas and minerals. In south Siberia, coal mining drove Teleut and Shor populations off their native lands. © 2006 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 27 21:35:38 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:35:38 -0700 Subject: Muted voices, compelling cry (fwd) Message-ID: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0612130307dec13,1,5530242.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-utl Muted voices, compelling cry Some still resist, but Siberia's disappearing languages underscore a chilling cultural shift December 13, 2006 BEKOVO, Russia -- The dying flickers of the Teleut language can be found here in southern Siberia, where the coal industry blackens the sky and hems in what once was a thriving nomadic nation enlivened by shamans and holy mountains. In most Teleut households in this hamlet of tumbledown cabins and garden plots, only Russian is spoken. Teleut is kept alive solely by Bekovo's older generation and by 3rd-grade teacher Marina Kushakova, who once a week teaches a handful of 9-year-old Teleuts the rudiments of a language as foreign to her pupils as French. "The word for mother?" Kushakova, speaking in Russian, asks her class. "Ene," replies Katya Yakuchayeva, tugging at her ponytail. "And the word for grandfather on your father's side?" "Abash!" barks out Maxim Shabin from the front row. Linguists have logged about 6,900 languages around the world, and they expect half of them to disappear in the next 50 to 100 years. When they vanish, whole cultures and vast storehouses of knowledge will be gone. "Language is the embodiment of human knowledge," says Russian linguist Andrei Filchenko, who devotes much of his work to recording and preserving Siberia's disappearing languages. "It's the result of centuries of survival, and it's our window into the way people understand the world around them," Filchenko says. Ultimately, mankind's diversity is reflected in the world's vast array of languages, Filchenko says. That diversity, he adds, "is vanishing with amazing speed." Teleut a centuries-old tribe The Teleut, a centuries-old tribe whose domain once spanned from the steppes of southern Siberia into northern Mongolia, speak one of those languages on the brink of extinction. Only 2,900 Teleut are left in Russia, and only 1 in 10 speaks the language fluently. Once the Teleut language disappears, says Maria Kochubeyeva, president of the Association of Teleut People, "the nation disappears." In parts of the world, linguists are waging battles to revive endangered languages. The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project researches scores of dying languages and creates dictionaries and textbooks for many of them, including the languages of the Uspanteko and Sakapulteko people in Guatemala, the Shangaji of Mozambique, the Moluccan people of Indonesia, and Russia's Archi nation in the North Caucasus and the Chulym of western Siberia. Roughly 1.6 million people make up what's left of the 30 aboriginal tribes of Siberia. For centuries the tribes hunted, fished and raised reindeer relatively undisturbed. In the 16th Century, Cossack explorers paved the way for Russian settlement of Siberia, and by the 17th and 18th Centuries legions of Russian peasants escaping serfdom were streaming into the region. The biggest threat to the region's aboriginal groups, however, came with the advent of the Soviet era, when collectivization and industrialization took hold. Soviets forced assimilation The Soviet Union's unspoken policy of forced assimilation wore away what once was a rich mosaic of indigenous peoples--the Chulym, the Evenk and Tofalar of the Central Siberian Plateau, the Shor and Teleut nestled in the steppe north of Siberia's snowcapped Altai range. After eons of existing as nomads and hunters, Siberia's indigenous nations had their territorial lands wrested from them by Soviet authorities. Families were herded into collective farms, where their languages and heritage began giving way to the sweep of Russification. Soviet authorities had little patience for the melange of tribes that stretched across the Siberian taiga. Kochubeyeva, 45, recalls how teachers hit her on the head with their pointers when they caught her speaking Teleut. "They did everything they could to make us forget the language," she says. In the 1960s, the decline of many tribes accelerated as the state laid claim to reindeer pastures and hunting grounds that held vast stores of oil, natural gas and minerals. In south Siberia, coal mining drove Teleut and Shor populations off their native lands. "They lost their pastures, which meant they could no longer raise cattle and horses," says Dmitry Funk, a Siberian affairs expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology Institute. "That dealt a major blow to their way of life," Funk says. One of the most telling indicators of the decline of Siberia's aboriginal nations has been the gradual disappearance of each nation's native tongue. Less than 10 percent of Siberia's Shor people speak their language fluently, according to a Web site run by Funk's institute that catalogs endangered Siberian languages. The language of the Chulym in south Siberia's Tomsk province has all but ebbed away. Only 426 Chulym are left, and only 35 of them speak the language fluently. Filchenko has made two trips to the taiga along the Ob River to record the language of the Khanty, a Siberian tribe with Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian roots. Of the estimated 28,000 Khanty who live in Russia, only about 20 of them speak the language proficiently, says Filchenko, who teaches at Tomsk State Pedagogical University in western Siberia. To get to one of them in 1999, Filchenko trekked 30 miles on foot across a swamp, then spent two weeks with the elderly Khanty speaker, catching and smoking fish while listening to his stories about hunting moose and the Khanty's revered prey, bear. "In Khanty, its taboo to use the word `bear,'" Filchenko says. "They either use their word for `animal' to refer to a bear, or the word `kaky,' the Khanty term for brother." In Bekovo, a village of 1,700 people, almost all of the Teleut with a firm grasp of their language are the village's older men and women. Their lexicon is rich with references to Teleut spiritualism: kam, the village shaman; emegendyr, the doll-shaped idols families prop up in their homes as icons to Teleut spirits; somdor, a young birch tree placed along a fence and festooned with ribbons that signify a Teleut's wish for health or prosperity. Almost monthly, Kochubeyeva visits the village's Aiktu, or holy mountain, that towers over the region's cluster of coal pits. She's baptized as a Russian Orthodox, but she clings to her tribe's ancient rites, like tossing bread, meat and milk into a birch fire at the foot of Aiktu. "I feel like I have to go there to talk to the spirits," Kochubeyeva says. "I always ask them to make our people friendly, to keep us together, to revive our culture." Other Bekovo villagers appear just as determined to keep Teleut heritage from disappearing. Vladimir Chelukhoyev runs the village's Teleut museum, an austere but spirited tribute to the tribe's culture that includes a cluster of nomadic tents called yurts, models of Teleut shamans and muraled walls colorfully depicting moments in Teleut history. The village's attempt to keep Teleut song alive is embodied in Solony, a troupe of seven women, four of them Bekovo grandmothers. Dressed in flowing satin gowns and accompanied by a jew's-harp and the tapshur (the Teleut version of a lute), they fill the room with layered, sirenlike harmonies and step dancing. Ultimately, however, the language's only hope for survival may rest with the lessons Kushakova gives the village's next generation of Teleuts. The odds are against her; Teleut textbooks don't exist, so she has to rely on a Teleut picture dictionary co-authored by Kochubeyeva and lesson materials in Shor, which like Teleut is a Turkic language and is similar enough to suffice. Kochubeyeva admits it's an against-all-odds battle to revive the language. Still, it's a fight she feels compelled to wage. "I personally don't think the language can be revived, but I'd like to preserve what we've got," she says. "I believe language is the treasury of the soul. You can speak about what you feel inside only in your native language." ---------- ajrodriguez at tribune.com Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune From lanz at RICE.EDU Fri Dec 29 16:08:49 2006 From: lanz at RICE.EDU (Linda Lanz) Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:08:49 -0600 Subject: Tribal leaders in training learn dances, languages Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hardman at UFL.EDU Sat Dec 30 15:10:02 2006 From: hardman at UFL.EDU (MJ Hardman) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:10:02 -0500 Subject: Jaqaru, endangered language Message-ID: I am attaching a document that I wrote on the occasion of the graduation of the first official course for Jaqaru, spoken in Tupe, Yauyos, Lima, Perú, a member of the Jaqi family of languages which also includes Kawki and Aymara. I've also copied the text below, JIC. Dr. MJ Hardman website: http://grove.ufl.edu/~hardman/ -- First Jaqaru Language Course December 18, 2006 is now an historical date for Tupe. On that day the graduation for the first Jaqaru Language Course was held. This course is the beginning of sustainable work that opens the door of hope for the survival of Jaqaru. Eleven people from Tupe, mostly teachers, and twelve others, also mostly teachers, received their certificates. Yolanda Nieves Payano Iturrizaga, linguist and native speaker of Jaqaru, taught the class, as a teacher in the ISP Pedagógica de Catahuasi (Normal School). The Director of the Normal School Mag. Manuel Gil Hernández was present for the ceremony; Prof. Abelardo Ventocilla called by telephone in representation of the support of the Gobierno Regional de Lima Provincias. And Dr. MJ Hardman and Dr. Dimas Bautista Iturrizaga called at the end of the ceremony and congratulated all of the participants by telephone through a loudspeaker connected to the telephone and installed in a tree, so that all could hear. It's hard to overestimate the importance of this event. Jaqaru is in very serious danger of extinction. For the first time in a very long time there is some hope of its continued existence. For decades Dr. Hardman and Dr. Bautista have sought the necessary means for the recognition of the language; just now, on December 18, their hopes became reality. With this act Dr. Hardman passes the torch to a linguist from Tupe as a realization of one of her dreams; in this way the work already done can serve the future together with works yet to be done by the young people now preparing themselves. A little history: Beginning in the forties Dr. Bautista began searching for help to read and write his language, but without success. In the fifties he met Dr. Hardman and achieved his goal: once the phonological analysis was complete with the phonemes clearly identified, Dr. Bautista himself formulated the alphabetic representation of his language, and from that date it has been written and read. The basic description of the grammar was completed and in the sixties published in Holland. Fifteen years later it was finally published in Peru by IEP (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos). In the sixties we began the odyssey seeking bilingual education for Tupe. There were promises and pronouncements, but no official backing was ever forthcoming. Dr. Hardman taught informal courses for many years for the people in Tupe. And one Tupe professor, Lisandro Sanabria Casas, did successfully obtain backing one year for Dr. Hardman to teach the students of the 3rd and 4th grades to read and write Jaqaru. Meanwhile, We sponsored a scholarship for Prof. Nieves Payano Iturrizaga to study linguistics in Bolivia to become a linguist with specialization in Jaqaru. At that time linguistics was well developed because of the INEL (National Institute of Linguistic Studies), founded by Dr. Hardman and Dr. Elena Fortún. On finishing her studies, for more than a decade Prof. Nieves sought a position in Peru where she could work for the benefit of Jaqaru, but without success, even thought we tried through every possible governmental office and level. Now, because Prof. Elena Huaytalla Rosales, teacher at the Instituto Pedagógica de Catahuasi, took an interest in the formation of teachers for Tupe, and understood the necessary role of Jaqaru for that purpose, things have changed. She took the initiative to take the problem to the Gobierno Regional, and thus, with the sponsorship of the then Director Regional of Education Wilfredo Cornejo Ybargüen, brought about the course I taught in July of 2006. The current course has come about with the continuing support of the Regional Government under the leadership of the current Regional Director de Education, Yulimo Fulgencio Milla Salas. The position for Prof. Nieves became a reality in October of 2006. It did actually happen! We are old and at times it has seemed impossible that we would live to see it, and meanwhile, with the terrorism that devastated Tupe and the influences of the recently completed road, we saw each year fewer of the young with fluency in their native Jaqaru. And often they knew little or nothing of the language and at times refused to use even the little they knew. And now is a time of celebration. The teachers have again taken hold of their language. There was a message from Prof. Nieves just before the graduation saying that the teachers wanted to use Marka, the name they use for where they live when they talk in Jaqaru, instead of Tupe ­ a name obviously Spanishized from Txupi, and considered to be the Spanish translation of Marka. It is hard to exaggerate the happiness we feel. The class is already a step toward sustainability. We couldn't be there in person, but the teachers managed to connect a loud speaker to the telephone and they hung it on a tree so that we could congratulate everyone at the end of the ceremony. And it was appropriate that we be there thus, as support, because the work now passes from us to the young people, who now have what is needed to continue with the work, building on our work of the last half century, so that Jaqaru may live. ¡Jaqars jakp"a! Dr. MJ Hardman http://grove.ufl.edu/~hardman/ Dr. Dimas Bautista Iturrizaga -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: First Jaqaru Language Course.doc Type: application/msword Size: 36352 bytes Desc: not available URL: From rzs at TDS.NET Fri Dec 1 03:07:51 2006 From: rzs at TDS.NET (Richard Smith) Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:07:51 -0800 Subject: Study: Native language may affect rhythm In-Reply-To: <20061130163735.ayzjhckoogc4sw04@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: This one is hilarious! sounds so much like a government funded project > In future work, the scientists believe they might be able to predict how > people will hear rhythms based on the structures of their own languages. Wow...scientific predictions Actually when we have certain rising pitch structure over vowels, words and sentences sing themselves. When I create songs in the Wyandot language I practice phrases I'm desiring to express ...repetition practice of the phrases makes the music itelf Do we really need to be predicted? Too funny Richard Zane Smith Wyandotte, Oklahoma From nflrc at HAWAII.EDU Fri Dec 1 21:13:54 2006 From: nflrc at HAWAII.EDU (National Foreign Language Resource Center) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 11:13:54 -1000 Subject: 2007 Conferences & Workshops (in Hawai'i) Message-ID: Our apologies for any cross-postings . . . The National Foreign Language Resource Center at the University of Hawai?i at Manoa is pleased to announce the following 2007 professional development events . . . 1) 17th International Conference on Pragmatics & Language Learning Imin International Conference Center, Honolulu, Hawai?i March 26-28, 2007 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/pll/ The conference will address a broad range of topics in pragmatics, discourse, interaction and sociolinguistics in their relation to second and foreign language learning, education, and use, approached from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Conference highlights include: ? Plenary talks by Junko Mori (University of Wisconsin-Madison) & Steven Talmy (University of British Columbia) ? Invited colloquia on Study Abroad Experiences from a Language Socialization Perspective (Convener: Haruko Cook, University of Hawai?i) & Negotiating the Self in Another Language: Discourse Approaches to Language Learning as Cross-cultural Adaptation (Convener: Christina Higgins, University of Hawai?i) ? Invited workshops on Using Questionnaires in Research on Pragmatics (Kenneth Rose, City University Hong Kong) & Teaching and Learning L2 Pragmatics in Computer-mediated Environments (Julie Belz, Monterey Institute of International Studies ? Over 100 paper presentations and 25 poster presentations ? An optional reception at the Waikiki Aquarium Register early to get special rates! The preregistration deadline is February 15, 2007. For more information, visit http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/pll/ 2) 2007 NFLRC Summer Institute Developing Useful Evaluation Practices in College Foreign Language Programs University of Hawai?i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI May 28 - June 6, 2007 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/si07d/ This NFLRC Summer Institute is designed to help college foreign language administrators and teachers engage in useful, practical, and effective program evaluations to meet a variety of purposes. It takes seriously the values, goals, and constraints that characterize college language programs and will provide language educators with a user-oriented approach to developing evaluations that maximize benefits for language learners and teachers, while minimizing potential negative consequences. It will also provide participants with tools and strategies for making program evaluation a systematic and consistently useful component of their FL departments. The Institute will be run by Dr. John M. Norris (UH Dept. of Second Language Studies), an expert in language program evaluation and assessment. Activities over the 9-day institute will include lectures and demonstrations, in-depth analyses of practical evaluation examples, invited guest speakers (language evaluation experts), social events, and extensive hands-on development and discussion of evaluation plans, procedures, and instruments for immediate use in the participants? specific program settings. This workshop is intended for foreign language administrators and teachers who are directly responsible for program evaluations in their foreign language departments. It assumes no prior grounding in program evaluation theory or practice, but it requires a willingness to help increase evaluation capacity in college FL education. In order to maximize the impact of this event across U.S. colleges, participants will be purposefully selected to represent diverse FL program types, based on size, languages taught, geography, and institutional status. Some financial support is available to all participants in the NFLRC Summer Institute, on a competitive and space-limited basis. Summer Institute participants will be expected to participate in the 2007 ADFL Summer Seminar West, which will directly follow the workshop on the University of Hawai?i at Manoa campus. For more information or the online application form (submission deadline - February 15, 2007), visit our website at http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/prodev/si07d/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 4454 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Dec 2 05:31:15 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 22:31:15 -0700 Subject: Tories cut fund to save native languages (fwd) Message-ID: Tories cut fund to save native languages By Robert Freeman The Progress rfreeman at theprogress.com Dec 01 2006 http://www.theprogress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=39&cat=23&id=783961&more= The Sto:lo Tribal Council is demanding the Conservative government in Ottawa restore $160 million cut from a fund to save aboriginal languages from extinction. ?B.C. First Nations have two-thirds of aboriginal languages, but get only one-tenth of national funding (for languages),? STC president Clarence Pennier said in a letter to Heritage Minister Bev Oda. He reminded the minister that the federal government has a ?fiduciary obligation to First Nations to protect, revitalize and maintain our languages. No First Nation language can be allowed to go extinct.? Tyrone McNeil, STC vice-president and chair of the First People?s Heritage and Culture Council, said there are only a dozen fluent speakers of Halq?emeylem left among the 5,000 Sto:lo, and a ?fair number of people? who have picked up the language - but not well enough to teach it to others. Restoration of the funds cut by Oda is ?urgently needed now,? he said, because ?we?re losing our elders daily? who can speak Halq?emeylem. According to a 2001 national survey just 24 per cent of North American Indians, Inuit and Metis can still converse in their native language, a drop from the 29 per cent measured five years ago. Minister Oda cut funding to $5 million a year for 10 years, for a total of $50 million, effectively cutting the fund by 68 per cent. In 2002 the previous Liberal minister had set aside $172.5 million over 11 years. McNeil said the federal Tories should follow the lead of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell who has doubled provincial funding for native languages to $2-million and embarked on a ?New Relationship? with the aboriginal people of this province. ?He sees the value in First Nations learning more about their identity (through language) and the positive impact that has,? McNeil said. ?He sees there?s no better way of improvement, than we do it ourselves.? The federal Tories ?should be doing the same thing,? McMeil added, ?but it?s just not happening.? ? Copyright 2006 Chilliwack Progress From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Sun Dec 3 01:23:43 2006 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 17:23:43 -0800 Subject: Loss Of My Great Aunt Violet Message-ID: Violet Ruth Super. ?Auntie Vi passed away in her sleep as a result of a fire that destroyed her home on the evening of November 29, 2006 in Orleans California. She was born on her families Indian Allotment known as ?Butlers Flat? on the Salmon River in Siskiyou County on December 3, 1917 and lived all her life along the Klamath and Salmon rivers, and kept a home for several years in Castella and Dunsmuir south of Mt. Shasta. She was a full-blooded member of the Karuk Tribe of California Her family was from the villages of Katimiin, Ike?s and Amikiyaarem. Her Indian name was Vasiht?nihich She was a fluent speaker, teacher and strong advocate of the Karuk language. She lived her life full of vim, vigor and vinegar, always young at heart. She was preceded in death by Elvis, her Grandparents, Red Cap Jenny, Red Cap Johnny and Susie Charles, Parents Bob and Mary Johnny, husbands Leonard Super and Orel ?Heem? Hillman, brothers Martin, Dave, Dan and Theodore Johnny, sisters Agness, Carolyn, and Hazel Johnny and nieces Hazel Wilder-Ward and Roselynd Norris-Tungate and special cousins Ramona Tripp-Starritt and Elizabeth Snapp. She is survived by her cousins Josephine Peters, Burl and Frank Grant Sr., nieces Jeanerette Jacups-Johnny, and Marlene Crumpacker-Wilder and numerous great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews, great great great nephews and all those that met, knew and loved her by simply calling her Auntie. Services are tentatively scheduled to be held at Orleans Elementary School at 1 PM on Friday December 8, 2006 followed by a community meal. Internment will be held at in Yreka at 1 PM on Saturday December 9, 2006 at Evergreen Cemetery with a community memorial and meal to follow at the Greenhorn Grange Hall on Ranch Street. For more information call the Karuk Tribal Offices. In lieu of flowers please make donations to either the Karuk Tribe- Karuk Language Restoration Committee http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/ index.html KLRC P.O. Box 1016 Happy Camp, CA 96039 9530) 493-1600 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AuntieHat.jpg Type: application/applefile Size: 67672 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AuntieHat.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 224738 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mikinakn at SHAW.CA Sun Dec 3 04:55:05 2006 From: mikinakn at SHAW.CA (Rolland Nadjiwon) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 23:55:05 -0500 Subject: Loss Of My Great Aunt Violet Message-ID: Sorry to hear that Andre...our thoughts go with you and your family. My wife and I, our families, are dealing with my wife's mother's illness with terminal cancer. She is in palliative care right now on pain medications. She is 86 years old, a residential school casualty, a language speaker(Odawa and Ojibway), a craftsperson, a mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother. We do not know if she will be with us tomorrow or for Christmas. She is 86 years old. A good lady and mother-in-law. My wife is with her family right now. I will be with them next week so soon as I can pull away. Another hard Winter for our elders maybe, eh. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: Andre Cramblit To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 8:23 PM Subject: [ILAT] Loss Of My Great Aunt Violet Violet Ruth Super. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auntie Vi passed away in her sleep as a result of a fire that destroyed her home on the evening of November 29, 2006 in Orleans California.? She was born on her families Indian Allotment known as ?Butlers Flat? on the Salmon River in Siskiyou County on December 3, 1917 and lived all her life along the Klamath and Salmon rivers, and kept a home for several years in Castella and Dunsmuir south of Mt. Shasta.? She was a full-blooded member of the Karuk Tribe of California? Her family was from the villages of Katimiin, Ike?s and Amikiyaarem.? Her Indian name was Vasiht?hich? She was a fluent speaker, teacher and strong advocate of the Karuk language. She lived her life full of vim, vigor and vinegar, always young at heart.? ? She was preceded in death by Elvis, her Grandparents, Red Cap Jenny, Red Cap Johnny and Susie Charles, Parents Bob and Mary Johnny, husbands Leonard Super and Orel ?Heem? Hillman, brothers Martin, Dave, Dan and Theodore Johnny, sisters Agness, Carolyn, and Hazel Johnny and nieces Hazel Wilder-Ward and Roselynd Norris-Tungate and special cousins Ramona Tripp-Starritt and Elizabeth Snapp.? She is survived by her cousins Josephine Peters, Burl and Frank Grant Sr., nieces Jeanerette Jacups-Johnny, and Marlene Crumpacker-Wilder and numerous great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews, great great great nephews and all those that met, knew and loved her by simply calling her Auntie. ? Services are tentatively scheduled to be held at Orleans Elementary School at 1 PM on Friday December 8, 2006 followed by a community meal.? Internment will be held at in Yreka at 1 PM on Saturday December 9, 2006 at Evergreen Cemetery with a community memorial and meal to follow at the Greenhorn Grange Hall on Ranch Street.? For more information call the Karuk Tribal Offices. ? In lieu of flowers please make donations to either the Karuk Tribe-Karuk Language Restoration Committee http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/index.html KLRC P.O. Box 1016 Happy Camp, CA 96039 9530) 493-1600 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:22:07 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:22:07 -0700 Subject: Media Advisory - Assembly of First Nations - National Protest to Save Our Legacy (fwd) Message-ID: Media Advisory - Assembly of First Nations - National Protest to Save Our Legacy http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2006/03/c3141.html OTTAWA, Dec. 3 /CNW Telbec/ - The Chiefs of Ontario, and Assembly of First Nations, are holding a National Protest to Save Our Legacy, beginning at 11.30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. The demonstration will leave at 11 a.m. from the Westin Hotel, 11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, and proceed to Parliament Hill. "First Nations poverty is Canada's shame," said AFN Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse. "We live in a country that is rated 6th best in the world in which to live, according to the United Nations Human Development Index. Yet First Nations citizens live predominantly in impoverished conditions without the basics such as clean water, and safe homes." "First Nations poverty is the greatest social justice issue in Canada today," said National Chief Phil Fontaine. "For this reason, and to raise awareness for all Canadians and politicians, we recently launched Make Poverty History: The First Nations Plan for Creating Opportunity. Some 12,000 Canadians have signed our on-line petition." "This rally is to underscore that First Nations people are here to stay, and that we will not remain out sight and out of mind," added Regional Chief Toulouse. "We want what all people want for our children - good health, safety, education and equal opportunity. We will not accept less". The rally will also call for the implementation of recommendations in the 10-year-old Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples; implementation of the Kelowna Accord; as well as reinstatement of last month's $160 million in Aboriginal language funding cuts. More details on the rally are posted at www.afn.ca From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:29:10 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:29:10 -0700 Subject: Preservation - Tribes protect, revive cultural heritage (fwd) Message-ID: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2006 PRESERVATION _Tribes protect, revive cultural heritage_ BY ALLISON COX[1] of the East Oregonian SUNDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2006 http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=27&SubSectionID=92&ArticleID=56977&TM=78692.78 Jess Nowland, visitor services coordinator, holds a hand woven traditional basket made of cedar root, corn husk and bear grass that dates back to the 1940s in the artifact vault at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Photo by E. J. Harris. Master teacher Cecelia Bearchum, a native Walla Walla speaker, listens in on a Walla Walla language class at the Nixyaawii Community School in Mission. Photo by E. J. Harris. Say the word "culture" and most people think of pageants, religious practices and colorful clothing. To certain members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, culture means much more, and they're doing what they can to preserve it. Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, located near Wildhorse Resort & Casino, is dedicated to preserving American Indian culture, historical accuracy and contributing to the tribal economy. The museum is recognized around the world as a boiler plate of American Indian cultural preservation and restoration. Institute Director, Roberta Conner, explained preserving culture is not just a romantic whim. "People think of our culture as quaint customs, instead of the backbone of survival," said Conner. "Stereotypes include the belief that our reverence for our historic cultural lifeways is a desire to return to the past, and it's not. We've lived in this landscape for so long there's knowledge, the equivalent to an enormous library, imbedded in the culture." Conner said the accumulation of information gathered over eons is as valid today as it was in the past - and is relevant to every aspect of life in this geographical region. "Look at the tribal languages and understand that not only is there a window into the philosophy, culture and law, but also into vast amounts of information about this ecosystem, " she added. That tie to the land, expressed as culture, provides knowledge regarding stewardship of the land and the animals and people who dwell on it. With the arrival of Lewis and Clark, and the subsequent invasion of non-native people that followed, that connection to the past was almost severed. "While it's changed our lives drastically, the core values remain intact - this tie to the land," Conner said of the years between the Lewis and Clark expedition and today. "If our culture hadn't kept us together and sustained us, we would be culturally extinct, and 50 years ago that's what experts expected. I'm delighted they were wrong." While the museum provides a way to preserve items of historical importance, and at the same time educates the public at large, the tribes are pro-active when it comes to using other methods to ensure the continuation of the culture. In the same complex as Nixyaawii charter school, and in the same building as Cay-Uma-Wa Head Start, is a modern language and computer lab. Next to the lab is an office, which doesn't feature desks but instead a large conference table. This is the elders' office. The elders, revered for the wisdom of their years and their memories, are a vital and treasured part of the tribal cultural preservation plan. Not only is it evident in the way they are deferred to by younger tribal members, it's also evidenced by the central location of their office and the reserved parking spaces for them out front. Out of the office, a group of about nine elders, men and women, work as language teachers. They, and everyone else, understand time is of the essence. While there are elders to teach the Umatilla and Walla Walla languages, the Cayuse language is considered lost. Only 400 words remain, contained in a small dictionary. The elders teach high school students, as well as the preschool children at Cay-Uma-Wa, who often overflow into the elders' office. "The little ones that we have here, the Head Start students, are real good students," said Elder Cecilia Bearchum, who teaches the Walla Walla language. "Their little brains are just like sponges, they catch on easy." But, as with other aspects of American Indian culture, it's not just about the language. The language is a valuable and important reason to encourage closeness between the young ones and the elders, but it's by no means the only reason. The benefits of pursuing the language are far-reaching and complicated, as everything associated with American Indian culture seems to be. "That is where they learn traditional values such as respect, from the elders," said Sophia Enos, a teacher at Cay-Uma-Wa. "It's part of their lives and part of their heritage." "A lot of them don't have grandmas, so we're grandmas to them all," Bearchum said. "Once in a while they'll come in and shake hands and say good morning in whatever language they remember. It makes our day." Conner believes, and hopes, that in preserving the culture, the people will be preserved as well. "The part of our culture that we are still trying to restore is how we take care of one another," Conner said. "It's a tenet of our culture that no one goes hungry or is orphaned. But our current social ills make that no longer true. When we examine our modern problems, addictions and self-destruction, we look at the culture that we once had, we recognize that our once strong, wholesome, well-rounded people have been broken by acts of history. And the culture can make them whole again." Jess Nowland, Tamastslikt Visitors Services Coordinator, is immersed in the culture of his people. During the day he has access to some of the most treasured artifacts and information his people possess, and a venue to learn about the ways of his people. During his off time, he remains absorbed in the culture as an involved, engaged member of the modern tribal community. But Nowland wasn't raised in the culture. He spent most of the first 15 years of his life on a ranch near Rock Springs, Wyo., where he was the only American Indian for miles around. "When I went to high school in Wyoming, all you had to do was say you were Indian, and that was enough," said Nowland. "But here people ask you things. It was embarrassing not to know, and that sort of inspired me to learn about my heritage." At the age of 15, he embarked on a mission to learn as much as possible about his people. It started with spending time with five uncles. "That's when I was introduced to the sweathouse, hunting, fishing, language, dancing - our ways," he said. Each of the customs is but a piece in the whole cloth of culture, according to Conner, which is why it's so important to preserve and integrate all of the culture into modern life. "There is a knowledge of how and where and when that comes from through thousands of years of exposure to one homeland," Conner said. "Look at the tribal languages and understand that not only is there a window into the philosophy, culture and law, but also into vast amounts of information about this ecosystem." And still, as always, there's more to it. "So, when you ask why is it important to preserve the culture? We have to do it to save our people. Our culture is not static, it's dynamic," Conner said. "In an age when all people are transient, we don't expect our people to live here all the time. But there's a sense of belonging and a state of grace that comes from belonging to a place." Suggested reading Recently released, "As Days Go By, Our History, Our Land and Our People" is a look at the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, as written by nine tribal and three non-tribal members. "It's unique in that it's about us and by us," said Roberta Conner, one of the contributors to the book. Conner said an atlas of native places and names, also developed by tribal members, will come out in 2007. "The idea was sparked by the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial," Conner explained. "We were reminded during the observance that Lewis and Clark were naming rivers and places. Since we want our people 100 years from now to know the names we called places, we began this project." Conner suggested the following books for those interested in learning about American Indian population, culture and history: ? "Nch'i-Wana: The Big River," by Eugene S. Hunn. ? "The Si'lailo Way: Indians, Salmon and Law on the Colorado River," by Joseph C. Dupris, Kathleen S. Hill, and William H. Rodgers, Jr. ? "Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth," by Mary Dodds Schlick. ? "A Song to the Creator: Traditional Arts of Native American Women of the Plateau," by Lillian A. Ackerman. ? "Peoples of the Plateau: The Indian Photographs of Lee Moorhouse, 1898-1915," by Steven L. Grafe. RELATED LINKS ------------------------- Content ? 2006 East Oregonian Software ? 1998-2006 1UP! SOFTWARE, All Rights Reserved Links: ------ [1] MAILTO:ACOX at EASTOREGONIAN.COM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 22184 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 10005 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:35:49 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:35:49 -0700 Subject: Tribal community finds a voice through ICTs in Bangladesh (fwd) Message-ID: Tribal community finds a voice through ICTs in Bangladesh Rahul Kumar December 4 2006, Bangladesh: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/143336/1/1138 ?We migrated to Sitakund, hundreds of years ago and have since adjusted to the local Bengali culture. Only a handful of the elderly people in my village now remember songs in our language? says Lakshmi Tripura. These were the reactions that staff of the Youth Community Multimedia Centre (YCMC) Sitakund encountered when they visited the village of the indigenous community?s called Choto Kumira Tripura Para, situated 14 kms from the Chittagong city in Sitakund upazilla, Bangladesh. The YCMC uses the local cable network for content dissemination reaching about 1200 households. The Tripura adivasis (indigenous community) have been living in this area for over a few centuries. Most of them have no knowledge of their ancestral history and the wealth of their oral indigenous knowledge and culture is now lost in time. Out of the seventy families in this village, only a hand few are literate and almost all work as labourers because they do not own land. Since they live scatteredly in remote isolated hills, the community has no access to any kind of media like cable television or computing technologies. In January, 2006 the members of this community approached local NGO and CMC partner, (Youth Power in Social Action) to support them with a television. They also approached the Chairman of the Sitakund Municipality with the request for a Video Compact Disc (VCD) player. They fundraised within their community and came up with the money to buy a diesel generator. On a weekly basis now, they borrow local programmes produced by volunteers of CMC Sitakund and watch it in their community school. Recording and broadcasting programmes is the first step towards preserving a culture that is soon disappearing. ?Though we are citizens of this country we have no civic rights. No government service ever reaches our doorstep. We have no source of pure drinking water; education or heath services. Our men are paid lesser than the Bengali labourers and our women have no social security. It?s like we have no voice in anything whatsoever? commented Rabindra Tripura, the village leader. As part of its mission the Youth CMC has taken the initiative to partner with the indigenous communities. Lakshmi Tripura, the school teacher from Choto Kumira Tripura Para joined the CMC management committee as secretary to ensure that his community use the CMC facility to voice their concerns. In a recently held sustainability workshop by UNESCO, they formed an action plan to develop a series of audio-visual documentaries on their problems, needs and concerns which they plan on using as an advocacy tool. Cable broadcasts and narrowcasting of these programmes will sensitise the local civil society and thus build public opinion in favour of their issues. ?We have no wealth, nor power or respect, what was the use of taking birth in this world?- this was the literal translation of the indigenous song performed by an elderly singer ? one of the last remaining indigenous artist of Sitakund. ?Now we need to see if new media technologies can play a role in transforming this situation and how?. The Youth CMC in Sitakund developed out of a UNESCO supported cross-cutting theme project on ICT innovations for poverty reduction. The establishment of the community multimedia centre is currently being supported by UNESCOs International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC). SOURCE: Story contributed by Debobroto Chakraborty (Debu) and Seema Nair of UNESCO. Debu works as a Programme Officer in local partner NGO, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) and can be contacted at debobroto.c at gmail.com IPDC (International Programme for the Development of Communication) is a major forum in the UN system designed to develop free and pluralistic media with a global approach to democratic development. By integrating traditional and new media, community multimedia centers link local and global networks and bring digital tools and new opportunities within the reach of millions, opening new gateways to information, communication and knowledge. A community multimedia centre (CMC) combines traditional local media, like radio, TV and newspapers, with new technologies, such as computers, internet, photocopiers and digital devices like cameras and audio players. CMCs are a unique way for poor communities, often in remote rural areas, to overcome common obstacles to their full and profitable use of ICTs, including the vast potential knowledge resources of the internet and other digital media. UNESCO?s global pilot project with CMCs is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation For more information, contact: UNESCO New Delhi UNESCO Communication and Information Sector Community Multimedia Centre Initiative www.unesco.org/webworld/cmc Jocelyne Josiah ACI/NDL j.josiah at unesco.org Seema Nair CMC Asia Coordinator s.nair at unesco.org From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:40:06 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:40:06 -0700 Subject: Researching Indian rhetoric (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Mon, Dec. 04, 2006 Researching Indian rhetoric John A. Berteaux Connections http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/16159673.htm Prof. Ernest Stromberg stopped by my home last week to share a pot of coffee and discuss his new book American Indian Rhetorics of Survivance. An associate professor in the Department of English, Communication and Journalism, Ernie travels to California State University-Monterey Bay from a trim home in Seaside where he lives with his wife, Sherry. He grew up in Arcata. In Arcata, he advises, "Diversity meant Native American people." But in other parts of the United States, from Humboldt State University, where he received his bachelor's degree to Eugene, Ore., where he wrote his dissertation about American Indian Literatures, to Harrisburg, Va., where he taught at James Madison University before moving to the Peninsula, Ernie found, "it easy to forget that American Indians continue to exist." Growing up with American Indian kids in school and sleeping over he noted early on that the idea of Indians in the popular media and the life he saw his friends living were quite different. Seamlessly, he ties his childhood experiences into a central idea in the book. "From first contact," Ernie warns, "for American Indians the problem was mental as well as physical... When they got here Europeans had already conceived the individual." I took him to mean that nonwhite and white were not simply descriptive terms of skin color; rather, from first contact they were used for social categorization, social control and social relationships. America's indigenous population acknowledged and used to their advantage the fact that the way they spoke (and looked) stood in for intellect, moral sense and character. They acknowledged that there is a connection between the language we use and stories we tell. I recalled something attributed to French linguist Saussure, who asks us to think about what had to be overcome to say "Black is beautiful." This is something that came out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Up until the time that someone said "black is beautiful," black was considered ugly, dirty, and stupid. And then someone said "black is beautiful." According to Saussure this wasn't just saying something new; rather, it was conceiving the world in a way it had not been imagined before. "So American Indians recognized in their initial encounter with Europeans that we don't speak language so much as language speaks us?" I chimed in. Ernie nodded in agreement. I asked about the word "survivance" that appears in the title. "It ties in," he says. "The book is about 'rhetorics of survivance.'" Survival suggests images of someone just hanging on -- on the edge of existence. "Survivance," he quotes the text, "goes beyond mere survival to acknowledge the dynamic and creative nature of indigenous rhetorics." He writes, from the early debates about treaty rights and native lands to present day controversies about casinos and team mascots America's indigenous populations continue to draw on the art of persuasion. Nevertheless, Ernie adds, "While rhetorical studies have been enriched by important research done in women studies and African American rhetoric the rhetorical practices of America's indigenous people remain significantly incomplete." To begin filling that gap in our knowledge, Ernie has produced an edited collection that is worthy of note, unique, readable, and accessible for a non-academic audience. John Berteaux, an assistant professor of philosophy at CSU-Monterey, writes a monthly column. He can be reached at john_berteaux at csumb.edu. ? 2006 Monterey County Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.montereyherald.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:42:17 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:42:17 -0700 Subject: INDIGENOUS FILMS FROM CHILE PREVIEW IN NEW YORK (fwd) Message-ID: INDIGENOUS FILMS FROM CHILE PREVIEW IN NEW YORK http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12354&topic_id=15 (December 1, 2006) The 13th Native American Film and Video Festival began Thursday at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Of the 550 entries submitted, four Chilean films have made the final festival, including the new music video from Mapuche hip hop artist JAAS. One hundred and twenty-five films will premiere in their native language at this year?s festival, which features a mix of fiction, short film and animation from the U.S., Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Ecuador and Guatemala. Amongst Chile?s contributions are a Mapuche music video, directed by Jennifer Aguilera Silva and a documentary about Mapuche activism by Australian resident Juan Francisco Salazar. In ?Newen? (Life Force), JAAS calls on her Mapuche ancestors in native language Mapadungun to awaken the warrior spirit within the Mapuche people of today. Salazar?s documentary, ?De la Tierra a la Pantalla? (From Land to Screen), offers a journey into the lives and work of three Mapuche media activists working in radio and video. They counter mainstream media coverage of events with Mapuche perspectives and images. The festival aims to offer perspectives of what it means to be indigenous in the 21st century. Works includes narratives, animations, and documentaries on issues of personal identity, struggle for native lands, community strengths, and the impact of multi-nationalism. Border and cross-cultural realities infuse many of the pieces. ?Indigenous Latin American fiction film is very rare,? said Amalia C?rdova, Chilean and Coordinator of Latin American Programs at the New York museum. ?The majority are documentaries due to lack of funding.? According to C?rdova, the key question is: where is the audience for a film about Chile?s indigenous population? ?In the majority of cases it?s for their own small community, or for the developed world as a form of political activism,? she said. SOURCE: LA NACION By Beatrice Karol Burks (editor at santiagotimes.cl) From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:47:11 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:47:11 -0700 Subject: Alaskana: Education first (fwd) Message-ID: Alaskana: Education first NETTIE PERATROVICH Since receiving food stamps, welfare and decent housing, the Native population has blossomed. I think we Natives have made a difference. Interviewed by JUDY FERGUSON Last of two parts (Published: December 3, 2006) http://www.adn.com/life/story/8462552p-8356424c.html Nettie Peratrovich, a Haida-Scot educator, arrived in Anchorage just before the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was passed. She was among those pushing for new education policies. In the pre-pipeline days, the majority of the state's budget came from education monies, and little of that went to rural Alaska. When I discovered after a year in Washington, D.C., that $7.5 million of federal Johnson O'Malley Act (JOM) monies intended for the education of Natives was signed over to the Department of Education, I protested. The summer of 1971, Sen. Bill Ray met with our statewide JOM committee. He slammed his fist down: "Where were you when we were going through the education bills?" I asked, "How do those bills include us when you know where all the money goes?" I reminded him that we also had no bilingual program even though we had 5,000 non-English-speaking students in our schools. While I was finishing my degree in special education and in social studies, the Indian Education Law, Title IV, passed, providing grants for improving Indian education. Having heard about my previous innovative teaching at Fairbanks Native Association and knowing that I knew people from all over the state, Laura Bernhard of the State Operated School System came to see me in 1974. "We have a program," she said, "I'd like you to apply for." I did, and I was accepted as the district director of Indian Education Act Programs in charge of Title IV Party for the State Operated School System. We developed bilingual and bicultural programs. With Dr. Michael Krauss, Elaine Abraham and several others, I sat on the Native Language Board, where we studied the languages, our indigenous groups, made dictionaries and the map Native Peoples and Languages of Alaska. Because the main speakers of Haida were in Canada, I went to the governor's assistant and explained, "This is a dying people. We have to have ALL of our Alaska languages developed or we'll know nothing about them." TRAINING NEW TEACHERS I began traveling throughout the state, setting up parent advisory committees in 150 state-operated schools as well as forming regional and statewide boards. (Previously, the principal controlled everything in the village schools.) We had to educate the people: these books, these schools, these monies are yours, and only you can tell them how to use Indian ed monies. I told them, "You have the right to fail as long as you try again." We trained Native teacher-aides, bilingual/bicultural aides and, in the first year, I hired 15 Native teachers. We queried the people and carefully set up regions along cultural and linguistic borders. These became the model for today's Alaska Rural Education Attendance Areas. Indian ed monies were used for many exciting programs, including the Alaska Native Land Claims textbook published in 1976 by the Alaska Native Foundation and editor Robert D. Arnold. Another important document was the Federal Field Committee report, 1968, the basis of land claims. This report stated that five-eighths of Alaska including rivers and ocean frontage was used by Alaska Natives. It documented the lifestyle, ethnology, linguistics, numbers of Native language speakers and acreage needed for subsistence foods. I tried to get both of these books in the hands of every school. In 1975, I was sent to D.C. to sit on the regulations board for Public Law 93-638, the new Indian Self Determination Act, giving Indian tribes the authority to contract with the federal government to operate programs serving their tribal members. I made sure we were referred to as "Alaska Natives," not as "Alaska Indians," so all would be included. Alaska Federation of Natives then contracted Johnson O'Malley monies from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. AFN funded the fledgling regional nonprofit corporations like the Aleut League and Tanana Chiefs Conference. This gave those in the Alaska Bush a viable organization, the means to come in and be trained and, thereby, gain a voice. FOOD STAMPS FOR THE BUSH AFN president Don Wright asked me to go to Washington, D.C., to investigate the National Food and Nutrition Committee's new food stamp program. I tried to educate the NFNC on the widespread poverty, lack of food and inadequate stores in rural Alaska. I suggested that food stamps might sufficiently boost the economy so that village stores might be able to install refrigeration. Not only had the state not referred the Bush as candidates for the food stamp program, but when I tried to get hot lunches for rural Alaska, lunches were improved only in the urban schools. There really were two Alaskas. The Molly Hootch consent decree in the late 1970s was a godsend; the state committed to provide local high schools for Native communities as it had in predominantly white communities. Using oil tax dollars, rural schools began to be built. Employed by BIA in charge of subsistence issues, I began funding regional studies required by the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In 1983, I became BIA area rights protection officer in charge of all Native lands in Alaska. I funded the subsistence salmon, walrus and waterfowl advisory boards and the new Eskimo Whaling Commission. I sat on the international salmon commission for subsistence. Prior to ANCSA and ANILCA, Natives had nothing to say about their schools, resources or the decisions the state or the bureau made relevant to them. Since receiving food stamps, welfare and decent housing, the Native population has blossomed. I think we Natives have made a difference. My husband, Frank, and I have spent our lives trying to equalize things. PROBLEMS REMAIN I feel one of the state and the corporations' largest failures was in not educating non-Natives and Natives about Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, nor were Natives properly prepared for the effects of ANCSA. A lot of Alaska Natives still feel today that they have no individual parcels of land, that they are landless. (The corporations absorbed the acreage per head count, sold off vast areas, and many at-large shareholders have received neither land nor compensation from those sales.) Today we need to train more Native teachers for urban and rural schools. In the village, we must compensate the Native teacher the same as the imported teachers who get housing and compensation for living in the village. In the city, if we can't get Native teachers, we should get Native counselors or trained individuals to bridge the gap between the school and the home. The dropout rate today is horrific. When we had BIA or the State Operated School System, there was no significant dropout rate and the standardized test scores were higher. At the college level today, Native students should be allowed to try until they succeed. Due to lack of finances, the parent advisory boards no longer exist. There needs to be a closer inspection today of how monies intended for Native education are used by the larger public schools. Getting involved is a requirement for change. Judy Ferguson is a publisher and a freelance columnist for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. She is the author of Alaska histories "Parallel Destinies" and "Blue Hills" and the children's books "Alaska's Secret Door" and "Alaska's Little Chief." Her Web site is www.alaska-highway.org/delta/outpost. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 20:58:09 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:58:09 -0700 Subject: Your speaking influences your hearing (fwd) Message-ID: Your speaking influences your hearing http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=339669&ssid=364&sid=ENV London, Dec 03: A new study by neuroscientists at the San Diego, US, has revealed that what a person speaks has the possibility of influencing what he might hear. According to the study, people perceive different patterns in the same sound sequences depending on their native tongue. People`s preference for longer or shorter notes at the beginning of a musical phrase apparently depends on their native tongue. This might be the reason why the short, first note of ?Greensleeves? may sound naturally elegant to those who sing the tune, but might sound awkward to the ear of a native Japanese speaker. For their study, Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California, US, and colleagues recruited a group of 100 volunteers, half of whom were American and the other half Japanese. The volunteers were made to listen to sequences of alternating long and short or loud and soft tones. Scientists already know that human hearing naturally group sounds together, but Patel and his team wanted to know how people from different cultures grouped non-identical sounds. According to New Scientist, when Japanese participants heard the tones, many of them grouped them in reverse order, with the shorter tones at the end of each sound pairing. Patel believes this difference might result from the fact that, in Japanese, shorter words ? such as articles and prepositions ? tend to come at the end of a phrase, while in English, these short words tend to come at the beginning. Also previous studies by Patel have suggested that a composer?s native language influences how they write music. The findings were presented at a joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bureau Report From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 4 21:12:11 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 14:12:11 -0700 Subject: Native American Legislative Update: December 1, 2006 (fwd msg) Message-ID: ----- Forwarded message from pat at fcnl.org ----- Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 12:07:42 -0500 From: Pat Powers Reply-To: indian at fcnl.org Subject: [fcnl-nalu] NALU: Not too late to save Native languages To: fcnl-nalu Native American Legislative Update: December 1, 2006 Not too late to save native languages Your advocacy is needed to pass a bill "dear to the hearts" of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Language preservation is an essential part of cultural preservation in Indian Country. Knowing this, legislators of both parties have supported dual language programs for tribes with enough elders to pass on their knowledge. The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006 (H.R. 4766) could become law with your immediate help. This modest ($8 million) expansion of an existing education program to teach native languages would be a major step toward preserving dying languages. The House passed this bill in September. The Senate leadership has agreed to pass this legislation by unanimous consent and it could win approval during the lame duck session of Congress in early December. But several senators are using parliamentary tactics known as "holds" to block final approval of this legislation. Language immersion programs provide Native children, who already know English, the opportunity to learn their heritage language as well. Small federal education grants go a long way to help cultural survival. The number of fluent speakers diminishes every year. At an August field hearing in New Mexico, a large crowd attended. Education advocate Ryan Wilson pointed out the crisis of dying languages and said that keeping them alive is "dear to our hearts." Take Action Now Your senators can ask their colleagues to lift their holds so that passage of H.R. 4766 will no longer be blocked. You can find a sample letter and contact your senators directly through FCNL's website. Please go to< http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=9187561&type=CO> ______________________ Contact Congress and the Administration: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/ < http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/> Order FCNL publications and "War is Not the Answer" bumper stickers and yard signs: http://www.fcnl.org/pubs/ < http://www.fcnl.org/pubs/> http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=bump < http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=bump> Contribute to FCNL: http://www.fcnl.org/donate/ < http://www.fcnl.org/donate/> Unsubscribe from this list: Send a message to fcnl-nalu-unsubscribe at fcnl.org << mailto:fcnl-nalu-unsubscribe at fcnl.org < mailto:fcnl-nalu-unsubscribe at fcnl.org> >>, or send an email to adamk at fcnl.org << mailto:adamk at fcnl.org < mailto:adamk at fcnl.org> >> with your request. Subscribe to this list: Send a message to fcnl-nalu-subscribe at fcnl.org << mailto:fcnl-nalu-subscribe at fcnl.org. < mailto:fcnl-nalu-subscribe at fcnl.org.> >>, or visit << http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls < http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls> >> << http://www.fcnl.org/listserv/quaker_issues.php < http://www.fcnl.org/listserv/quaker_issues.php> >> and select the fcnl-nalu list. Subscribe to other FCNL legislative, policy, and action alert lists: http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls < http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls> ______________________ Friends Committee on National Legislation 245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795 fcnl at fcnl.org * www.fcnl.org phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330 ----- End forwarded message ----- From manuela_noske at HOTMAIL.COM Tue Dec 5 21:53:54 2006 From: manuela_noske at HOTMAIL.COM (Manuela Noske) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 13:53:54 -0800 Subject: Report on "Storytelling with Technology" ILI Workshop Message-ID: This message reports on the fourth of a series of regional technology training workshops for Native Americans that is organized by the Indigenous Language Institute (ILI) and sponsored by IBM. ILI is based in Santa Fe, NM, and promotes and facilitates innovative community-based language revitalization initiatives through collaboration with Native organizations and individuals. The most recent workshop was held at the University Center, Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma from Nov. 16-18, 2006 and was hosted jointly by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, NSU, and the Oklahoma Native Language Association (ONLA). Previous workshops were held at the Pueblo of Pojoaque Training Center in Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico, and the Oneida Nation Community Education Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. ?Storytelling with technology? focuses on the creation of print Native language materials for teaching purposes. At the beginning of each workshop, participants receive keyboard lay-outs for their languages as well as a Unicode font which enables them to use commercial word processing and desktop publishing software for Native language typing. Through a mixture of lectures and hands-on practice, participants proceed to create Native language booklets, flyers, calendars, flashcards and other materials in their Native languages, using Microsoft Publisher 2003 as desktop publishing software. Participants also learn how to integrate digital images into their booklets and how to effectively use fonts, page lay-outs, as well as word and clip art to create reading materials which appeal to young and old readers alike. Throughout the workshop ?sharing circles? are held which give participants a chance to show off their creations to other Native language practitioners and share ?best practices? and ideas; these sharing circles also serve as community-building events and play a key role in the overall satisfaction participants express with the workshops. Participants were greeted by a host of speakers from Cherokee Nation, as well as NSU and ONLA officials, including Durbin Feeling, President of ONLA, and Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The blessings for each day?s event were given by Alicia Keahbone Gonzalez, Kiowa Elder, Maggie Studie, Cherokee Elder, and Harry Oosawhee, Cherokee language teacher. 49 registered individuals participated in this workshop, including 5 teams consisting of an Elder speaker and a younger tech-savvy learner. Registered participants represented 15 different tribes from 6 different states: Language Number of registered speakers Cherokee 15 Chickasaw 2 Choctaw 4 Comanche 2 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes 1 Eastern Band of Cherokee 2 Hupa/Yurok/Karuk 1 Kiowa 4 Miwok/Maidu 1 Muscogee Creek 3 Northern Arapaho 2 Osage 4 Pawnee 2 Poarch Band of Creek 1 Southern Cheyenne 5 For more information on ILI and the ?Storytelling with technology? workshop series, please visit the ILI website at: http://www.indigenous-language.org/. For information on Native language keyboard lay-outs and fonts, please visit http://www.languagegeek.com/. The next workshop is tentatively scheduled to be held in Florida in the spring of 2007. If you know anybody who is interested in attending, please have them contact ILI so that they can be placed on the mailing list. _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with gadgets on Windows Live Spaces http://discoverspaces.live.com?source=hmtag1&loc=us -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Wed Dec 6 18:31:15 2006 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 10:31:15 -0800 Subject: Saving Serrano Message-ID: SAN MANUEL INDIAN RESERVATION - A quiet battle is being waged to save the ancestral language of the Serrano Indians. The Serrano language was once spoken by indigenous people throughout the San Bernardino Valley and High Desert. Today, there is only one man whose ability to speak that tongue approaches fluency, said Kaylene Day, a staff linguist for the Serrano Language Revitalization Project. The ultimate goal of the project - an effort of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians' Education Department still in its infancy - is to give tribe members the ability to use the Serrano language in daily conversation. "They want their children and future leaders to be versed in the culture so that identity is strong," education director Erin Kahunawaika`ala Wright said. The last person to be fluent in the Serrano language, Dorothy Ramon, died in 2002. With linguist Eric Elliott, Ramon compiled Serrano lore into the book "Wayta' Yawa'," the title of which translates to "Always Believe." Ramon's nephew, Ernest Siva, remembers the sounds of Serrano from his childhood. "My mother, she and my older aunt, everyone in the family spoke it," Siva said. Day said Siva is the only person who is almost fluent in Serrano. There are times, Siva said, when he'll use Serrano phrases, though he acknowledged that his aunt's ability to converse in that old language exceeded his own. Siva said Day and others visit him every Thursday to work on the language project. He also teaches Serrano classes at the Morongo Indian Reservation near Cabazon. He is president of the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center - a nonprofit created to preserve and share knowledge of Southern California's indigenous cultures. Preserving the Serrano language, Siva said, "has to do with our identity and our culture. The traditions that we had. It's like living on our land. A lot of us move away, but as you notice, we return to our roots." Historically, the Serrano language was spoken but not written, Day said. Written Serrano was not used until the 1990s, and part of the language project has been to craft a new Serrano alphabet that is different than the one used in Ramon and Elliott's book. Work to create a new alphabet began around September 2005, Day said. That effort has produced a 47-letter alphabet that uses many common letters as well as symbols not used in English. For example, the ' symbol is used as a letter that symbolizes the sound of a "glottal stop" - much like the sound between "uh" and "oh" in the English phrase "uh-oh," Day said. A curriculum is being developed to teach the tongue to other members of the tribe. At this point, the San Manuels are not telling the public how actual words would be written in the new alphabet. Wright said tribal members are concerned that to do so could lead to the misappropriation of their culture. Wright, a native Hawaiian, said the "tiki kitsch" that is often used as party decorations is an example of how the San Manuels would not want their culture to be represented. Wright considers the kind of island-themed ornamentations that can be purchased at party supply stores to be a bastardization of Polynesian ways. In Day's view, the most successful effort to revive a language was the reintroduction of Hebrew in modern Israel. The Torah and other Hebrew writings provided a wealth of knowledge for 20th-century speakers. The San Manuels do not have that much material to work with, but Day said there are 15 to 20 hours of recorded Serrano to guide the study of an almost-forgotten language. Siva can also draw on notebooks that he compiled while a USC student in the 1960s. As a student, Siva studied music and traveled to Washington, D.C., to research Luiseno Indian music. While at the National Archives, he got sidetracked and found research on Serrano that he transcribed into his own notes. "I realized I could read it," he said. Day was drawn to indigenous languages when she studied linguistic anthropology while a student at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. "I discovered American languages when I was in college. They were so different from anything I'd ever seen," she said. "Language loss ... made me sad, how much language diversity we're losing. It's sort of like losing a species." --------------------------------- What's in a name? The word "Serrano" is actually not part of the Serrano language - it's derived from Spanish. The ancestors of today's San Manuel Band of Mission Indians lived in the San Bernardino Mountains before Europeans came to California. Spanish settlers called tribe members Serranos. The word is similar to "sierra," the Spanish word for mountains. In their own language, the Serranos called themselves Yuhaviatam, which translates to "people of the pines." Source: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:34:31 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:34:31 -0700 Subject: Language translation device used to preserve Indian language (fwd) Message-ID: Language translation device used to preserve Indian language http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5778836 UNDATED A language translation device used in the 'war on terror' is now being used to preserve American Indian languages. The military developed the Phraselator to help troops translate spoken English into Middle Eastern languages. It wasn't long before the hand-held device was used for other purposes. Thornton Media says nearly 50 American Indian tribes have purchased the device, which runs about 33-hundred dollars. Thornton Media president Don Thornton says tribal families use the Phraselator in their homes to teach children their native language. Saint Croix (KROY) Chippewa education director Brooke Amman says she hopes her tribe will purchase more translating devices and use them in homes, classes and gatherings. Critics say the translating device shouldn't replace tribal elders who can speak the language with emotion. A demonstration of the Phraselator is scheduled for next Wednesday in the northern Wisconsin town of Hertel. ___ Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, Brian Bull Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:36:00 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:36:00 -0700 Subject: Indian Affairs Minister subjected to jeers and boos (fwd) Message-ID: Indian Affairs Minister subjected to jeers and boos December 6, 2006 - by Joseph Quesnel http://www.firstperspective.ca/fp_template.php?path=20061206boos Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice had to endure a barrage of jeers and boos as he tried to deliver an address to Aboriginal protesters on Parliament Hill yesterday. The group assembled in Ottawa to protest cuts to Aboriginal programs, particularly to First Nation language preservation. Minister Prentice was the only federal minister who braved the cold and came out to address the protesters. In one media account, Prentice was shouted down with cries of "liar" and "shame" when he tried to inform the crowd that Indian Affairs was not responsible for the $160 million cut to Aboriginal language programs. This money was cut by Canadian Heritage, he said, pointing out that it has been replaced by a a more predictable and permanent $5 million year for seven years. Despite being drowned out by the shouts, Prentice tried to argue that the Conservative government has provided more funds for Aboriginal issues than any previous government. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:38:54 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:38:54 -0700 Subject: Mayans excited about first feature film in their language (fwd) Message-ID: Mayans excited about first feature film in their language Unsure of Mel Gibson?s depiction December 6, 2006 By Mark Stevenson Associated Press Writer http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061206/ENT/61206011/1005 MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Scenes of enslaved Maya Indians building temples for a violent, decadent culture in Mel Gibson?s new film ?Apocalypto? may ring true for many of today?s Mayas, who earn meager wages in construction camps, building huge tourist resorts on land they once owned. Some Mayas are excited at the prospect of the first feature film made in their native tongue, Yucatec Maya. But others among the 800,000 surviving Mayans are worried that Gibson?s hyper-violent, apocalyptic film could be just the latest misreading of their culture by outsiders. ?There has been a lot of concern among Mayan groups from Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, because we don?t know what his treatment or take on this is going to be,? said Amadeo Cool May of the Indian defense group ?Mayaon,? or ?We are Maya.? ?This could be an attempt to merchandize or sell the image of a culture, or its people, that often differs from what that people needs, or wants,? Cool May said. Gibson employed Mayas, most of whom live on Mexico?s Yucatan peninsula, in the filming of the movie, and says he wants to make the Mayan language ?cool? again, and encourage young people ?to speak it with pride.? The film has been screened for some U.S. Indians, who praised the use of Indian actors. The Mayas haven?t seen it yet, but like Indians north of the border, they have seen others co-opt their culture, as in high-class Caribbean resorts like the Maya Coast and the Maya Riviera. But Indians are largely absent from those beach resorts, where vacationers tour mock Mayan Villages or watch culturally inaccurate mishmashes with ?Mayan Dancers? performing in feather headdresses and face paint. ?The owners are often foreigners who buy up the land at ridiculously low prices, build tourism resorts and the Mayas in reality are often just the construction workers for the hotels or, at best, are employed as chamber maids,? said Cool May. ?Apocalypto? also portrays Mayan civilization at a low moment, just before the Spaniards arrived, when declining, quarreling Mayan groups were focused more on war and human sacrifice than on the calendars and writing system of the civilization?s bloody but brilliant classical period. Outsiders? views of the Maya have long been subject to changing intellectual fashions. Until the 1950s, academics often depicted the ancient Mayas as an idyllic, peaceful culture devoted to astronomy and mathematics. Evidence has since emerged that, even at their height, the Mayas fought bloody and sometimes apocalyptic wars among themselves, lending somewhat more credence to Gibson?s approach. Warrior-kings and priests directed periodic wars among the ancient Maya aimed at capturing slaves or prisoners for labor or human sacrifice. Entire cities were destroyed by the wars, and whole forests cut down to build the temples. The latest trendy theory is a largely Internet-based rumor that the Mayan long-count calendar predicts a global calamity on Dec. 22, 2012. Some have woven that together with prophecies from the Bible. Mauricio Amuy, a non-Maya actor who participated in the filming of Apocalypto, says the production staff discussed the theory on the set. ?We know the Bible talks about prophecies, and that the Mayas spoke of a change of energy on Dec. 22, 2012, and it (the movie) is somewhat focused on that,? Amuy said. ?People should perhaps take that theory and reflect, and not do these things that are destroying humanity.? While they resisted the Spanish conquest longer than most Indians ? the Mayas? last rebellion, the War of the Castes, lasted until 1901 ? many were virtually enslaved until the early 1900s on plantations growing sisal, used for rope-making, or in the jungle, tapping gum trees. Discrimination and poverty are probably their greatest enemies today. Just as Gibson?s use of Aramaic in ?The Passion of Christ? sparked a burst of interest in that language, some Maya are hoping ?Apocalypto? will do the same for their tongue. ?I think it is a good chance to integrate the Mayan language ... for people to hear it in movies, on television, everywhere,? said Hilaria Maas, a Maya who teaches the language at Yucatan?s state university. Maas, 65, recalls that children were once prohibited from speaking Maya in school. There is still little bilingual education, and many of those who speak Maya can?t read it. One sign of progress is Yucatan radio station XEPET, ?The Voice of the Mayas,? which began broadcasting in the Indian language in 1982. While it began with a mixed Spanish-Maya patois, it now broadcasts in 90 percent pure Maya. The station is trying to purge words borrowed from Spanish and revive a purer form of Maya. It broadcasts all sorts of music ? from rock to rap to reggae ? with Mayan lyrics. Still, the percentage of Maya speakers in Yucatan state fell from 37 percent in 2000 to 33.9 percent by 2005. Paradoxically, for a state that advertises the glories of the Mayan culture for tourists, it is having a hard time keeping the present-day Maya there; many are migrating to the United States. ?For tourists that?s what sells ... what catches their attention are the archaeological sites,? said Diana Canto, director of the Yucatan Institute for the Development of Maya Culture. ?We are trying to sell them on the living Mayas too, so that people get to know their cultural richness.? Today?s Maya are known mainly for their elaborate rhyming jokes, a cuisine based on pumpkin and achiote seeds, and loose embroidered white clothing. They?re largely peaceful farmers and masons who carry their goods on ubiquitous three-wheeled bicycles over table-flat Yucatan. Interestingly, some Mayas reach much the same conclusion as Gibson?s movie, which focuses on one man?s struggle to save his family as a metaphor for saving the future of a people. ?Our culture hasn?t been destroyed, because the family is the base of it,? says Maas. ?Perhaps some material things have been destroyed, but the real basis of the culture is what a family teaches their children, and that survives, and has survived.? From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:41:35 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:41:35 -0700 Subject: New Generation Benefits from Elders' Struggles Over Native Languages (fwd) Message-ID: New Generation Benefits from Elders' Struggles Over Native Languages Posted Tuesday, December 05, 2006 :: infoZine Staff By Hannah Guillaume - Two teachers, one who was beaten for speaking his native language and the other who dealt with cultural prejudice, are fighting to keep their languages from going extinct. Washington, D.C. - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - infoZine - In Fairbanks, Alaska, Professor Walkie Charles, 49, who was hit for speaking his parents' language in boarding school, is teaching college students an Eskimo language. Like many others, Walkie went to the boarding schools made mandatory in 1879 by the U.S. government's Indian policy. The schools used family separation and physical abuse to force Western assimilation as late as the 1970s in Alaska. In Farmington, N.M., Barbara Sorensen, 45, who has dealt with prejudice for being from two different cultures, is teaching Navajo to high-school students. "It's who I am," Sorensen said. "I wanted to be a role model for them. I'm bilingual and bicultural. I feel like I can switch between the two cultures. If I can do that, then they can do that." Inee Slaughter, spokeswoman for the Indigenous Language Institute in Santa Fe, N.M., said 400 to 600 languages were spoken in the U.S. in the 1400s. Today, linguists estimate there are 175 languages, 80 percent of them endangered. By 2010, Slaughter said linguists estimate only 120 will remain. "When children in the communities are not using the language, that means it's a generation away from endangerment," she said. "The dramatic decline began in the late 1800s with the boarding schools and a federal policy for assimilation," Slaughter said. "The smaller the number of speakers, the less resource there is to turn to for the language information." How to help maintain languages "Unlike hunger or homelessness or disease, people don't see it, but it is threatening the lives of cultures," said Inee Slaughter, spokeswoman for the Indigenous Language Institute. It's about helping people to help themselves, she said. Many tribes offer language workshops and welcome students and those who can teach or help put teaching tools online. Learn how to speak Alaska's native languages with one word a day, courtesy of Alaska's Native Broadcast Co. Tribes like the Nambe of New Mexico, which has 400 members and only 10 speakers, are the most at risk. Slaughter said communities must make a team effort with tribal elders to maintain language. "There's really no cookie-cutter way in which language can be preserved," she said. Charles teaches at the University of Alaska Fairbanks using a 500-page textbook written by a fellow professor. "I regard this piece of text almost as I would an elder," Charles said. His said his path to becoming a "Elitnaurista," or teacher, of Yup'ik started in 1970 when he attended the Wrangell Institute Boarding School in Southeastern Alaska. "I was one of the last kids to get hit for speaking my language," Charles said. "I tell my story about how I was repulsed about my own languages, so that others didn't know I spoke Yup'ik. ... I was trained to feel that way in school." He said it hurt him inside. When Charles attended UAF in 1980, he said he was amazed to find courses in Native languages. Today, just 89 people speak his mother's dialect of Norton Sound Kotlik. The oldest elder died Nov. 25. There are 10,000 fluent Yup'ik speakers. Sixty students are learning Yup'ik at UAF's Alaska Native Language Center. Six are majors. "It's very rigorous. It's very theatrical. It's a lot of analysis," Charles said. "People who have the skills to analyze do very well." The center was started in 1972 by the Alaska - three years before Charles completed boarding school. The school kept going because communities didn't have schools for them. Joel Forbes, 19, a UAF Yup'ik and music education major, is one of Charles' students. Forbes didn't learn how to speak his mother's Bristol Bay Yup'ik. His mother feared school would be harder for him if he didn't speak English as a first language. His father is from Oregon and doesn't speak Yup'ik. Forbes said he's learning now because he wants to be able to speak to his grandmother. "It's in my heritage," Forbes said. "My older brother who passed on already, he spoke it well. My grandma's a big inspiration to speak Yup'ik. I want to talk to her." He said the classes are comparable to math or chemistry. "You do a lot of adding and subtracting to put the words together," Forbes said. "It's a whole new point of view. It can help you solve problems." Navajo is taught in nearly the same way to children in at the Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico. Sorensen grew up speaking Navajo and was immersed in English in high school. Her childhood made her want to maintain the Navajo language. She said most of the school's 80 students show great interest in the mandatory language program. "We go to a trading post in Waterflow, New Mexico, and they will purchase items, and the people that work there, they help us out," Sorensen said. "They love it." April Hale, 25, a University of New Mexico journalism graduate who is returning for a bachelor's degree in geography, graduated from the Navajo Prep School. She said her parents made her want to learn Navajo. "It was quite the learning experience. Both of my parents are fluent in Navajo. So, I grew up in a home where Navajo was spoken," Hale said. Her father, Albert, is a former president of the Navajo Nation and is an Arizona state senator. Her mother, Geraldine King, is a teacher. Her parents spoke Navajo to each other, but not to her. She said neither her parents nor grandparents can read or write in Navajo. "The whole reading or writing of it is fairly new," Hale said. "Because there were no textbooks ... Navajo Prep designs their own." Students spoke Navajo in their dorms. She said the prep school and its language environment make an important contribution to the culture of her generation. "All too often, Navajo isn't spoken in the home, because our generation's parents went to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking the language," Hale said. "Language classes - no matter which culture - it's incredibly important to the contribution of sustaining of culture." Article link: http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/19428/ From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:43:33 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:43:33 -0700 Subject: Funding for Native language immersion moves forward (fwd) Message-ID: Funding for Native language immersion moves forward Posted: December 06, 2006 by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414089 WASHINGTON - In a race too close to call until two weeks after the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Republican Heather Wilson has regained her seat in the House of Representatives. New Mexico's District 1 voters, including many Indians, provided Wilson with just enough votes to edge Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid. Wilson's margin was fewer than 1,000 votes when Madrid conceded. Wilson's presence in Congress now and next January will continue momentum toward passage of a law to provide federal grant funding for Native language immersion schooling. Wilson introduced House Bill 4766 in the House. With the support of committee chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., the bill passed in the House prior to the election and now awaits Senate action. Ryan Wilson (no relation) said the Native vote protected Heather Wilson once her commitment to Native languages became evident. Ryan Wilson, president of the newly formed National Alliance to Save Native Languages, campaigned for the bill as president of the National Indian Education Association, which continues to support H.R. 4766 among its other priorities. In Washington for an appearance on Capitol Hill of Navajo code talkers, he said tribes had rallied as never before behind the bill. He called on American citizens at large to join them. ''Nothing is more American than the languages of her first people,'' he said. ''This is part of the sacred heritage of America, not just a treasured form of expression in Indian country.'' Noting the contribution of code talkers to U.S. war efforts, he referenced the recent film ''Flags of Our Fathers,'' focused on the iconic flag-raising at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima island during World War II. Only days after the opening of a Marine museum near Washington, its architecture abstractly modeled on the famous photograph of U.S. Marines - including Ira Hayes, a Pima soldier - transfixed the mid-Atlantic seaboard region and much of the nation, Wilson underscored the profound contribution of code talkers to the Pacific theater of operations in particular. By putting their oral language to use as an unbreakable code that kept military intelligence from imperial Japan, Native code talkers helped U.S. forces stage the storied combat that ultimately broke the islands. ''It was the Navajo, through their language, who helped uplift that flag at Iwo Jima,'' Wilson said. ''It was that language that helped get them up the mountain.'' From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:46:01 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:46:01 -0700 Subject: Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd (fwd) Message-ID: Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd Tue, 2006-12-05 20:08 National News By: SUE BAILEY http://www.cjad.com/node/448333 OTTAWA (CP) - Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice was booed and jeered Tuesday as he tried to speak to about 400 native protesters on Parliament Hill. Organizers of the rally say anger over perceived Conservative backtracking on First Nations rights has reached the boiling point. Over shouts of "Liar!" and "Shame!" Prentice tried to explain that his department was not responsible for cutting $160 million meant to preserve native languages. That cash was recently eliminated by Canadian Heritage and replaced with $5 million a year for seven years. The Tories say they'll use the money to craft more effective programs to keep about 50 fading languages from dying. But Prentice, the only federal minister to brave the placard-waving crowd as it huddled in a -5 C breeze, bore the full brunt of its frustration. He was almost drowned out by catcalls. The Conservatives, he said, have earmarked more money for native issues than previous regimes. "This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of aboriginal Canadians," he offered over a protester who countered: "Kelowna does that!" The national $5-billion Kelowna Accord reached a year ago to improve native education, housing and economic conditions was scrapped. Canada's long-standing support for a United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which first wavered under the Liberals, was pulled back under the Tories over concerns it would run counter to the constitution, defence laws and existing land deals. Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine says the Tory government has broken promises while making progress in very few specific areas. Prentice is being disingenuous when he includes in federal spending the $2.2-billion settlement to compensate former students of native residential schools, he said. "It's not a program or a service," Fontaine told chiefs from across Canada who began a three-day meeting here Tuesday. The Conservative budget actually committed just $450 million in new spending for 630 First Nations, Fontaine said. He reached that figure after subtracting the residential schools settlement along with $600 million promised for off-reserve and northern housing. "Our people are frustrated and angry," he said. "And they have a right to be. "We feel betrayed and we simply can't be silent about this betrayal." Fontaine said he'll keep trying to negotiate with federal politicians of all stripes. Another prominent leader said polite talks "have gotten us nowhere," and issued an urgent call to action. "This government has done nothing but lie, break promises and distort the truth at the international level," said Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. Aboriginal people across the country must set aside political differences and mobilize to exert united political pressure, he said. "For too long we've been too nice." Taking it all in was a 16-year-old girl from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory just east of Belleville, Ont. Her name, Kenhnonnianions, means "she who makes patterns," a Mohawk reference to buckskin and leather adornments. She is an immersion student who hopes to one day speak her native language fluently. People in her community are tired of being passed over and ignored, she said. "I just think it's time for them to listen," she said of the government. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 6 23:48:44 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:48:44 -0700 Subject: Students learn First Nations language (fwd) Message-ID: Students learn First Nations language By Jean COMPTON The Chronicle Dec 05 2006 http://www.ladysmithchronicle.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=18&cat=43&id=785187&more= Aurea Joe?s face lights up as she reads the morning phrases over the intercom at North Oyster Elementary school. ?Uy skweyul - good day, i u ch uw uy al - how are you?? Aurea was chosen to make the Hul?qumi?num announcements that day, as one of the Chemainus First Nations students who make up over half of the school?s 140 students. Making the language prominent in the school is the job of Hul?qumi?num language support teacher Donna Wilford. ?I don?t go into classes and instruct the language. My job is to make the language apparent, used in the school and recognized,? said Wilford. Each week, Wilford makes up a new word list with three or four words and expressions that get posted on a board in the front hallway, and read on the morning announcements. Classrooms compete for prizes in school-wide games based on the language, such as treasure hunts and quizzes. Students even get a chance to grade teachers on their use of greeting words. Wilford has developed materials and resources to support classroom teachers seeking ways to incorporate Hul?qumi?num words in their classroom. One example are the language boxes, one for each season, with games, posters and flash cards for primary and intermediate grades. She has also developed an extensive resource list that documents all the Coast Salish Culture resources in the district. ?The feedback I?ve gotten is very positive. It?s not only keeping the speech alive, but the culture too,? said Wilford. ?Each language has its own culture and way of thinking embedded into it.? Having their language used in the school helps with children?s self-esteem as well as with academics, such as mathematics. As well as reinforcing the native language of the First Nations students, learning Hul?qumi?num helps non-native speakers in several ways. Studies show that learning any language activates a part of the brain specifically devoted to language. ?It makes children aware that the world is a big and interesting place,? said Wilford. Wilford is not a native speaker; she is Metis with a northern Manitoba Cree and Scottish heritage, and speaks many languages. She has studied Hul?qumi?num and picked up words from the native language speakers who used to work as educational assistants at the school. The educational assistants went on to train at Malaspina University-College as certified culture and language teachers, and as such are in great demand in the school district. ?Trained Hul?qumi?num language teachers can get full-time jobs,? said North Oyster principal Don Anderson, whose budget allows only for part-time language support. Robyn Gray, District Principal of Aboriginal Education, said that the challenge is there are not enough fluent speakers from the community. There are 10-12 people enrolled in the MalU course. There are currently 45 people working as Aboriginal educational assistants in School District 68. North Oyster School student Aurea Joe reads the morning phrases over the intercom. JEAN COMPTON/ THE CHRONICLE From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Fri Dec 8 03:32:11 2006 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 19:32:11 -0800 Subject: Language preservation help needed #06-068 Message-ID: You may not have seen the latest news release but the language bill passed in the Senate Dec. 6 and is on the way to the President for signature. He has 10 days once it is received in the White House to sign or veto so it is important to contact/write the White House. There is no time to write so you need to call, email, or fax the White House. Contacting the White House Mailing Address The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Phone Numbers Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 Visitors Office: 202-456-2121 E-Mail Please send your comments to comments at whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For further up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website. Vice President Richard Cheney: vice_president at whitehouse.gov From NIEA: National Indian Education Association 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E. Suite 104 Washington, D.C. 20002 P: (202) 544-7290 / F: (202) 544-7293 December 7, 2006 Broadcast #06-070 H.R. 4766 is on the way to the President for signature!!!! Last night (December 6th) at approximately 8:45pm, the Senate passed H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Act of 2006, by unanimous consent National Indian Education Association 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E. Suite 104 Washington, D.C. 20002 P: (202) 544-7290 / F: (202) 544-7293 November 30, 2006 Broadcast #06-068 ACTION ALERT ON H.R. 4766, THE ESTHER MARTINEZ NATIVE LANGUAGES PRESERVATION ACT OF 2006- CALLING ON HELP FROM OKLAHOMA NIEA is still working hard to pass the H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Act of 2006 during the lame duck session. When Congress returned from the election recess, NIEA and Native American Code Talkers Samuel Tso (Navajo), Keith Little (Navajo) and Merrill Sandovil (Navajo) met with several Senate offices to discuss H.R.4766 and request removal of the current hold placed on the bill. We are asking for your help, particularly tribes, schools, educational groups, and religious organizations in Oklahoma to weigh in with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) expressing your support of H.R. 4766 and requesting him to lift his hold. Congress will return from their Thanksgiving break on December 4th and are expected to adjourn for the year the same week so there is little time left to pass H..R. 4766 this session. H.R. 4766 is a House bill that was introduced by Representatives Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Rick Renzi (R-AZ). Before Congress recessed at the end of September, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4766 on suspension on a bi-partisan basis. If Senator Coburn lifts his hold, then the Senate can pass the bill on the unanimous consent calendar when it re-convenes next week to wrap up its legislative business for the 109th Congress. Essentially, H.R. 4766 would provide assistance to on-going heritage language restoration efforts through a current authorized discretionary Native language grant program at the Administration for Native Americans at the Department of Health and Human Services. This bill is needed to provide a focus on grants that help create Native language fluency as opposed to other kinds of language grants. The bill does not create a new program. Instead, it simply varies the uses of grant funds in a current program. Further, the bill does not alter English proficiency requirements contained in current law. Instead, the bill simply provides additional opportunities to preserve Native languages. Please find below below a sample letter to send to Senator Coburn. Senator Coburn?s office phone number is (202) 224-5754 and fax number is (202) 224-6008. Please fax a copy of any letters sent to (202) 544-7293 so that NIEA can keep track of them. November________, 2006 The Honorable Tom Coburn, M.D. United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Coburn: I am writing to urge your support for Senate passage during the lame duck session of H.R. 4766. This legislation, which would amend an existing Federal Native language program to provide a broader range of language training options, passed the House on the suspension calendar and is under consideration for passage by unanimous consent in the Senate. We understand that you have raised concerns about the bill. Native languages are not spoken anywhere else in the world; and, if they are not preserved, then they will disappear forever. Unfortunately, Native American languages are disappearing at an alarming rate. Language scholars estimate that there were approximately 300 languages spoken in North America prior to the arrival of Columbus. Some project that only 20 indigenous languages will remain viable by the year 2050. H.R. 4766 would help to preserve Native languages by allowing for increased opportunities for students, both young and old and Native and non-Native, to learn a Native language. The federal government should support the preservation of Native languages. After all, Native languages are one of the treasures of this country?s heritage and history. Native American languages have contributed to the rich fabric of what makes our country so great. For example, many states, cities, towns, streets, rivers, and other geographical places in our country are Native words. It would be a shame to continue to lose the languages from where these words are derived. Also, another reason that the federal government should play a role in preserving Native languages is due to the federal government?s much-criticized assimilation policies in the 1950?s and 1960?s, which is one of the main reasons that Native American languages are dying out. During that time, the federal government followed a policy to eradicate Native languages by harshly forbidding the speaking of Native languages at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. The architect of this policy summed up the policy as ?Kill the Indian . . . and save the man.? Now these children are adults and have not taught their children their Native languages, given their experiences at these schools. It is well-proven that individuals who participate in programs such as those provided for in H.R. 4766 realize many positive gains from learning a new language. Further, in learning a Native language, these individuals learn about the history of the community in which they live and gain a better appreciation for it. I urge you to work for quick passage of this legislation in the lame duck session of the 109th Congress. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, --------------------------------------- If you would like to be removed from our list-serve, please send your request to niea at niea.org. Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:16:54 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:16:54 -0700 Subject: New Tools Help Preserve Old Ways (fwd) Message-ID: UBC Reports | Vol. 52 | No. 12 | Dec. 7, 2006 New Tools Help Preserve Old Ways Remote, marginalized peoples use high-tech to record and share culture and knowledge By Bud Mortenson [photo inset - Video recording and digital mapping tools are being used by many indigenous communities around the world - photo by Jon Corbett] In 1962, residents of remote Turner Island near the north end of Vancouver Island were relocated, ostensibly to provide them with better access to government services. The people of the Tlowitsis nation found themselves in Nanaimo, Victoria, the Lower Mainland and as far afield as Manitoba. Over time, relocation had a devastating impact on the community?s knowledge of their traditional territory. ?They needed to do something to re-engage in the relationship between themselves and the land,? says UBC Okanagan Geography Prof. Jon Corbett. He received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SHRCC) grant to work with the Tlowitsis community, providing them with cameras and training to video record elders as they revisited Turner Island more than four decades after leaving. ?We wanted to look at how technologies like these can be used from a cultural and participatory perspective -- how they can contribute to nation-building,? he says. ?It was amazing to see people in their 60s and 70s going back to Turner Island for the first time since they left in 1962. The elders were sharing wonderful stories with young people who really had no connection with this place. It was helping them build a sense of national identity.? Community members developed a DVD of the nation?s culture and heritage and presented it at the Tlowistis annual general meeting. ?Many in the audience had never been to Turner Island because it?s so hard to get to,? he recalls. ?They were overwhelmed.? His research has taken him to many remote indigenous communities -- from Indonesia, the Philippines, the Australian outback, and more recently on Vancouver Island. ?One of the great joys of geography is the scope you have to explore things,? says Corbett, who once spent two years living in a Borneo longhouse as part of his research. ?I engage in research with people in the community, and they are co-researchers. It?s all done collaboratively, the research process itself can become a form of emancipation.? Every community uses and responds to the technology differently. In one Indonesian village, the women described where they drew their water and how they carried it home. ?In another community, illegal logging was taking place on their land and using a camera they were able to record video to use as evidence. ?We went back to one community 18 months later and found that they had become so skilled with the video camera that other people came to them and asked, ?Do you think you could make us a video?? In another community we found them recording wedding ceremonies -- their video camera had broken and they raised the $250 to fix it straight away. It had become an economic resource for them.? Gathering histories on tape and connecting maps with information about people and culture is important, but it?s not the whole point, he cautions. ?This is a lot more complex than just creating a digital repository of information. The key is the process -- it?s about young people learning new skills and learning from elders, and learning more about themselves.? A larger project through the SHRCC-funded Community-University Research Alliance has Corbett working with several First Nations on Vancouver Island to record their languages. An interactive DVD with clickable maps allows viewers to choose from among Vancouver Island?s 14 long houses. Selecting a site on the map presents a video of elders speaking in their native language with English subtitles, and in English with the native language subtitles. His work has the attention of the European Union-funded and French-administered Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). Corbett is now on the steering committee for a major international conference in Rome in September 2007 and is exploring several near-term research projects with CTA. ?They?re looking at how social computing -- things like YouTube and virtual communities -- can be used in a developing world context. I?m hoping this is something we?ll build on with projects at UBC Okanagan around the power of maps and the web, looking at how we manage information and whether the medium of a map can be an effective way to do that,? he says. One of his next projects is to create a system using GoogleMaps technology to help people organize their car-pooling requirements. ?It?s not necessarily the technology that will make car pooling work, but it would make car pooling much easier to organize.? A car-pooling helper could take your postal code and quickly look at all the options, produce a map of the best routes and even reserve your spot in a car. Simplifying the task could make community programs more successful here at home and in developing countries. ?I really enjoy what I do,? Corbett says. ?Ultimately, I?m fascinated with how we can use technology to benefit marginalized people in society -- and bring about positive change.? Last reviewed 07-Dec-2006 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:27:52 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:27:52 -0700 Subject: Film won't open indigenous floodgates (fwd) Message-ID: Film won't open indigenous floodgates By Jonathon Moran December 08, 2006 01:28pm Article from: AAP http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20893633-5005361,00.html# TEN Canoes may have won best picture at this year's AFI awards but don't expect a flood of indigenous language films in Australian cinemas, warns the movie's director Rolf de Heer. Australia's first indigenous language feature film cleaned up at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards yesterday, scooping best film and best direction. But de Heer said today: "I don't think there will be a flood of indigenous language films. "I hope there will be some more but I don't think this will open the floodgates or anything like that." Ten Canoes beat Candy, Jindabyne and Kenny to take Australia's top film honour. De Heer and Peter Djigirr won best direction, and the film, shot in remote Arnhem land, also took home best original screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best sound. De Heer also received the Byron Kennedy Award for his contribution to Australian filmmaking, while Ten Canoes cinematographer Ian Jones was honoured with a lifetime achievement award. "My voice is a bit croaky and the legs are a bit tired but I'm okay," de Heer said today after just three hours' sleep. Starring Jamie Gulpilil and Frances Djulibing, the comedy was filmed predominantly in the Ganalbingu language. "They were really utterly delighted," de Heer said of the film's indigenous cast and crew. "To them it is another step ... each little step that the film takes is validation to them of their culture, of themselves as people who can achieve things. They are more confident and a bit more forward looking and I think that is a great thing." Ten Canoes has won a string of prizes since premiering at the Adelaide Film Festival in March. It received a special jury prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in May and is Australia's official entry in the foreign language category at next year's Academy Awards. "A film can do in a very general sense only this tiny little bit," de Heer said. "It can make a tiny contribution and hopefully Ten Canoes has made a contribution. Where it has made a bigger contribution has been in the community." Also winning top honours at the 48th annual AFI Awards were best actress Emily Barclay, for her performance in Suburban Mayhem, and best actor Shane Jacobson, for toilet humour comedy Kenny. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:31:28 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:31:28 -0700 Subject: United States Supports Research To Document Endangered Languages (fwd) Message-ID: United States Supports Research To Document Endangered Languages National Science Foundation, National Endowment for Humanities give grants http://newsblaze.com/story/20061207145244tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html Throughout the world, thousands of languages are at risk of disappearing, but researchers are documenting and recording these linguistic links to history. Examples abound: Only one-fourth of the Northern Cheyenne tribe in Montana speak their native language. In Nigeria, Defaka is spoken by just 200 people. And there are fewer than a dozen native speakers of N/uu, one of several African languages that use distinctive clicks for some consonants. A program sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) - Documenting Endangered Languages - has awarded $9.4 million over the past two years to researchers and native speakers seeking to document and create digital records of languages threatened with extinction. About half of the grants support work on American Indian languages. More than half of the world's 7,000 existing languages "are headed for oblivion in this century," according to an NEH/NSF press release. One reason is globalization: People increasingly find it necessary to do business in the most widely spoken languages, such as Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian and Hindi. The Internet and print and television media also speed the rate of language loss. Ten languages account for nearly 80 percent of Internet users, with English and Chinese alone accounting for 42 percent, according to internetstats.com, a search engine that provides Internet, business, financial and advertising statistics. By creating audio and video recordings, transcriptions, dictionaries and grammatical guides, linguists can work with speakers of a language to create a permanent digital archive. These materials can be put on the Internet "and suddenly it opens up the language to the entire world," said Doug Whalen, an NSF program director. Linguists are working with the N/uu speakers, who live on the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert, to create a dictionary and grammar that will support research into the language and history of the people and help the N/uu teach their children to write the language. Linguist Amanda Miller of Cornell University uses a portable ultrasound machine to produce images of the way the tongue moves when a N/uu speaker makes clicks and other complicated sounds. "When I go to southern Africa, I have people [from other ethnic groups] say, 'When will you come back and work on my language?'" said Bonny Sands of Northern Arizona University, one of three principal investigators for the project. "People understand how important language is." Africa has the highest concentration of disappearing languages, according to UNESCO. Akinbiyi Akinlabi of Rutgers University received a grant to document Defaka, which has only 200 speakers, and Nkoroo, a related language that has 5,000 speakers. "No language should be allowed to die out without being scientifically documented," he said. "A language tells us about the culture of a people, their way of life, their history." In both Sands' and Akinlabi's projects, as well as most others funded under Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL), graduate students, native speakers and other investigators from the country that hosts a language play vital roles in the research. "The quality of the data is much higher if native speakers are involved in decision-making and data collection," said Arienne Dwyer of the University of Kansas, who employs two dozen people in China for a project to prepare a grammar of Monguor, an unwritten endangered Mongolic language of northern Tibet. Dwyer stressed that the DEL projects focus on documentation. "It's not our business to decide whether a language survives or disappears," she said. "We can only present ourselves as resource people." Helen Aguera, acting deputy director for preservation at NEH, said the program can "help create the resources that the community will be able to adapt and use for their own efforts at revitalization." For example, a scholarly grammar book or dictionary can be simplified into a "learner's dictionary" for use in teaching. Veronica Grondona of Eastern Michigan University is documenting Wichi, a language that has about 25,000 speakers in northern Argentina and Bolivia but is considered endangered because children are not learning it in sufficient numbers and because of the population's intense contact with Spanish speakers. She said she was working in the community on two other indigenous languages "and the Wichi speakers came to us and said, 'We want you to document our language and help us preserve our language.'" Grondona always meets with the chiefs of the community to determine what they want, such as interviewing as many elders as possible or producing teaching materials. "In many cases you end up doing work that may help in the maintenance of the language because the speakers ask you to do that," she said. NEH and NSF are evaluating applications for 2007 DEL grants, whose recipients will be announced next spring. A special report on endangered languages and lists of DEL grantees for 2005 and 2006 are available on the NSF Web site. For more information on U.S. policies, see Population and Diversity. Source: U.S. Department of State judythpiazza at gmail.com Copyright ? 2006, NewsBlaze, Daily News From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:32:56 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:32:56 -0700 Subject: Language bill will go to president following Senate passage (fwd) Message-ID: Language bill will go to president following Senate passage ? Indian Country Today December 07, 2006. All Rights Reserved Posted: December 07, 2006 by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414125 WASHINGTON - Late Dec. 6, the Senate passed a bill authorizing a grants program for Native language nest and language survival schools within the Department of Health and Human Services. H.R. 4766 passed the Senate by unanimous consent after coming over from the House of Representatives, where it had been introduced by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. The bill will become law upon the president's signature. The grants program it authorizes will be administered by the Administration for Native Americans within HHS. ANA already administers discretionary grants to Native language programs. The bill overcame many obstacles as its advocates argued that learning a Native language in an immersion school setting, alongside the usual use and study of English, would improve Indian academic achievement. The bill had to make headway in an ''English only'' climate and overcame the initial opposition of Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. Its final opponent proved to be Sen. Charles Coburn, R-Okla., who relented when assured that Native language immersion schooling is not a hindrance to English language acquisition. Ryan Wilson, president of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages, campaigned for the bill from his current position and as past president of the National Indian Education Association. He said the appearance of Navajo code talkers - veterans who had provided the U.S. military forces with an unbreakable communications code based on the unwritten Navajo tongue - on Capitol Hill in November had convinced key senators to support the bill. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 8 20:36:49 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 13:36:49 -0700 Subject: Amoc is rapping the Sámi language onto the map (fwd) Message-ID: Amoc is rapping the S?mi language onto the map http://www.finland.org/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=58074&intIGID=25&intCatID=&LAN=FI&contlan=&Thread=58074,56735,56359,56358,56394,55810,55525,54179,57179,55744,55217,54984,56903,56789,55385,&intThreadPosition=0 Rapper Amoc alias Mikkal Morottaja, 21, raps intense rhymes in one of the most endangered languages in the world. Young people who speak Inari S?mi, comprise only about 20 people but his music attracts attention from a much wider audience.] [photo inset - Mikkal Morottaja alias Amoc. Photo: Harri Nurminen] Mikkal Morottaja was born and raised in Inari, the home of his father's family. His father is an Inari S?mi, and his mother is from Turku. Mikkal learnt both languages as a child as did his two brothers. The family's common languages are both Finnish and Inari S?mi; his mother understands Inari S?mi and can even speak the language a little. Mikkal is recorded in the population register as an Inari S?mi speaker from birth. At the moment there are about 350 people who can speak Inari S?mi ? most of them over middle age. "When I went to school I was the only child in my age-group who spoke Inari S?mi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. He was, however, educated at school in the Inari S?mi language and took his matriculation exam native language test in Inari S?mi, and he believes he is one of the first ten students to have done this. Mikkal Morottaja currently teaches Inari S?mi at the upper secondary school in Inari. He has a total of five pupils. "More and more pupils want to study Inari S?mi with each new year group. The future looks bright," says Mikkal Morottaja. He believes this development is a result of the 'language nest' method. 'Language nests' are child day care groups where S?mi children who speak Finnish as their mother tongue learn the language of their tribal unit naturally. There are now teaching groups at school where all the teaching is provided in Inari S?mi, while only a few years ago no S?mi children under the age of 7 could speak Inari S?mi. Mythical rhymes about the Arctic wilderness Mikkal Morottaja claims that he could even write a love letter in Inari S?mi. He says he has written text messages in Inari S?mi even though some of the characters used in Inari S?mi are missing on mobile phones. Some words do not even exist in S?mi. Mikkal's dad, Matti Morottaja, who is a retired teacher, actively works to preserve and develop the language and has helped Mikkal find and think up expressions for his raps. Mikkal Morottaja's interest in rap started in his early teens around the same time that the first Finnish rap albums came out. "At first I just came up with some rather amusing rhymes in Finnish. When I was in the 6th form I decided to try and see if it was possible to come up with rhymes in S?mi. When my friends told me they thought this worked well, I started writing almost all my raps in S?mi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. The inspiration for Morottaja's S?mi raps is the Arctic wilderness; the mindscape is rugged and mythical. He raps about a golden axe, heaven and hell. Even though few understand his lyrics, Amoc's live gigs are popular amongst Nordic audiences. "Young people who can speak other S?mi languages understand some of my lyrics. I want my rap to have a good beat and flow, my voice control to sound good and my stage show to be interesting. Those who are curious can find the Finnish versions of my raps on the Internet. Amoc's first CD was released in spring 2006. Language preservation is self protection This young man is planning to apply to study media at Tampere, Oulu, Rovaniemi or Helsinki. His long-term goal is, however, to return to the North. "I travel a lot but home is always so much nicer than anywhere else." If Morottaja becomes a father, he will definitely speak Inari S?mi to his children and carry on the ancient culture to the next generation. He believes he is not the only one to think this way and that there are other young people who value language and traditions and want to stay in Lapland. How does Mikkal Morottaja explain the motive for putting so much effort into preserving the archaic language of one small community? "It is important to me as it is part of the fight for self preservation which is a part of human nature. It would be very sad if the language died out," he explains. "I hope that this type of popular music will promote this cause. And if other people listen to this music then young S?mi can feel proud of their language and culture. Thank goodness music is eternal." Adapted from article by Salla Korpela for Virtual Finland. From jtucker at STARBAND.NET Fri Dec 8 22:27:01 2006 From: jtucker at STARBAND.NET (Jan Tucker) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 17:27:01 -0500 Subject: Amoc is rapping the S=?UTF-8?Q?=C3=A1mi?= language onto th e map (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20061208133649.36ljtw0c0scoso8g@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: www.mikseri.net/amoc Link to listen to Amoc, S?mi Rapper. It's pretty cool. I'd like to hear that Lakota rapper also if anyone has a link. I have some indigenous rap but it's in English: WarParty. click Lofi or Hifi to listen. Jan -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]On Behalf Of phil cash cash Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 3:37 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] Amoc is rapping the S?mi language onto the map (fwd) Amoc is rapping the S?mi language onto the map http://www.finland.org/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=58074&intIGID=25&intCatID=&LAN=FI&contlan=&Thread=58074,56735,56359,56358,56394,55810,55525,54179,57179,55744,55217,54984,56903,56789,55385,&intThreadPosition=0 Rapper Amoc alias Mikkal Morottaja, 21, raps intense rhymes in one of the most endangered languages in the world. Young people who speak Inari S?mi, comprise only about 20 people but his music attracts attention from a much wider audience.] [photo inset - Mikkal Morottaja alias Amoc. Photo: Harri Nurminen] Mikkal Morottaja was born and raised in Inari, the home of his father's family. His father is an Inari S?mi, and his mother is from Turku. Mikkal learnt both languages as a child as did his two brothers. The family's common languages are both Finnish and Inari S?mi; his mother understands Inari S?mi and can even speak the language a little. Mikkal is recorded in the population register as an Inari S?mi speaker from birth. At the moment there are about 350 people who can speak Inari S?mi ? most of them over middle age. "When I went to school I was the only child in my age-group who spoke Inari S?mi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. He was, however, educated at school in the Inari S?mi language and took his matriculation exam native language test in Inari S?mi, and he believes he is one of the first ten students to have done this. Mikkal Morottaja currently teaches Inari S?mi at the upper secondary school in Inari. He has a total of five pupils. "More and more pupils want to study Inari S?mi with each new year group. The future looks bright," says Mikkal Morottaja. He believes this development is a result of the 'language nest' method. 'Language nests' are child day care groups where S?mi children who speak Finnish as their mother tongue learn the language of their tribal unit naturally. There are now teaching groups at school where all the teaching is provided in Inari S?mi, while only a few years ago no S?mi children under the age of 7 could speak Inari S?mi. Mythical rhymes about the Arctic wilderness Mikkal Morottaja claims that he could even write a love letter in Inari S?mi. He says he has written text messages in Inari S?mi even though some of the characters used in Inari S?mi are missing on mobile phones. Some words do not even exist in S?mi. Mikkal's dad, Matti Morottaja, who is a retired teacher, actively works to preserve and develop the language and has helped Mikkal find and think up expressions for his raps. Mikkal Morottaja's interest in rap started in his early teens around the same time that the first Finnish rap albums came out. "At first I just came up with some rather amusing rhymes in Finnish. When I was in the 6th form I decided to try and see if it was possible to come up with rhymes in S?mi. When my friends told me they thought this worked well, I started writing almost all my raps in S?mi," explains Mikkal Morottaja. The inspiration for Morottaja's S?mi raps is the Arctic wilderness; the mindscape is rugged and mythical. He raps about a golden axe, heaven and hell. Even though few understand his lyrics, Amoc's live gigs are popular amongst Nordic audiences. "Young people who can speak other S?mi languages understand some of my lyrics. I want my rap to have a good beat and flow, my voice control to sound good and my stage show to be interesting. Those who are curious can find the Finnish versions of my raps on the Internet. Amoc's first CD was released in spring 2006. Language preservation is self protection This young man is planning to apply to study media at Tampere, Oulu, Rovaniemi or Helsinki. His long-term goal is, however, to return to the North. "I travel a lot but home is always so much nicer than anywhere else." If Morottaja becomes a father, he will definitely speak Inari S?mi to his children and carry on the ancient culture to the next generation. He believes he is not the only one to think this way and that there are other young people who value language and traditions and want to stay in Lapland. How does Mikkal Morottaja explain the motive for putting so much effort into preserving the archaic language of one small community? "It is important to me as it is part of the fight for self preservation which is a part of human nature. It would be very sad if the language died out," he explains. "I hope that this type of popular music will promote this cause. And if other people listen to this music then young S?mi can feel proud of their language and culture. Thank goodness music is eternal." Adapted from article by Salla Korpela for Virtual Finland. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Dec 9 00:03:06 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 17:03:06 -0700 Subject: A note on DVD media... Message-ID: fyi, Just a quick note to film-based media makers.? I have been looking into quality media for creating "archival" (whatever that means) film-based media products with a high rate of flawless burns.? At the link below is a listing of the top "1st Class Media" as found at digitalFAQ.com. Interestingly enough, "media ID's" are far more important than what name brand a blank-media DVD falls under.? And that is part of the problem it appears as you can not find the media-ID on the name brand package.? Some special software (freeware) is available that reads for this kind of info (you will find links on the digitalFAQ.com website).? Anyway, check out the info & comparison charts at: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm ? Phil Cash Cash (cayuse/nez perce) UofA ILAT mg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 11 20:49:06 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:49:06 -0700 Subject: A Cowichan school for Cowichan children (fwd) Message-ID: A Cowichan school for Cowichan children [photo inset - Kierra Thomas pours flour into the play-dough mixture while classmate Gabby Joe looks on in a kindergarten class at Quw?utsun? Smuneem elementary school.] By Aaron Bichard The Pictorial http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=9&cat=43&id=789680&more= Dec 09 2006 Quw?utsun Smuneem translated from Hul?qumi?num to English means our Cowichan children and there?s no doubt the small elementary school on Glenora Road takes its name seriously. The small First Nation school run by the Cowichan Tribes has been quietly growing and adapting for the past four years, trying desperately to preserve both language and culture amongst local children. ?It really provides a sense of belonging for the children,? principal Maryann Thorne said about the school that only teaches First Nations children. ?Some people say it is wrong for a school to be exclusive, but I feel it?s very important for our children and our culture to survive. ?It?s a safe place with people who only look out for their well-being, and the kids are able to behave in ways that are culturally appropriate.? The school began with Fran Rose who held a daycare in the Anglican Church basement in 1966. During the years that passed, Cowichan Tribes saw the need for daycare increase with high population growth rates. In 2002, nestled in a remote rural area with large expansion potential, the school was built to house kindergarten classes. Now, five classes ? two kindergarten, two Grade 1 and one Grade 2 ? are held to accommodate more than 90 students. The school, built with a main cedar wall to represent a traditional salmon weir, has dozens of windows, bathing the learning in light. A fulltime speech language pathologist rounds out the cast of 20 staff members who look after the kids. ?I?d say about 90 per cent of our teachers are Cowichan,? Thorne said. ?The number of staff is good for the kids. There?s a lot of one-on-one teacher time.? The school is slowly amassing resources, with its library growing steadily. It has 18 computers in its lab and a fully furnished kitchen where traditional fare is cooked regularly. ?I?m proud of this school,? Thorne said. ?It?s a nice feeling to have our own people teaching our children.? Part of the curriculum makes it mandatory for the students to learn Hul?qumi?num, which they start right away. ?It doesn?t take them long to understand kinship and be able to name household objects,? Thorne said. ?But it?s difficult teaching the language because there are so few fluent speakers still alive.? Thorne hopes the school will be able to expand during the next few years to accommodate up to Grade 6, but isn?t holding her breath it will happen right away. ?It?s up to the people giving us the funding,? Thorne said. ? Copyright 2006 Duncan News Leader and Pictorial From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 11 20:51:23 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:51:23 -0700 Subject: Young ones give voice to old tongue (fwd) Message-ID: Young ones give voice to old tongue By Jo Roberts December 12, 2006 http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/young-ones-give-voice-to-old-tongue/2006/12/11/1165685610958.html# [photo inset - Youthful members of the Aboriginal Children's Choir.] The February debut performance of the Aboriginal Children's Choir didn't quite go as planned, recalls the choir's musical director, Belinda Gillam. The choir gave its first concert in its hometown of Healesville as part of the Queens Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games. Well, half a concert, anyway. The children didn't realise there was more singing to be done after interval, so they all wandered off home or to the nearby skate park. Tomorrow, when the choir performs as part of Federation Square's Christmas Carols program, Gillam says there will be about eight adults, including guest singer Lou Bennett, to keep an eye on the 20 or so children. "Hopefully I'll be able to keep them all in the one place at the one time," laughs Gillam. The choir was formed by the Yarra Ranges Children's choir and the local indigenous community as part of the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games, but also as a way to give indigenous children the chance to learn Woiwurrung, the language of the Wurundjeri people. There are no fluent Woiwurrung speakers alive, says Gillam. "There are a few elders who know a few phrases, but even Aunty Joy is learning language back from written text." "Aunty Joy" is Wurundjeri elder Joy Wandin Murphy, who was inspired to help form the choir after seeing how a similar choir had helped revive the language of New Zealand's Ngai Tahu Maori people. She has written her own Christmas carol in Woiwurrung, Pirn Wandeat Ngamat Ho (A Star Fell from Heaven), that the children will perform tomorrow. "My feeling is that we're never going to get people fluent in Woiwurrung again because there's no one to learn it from," says Gillam. "But what we're trying to do is reclaim as much of the language as we can." The Aboriginal Children's Choir, with Lou Bennett, performs in Federation Square tomorrow from midday to 1pm. For more information on the square's carols program, which runs until December 22, go to www.fedsquare.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Dec 11 20:53:40 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:53:40 -0700 Subject: Tradition helps community thrive (fwd) Message-ID: Tradition helps community thrive MARIE WADDEN http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1165792212430&call_pageid=1024322086066&col=1024322199686 Map shows location of Old Crow, Yukon (Dec 11, 2006) The pride and joy of Canada's most remote and healthiest Aboriginal community is plain to see on its website. Oldcrow.ca shows photos of this year's high-school graduates -- four young men and two women -- outside the school. The young men wear their caps and gowns with flair; one has his arms crossed and his head cocked as though challenging the world to defeat him. One female has her arm around an elderly Gwichin man. Six high-school graduates from a community of 300 may not seem like a big accomplishment. But think of the challenges. Old Crow is in the Yukon and has no roads connecting it to anywhere else. It's 200 kilometres above the Arctic Circle and closer to the Alaskan border than to any place in Canada. If you think of Canada having four corners, Old Crow is the most northwestern corner. After university, many of these graduates will want to go home because, despite its remoteness, Old Crow is a good place to live. There hasn't been a suicide in Old Crow since 1996. That death might not even have been a suicide. "It was a person with a mental disorder," Chief Joe Linklater explains, "and we might have prevented it had we been able to act more quickly." This is remarkable considering the suicide rate in many other Aboriginal communities is many times higher than the Canadian average. One academic study always cited on the subject of Aboriginal suicide rate was conducted in B.C. by professors Chris Lalonde and Michael Chandler. The professors looked for the factors that made communities with low suicide rates different. They learned that the healthiest communities are the most self-governing. The less Ottawa, the less suicide. Old Crow has had self-government since 1995. That's also when Linklater was elected to lead the community at the age of 30. "We've learned more about governance in the past 11 years than all our years under the Indian Act," he says. "We've come a huge distance in a short while, especially when you consider the Territorial government is 70 years old, and the Canadian government is 140 years old. I'm proud of what we've accomplished." Linklater leads a very inclusive governing system. His small band council, just four elected members, administers the community's services. Policy is set by the Elders Council, a Tribal court and the General Assembly. You can get a surprising amount of business done this way. "We held a general assembly this weekend," Linklater says, "and 40 to 50 people attended. We passed 24 resolutions in three hours. There was no yelling or screaming. We got consensus and compromise." Self-government must also lower addiction rates. Old Crow is so comfortable with its social health, it is considering dropping a 15-year-old ban on the consumption and possession of alcohol. You wouldn't tamper with something that's not broken, so why consider abolishing a law that seems to be keeping everyone sober? "There's more alcohol here now than there was 15 years ago," says Linklater. Bootleggers have been able to get alcohol and drugs past the RCMP even in this remote place. Drinking and drug use are not big problems in the community, but Linklater is afraid if the bootleggers are not put out of business they may start smuggling worse things. Not everyone in town is comfortable with lifting the alcohol ban. When Linklater tried to strike a committee to make recommendations, he couldn't find anyone who was neutral. So an independent facilitator is to be hired to chair community meetings until a consensus is reached. Some feel Old Crow has enough going for it to make moderate drinking possible. They might be right. Old Crow hasn't suffered the same losses as most other Canadian Aboriginal communities. The habitat of the Porcupine River caribou herd, the community's main food source, has not been destroyed by a hydro electric project or a logging operation. Old Crow's isolation has been its saving grace. The people still have their land. On the town's website, the radiant pictures of the 2006 graduating ceremony provide insight into the source of the chief's confidence about its future. Saskatchewan sociologist Dr. Richard Thatcher says Aboriginal students who are grounded in their culture and raised to be comfortable outside of it have the best chance to avoid social problems. Bicultural youth have greater choices. Children in Old Crow learn from the B.C. curriculum, but there are lots of additions, like the Gwitchin language and traditions. "The school is an integral part of the community life and many of the local people work with the students. This is especially true of the elders who spend a lot of time teaching the pupils legends, how to trap, fish and hunt," the website explains. Chief Linklater wants to strengthen the students' grasp of math and the sciences with more instruction on the land. "We'll study biology while out trapping the animals," he says, "and physics by looking at the property of snow. Our environment is a living laboratory." The challenges his students face have been turned into opportunities. This year's graduates -- Wade Kaye, Amanda and Travis Frost, Malinda Bruce, Robert Linklater and Floyd McGinnis -- had to leave home after Grade 9 to attend high school in Whitehorse, 600 kilometres south. For three years, they lived away from their families, returning only in the summer. But their families never left them. Old Crow is one big extended family and Gwitchin families in Whitehorse support the students so they won't get too homesick. "Strength of culture would be one reason we're a healthy community," Linklater says. "The strength of the Gwitchin language is another. Third, our strong sense of community -- everybody looks out for one another. And finally, we all feel ownership of what's going on because we have self-government." Linklater believes his community is on the right course, where alcoholism and other addictions will not be an issue in another generation even if the prohibition is lifted. There is, however, another potential threat. The United States has been talking about developing oil and gas projects in the sensitive calving and wintering grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd. If these projects go ahead and the caribou herd is affected, the Gwitchin of Old Crow may suffer the kind of trauma that has harmed so many other Aboriginal people. Marie Wadden received an Atkinson Fellowship to research a project on a topical public policy issue. From gmccone at NAL.USDA.GOV Tue Dec 12 15:12:36 2006 From: gmccone at NAL.USDA.GOV (McCone, Gary) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 10:12:36 -0500 Subject: A Dead Indian Language Is Brought Back to Life Message-ID: This page was sent to you by: gmccone at nal.usda.gov A Dead Indian Language Is Brought Back to Life By David A. Fahrenthold MATTAPONI INDIAN RESERVATION, Va. -- "Muh-shay-wah-NUH-toe. Chess-kay-dah-KAY-wak." Gary K. McCone Associate Director, Information Systems National Agricultural Library 10301 Baltimore Avenue Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2351 (301) 504-5018 Fax. (301) 504-6968 "We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing." -- R. D. Laing -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 22:56:15 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:56:15 -0700 Subject: Language can be revived (fwd) Message-ID: Language can be revived expert Kerry Benjoe The Leader-Post Tuesday, December 12, 2006 http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/city_province/story.html?id=4571fcbe-177b-4402-ab20-303eabe8eb46 Brent Galloway says bringing a language back from the dead is not impossible. Galloway, a professor at the First Nations University of Canada, has been working at reviving aboriginal languages since the 1970s. His work in preserving languages has become even more important since the recent cut in federal funding for aboriginal languages. Galloway's interest in languages began while he was pursuing his doctorate at the University of California in Berkeley. He continued his work after leaving Berkeley and soon found himself in the Vancouver area, working with different aboriginal groups. He was successful in helping to re-establish the Helkomelem language for the Sto:lo Nation. Galloway is particularly proud of his contribution that helped bring the Nooksack language back from the dead. It was through salvaged field notes and field notes that he gave back that the once-dead language was revived. Galloway said his work in aboriginal languages caught the attention of the First Nations University of Canada -- then known as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College -- in the mid-1980s. He accepted a position there and became the department head. He is no longer the head of the department but is still working in the department and his interest in preserving aboriginal languages has not diminished. Galloway believes preserving any aboriginal language is possible and is important for people to pursue. He's spent decades working towards saving endangered dialects and says there are four essential steps: Preserving it, developing a means to teach it, teaching it, and ensuring there are places to use it. Galloway has plans to continue his work with preserving languages after he retires from teaching in a couple of years. He said developing dictionaries and grammar systems are essential components to saving and recording languages. Once a language has a good dictionary of about 3,000 words, people can work to reviving it. He said the biggest factor that contributed to the demise of aboriginal languages was the residential school system. Many parents in fear of having their children punished for speaking their traditional language opted to teach them only English. Galloway said parents thought it would also help ensure their children were more successful in life. "You could actually be raised as a bilingual speaker and be brighter and be as good as anyone else, better than most," said Galloway. He believes the cut of $160 million in federal funding for aboriginal languages announced last month will have a detrimental effect on language preservation in Canada. Galloway calls the recent cuts short-sighted and notes that the FNUC passed a resolution urging the government to restore the funding. "If (the government) is serious about saving the languages and keeping them alive, (it) has to put some serious funding behind it too," he said. Galloway said bands depend on that funding to pay for the necessary work. When a linguist is writing a description of a language they typically pay the language speaker for their time because the speaker can't afford to just drop everything. "To be really successful and wide-spread (they) do need the funding," he explained. ? The Leader-Post (Regina) 2006 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 22:59:21 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:59:21 -0700 Subject: Linguistic diversity keeps dwindling (fwd) Message-ID: Linguistic diversity keeps dwindling Dorothy Illing December 13, 2006 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20917380-12332,00.html THE number of languages taught across Australian universities has plummeted to 26, with some of those spoken by our nearest neighbours at risk of disappearing. Thai, Vietnamese and Hindi are among the languages languishing in faculties that once enjoyed strong enrolments in these subjects. But it is the decline of some Middle Eastern languages that has caused most concern, with one leading academic warning of the implications for Australia's security and business interests. "We are not that well prepared in terms of having people who can learn a language for, say, security reasons - possibly terrorism - and business," said Anne Pauwels, dean of arts at the University of Western Australia. Professor Pauwels is leading an $800,000 languages study being carried out by the Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. Funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training, the study is expected to present solutions to the crisis and suggest new ways of delivering courses. A national stocktake has so far revealed that in the past five years the number of languages taught in universities has halved. Although many institutions have various languages listed on their books, they do not have anyone studying them. Those still taught widely are Japanese, Mandarin, French, Italian, Indonesian, German and Spanish. Enrolments have been surging in Italian, Spanish and Mandarin. Less common but still available are modern Greek, Korean, Latin (which is enjoying a resurgence), Russian, ancient Greek and Arabic. But at least 14 languages are now taught at only one or two universities. Among these are Vietnamese, Urdu, Croatian, Hebrew, Hindi, Turkish and Swedish. Professor Pauwels said at least three Australian indigenous languages, including Pitjantjatjara, are no longer taught. She said there were now far more languages available in schools than in universities, which meant students could not go on to study them at a higher level. Indonesian remains one of the more popular languages, but it too has been in decline. The head of the South-East Asia Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra, George Quinn, said the subject remained reasonably strong at ANU, where more than 100 students took Indonesian; but he acknowledged a national decline. He attributed this to several factors, including the Bali bombings, the Schapelle Corby affair and the secessionist movement. "That's all bound up with with an anti-Islamic sentiment in Australia," Dr Quinn said. Another factor was that since the bombings, students no longer went on field trips to Indonesia, so they missed out on direct contact with the culture. Despite the national trend, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it continues to receive a lot of job applications from people with at least basic language skills across a range of areas. "For example, among the 47 graduates due to start in February 2007, 40 have at least social-level language skills, across 19 languages," a spokesman said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:03:41 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:03:41 -0700 Subject: fyi: OpenOffice.org 2.1 Message-ID: fyi, The OpenOffice.org Community announce the release of OpenOffice.org 2.1, the latest version of the leading open-source office suite. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb490038.htm From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:10:36 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:10:36 -0700 Subject: Cherokee Nation Selling Baseball Caps In Cherokee Language (fwd) Message-ID: Cherokee Nation Selling Baseball Caps In Cherokee Language AP - 12/11/2006 5:29 PM - Updated 12/12/2006 2:15 PM http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=116188 TULSA, Okla. (AP) Call it a little bit of culture on the front of a baseball cap. In efforts to preserve and promote its language, the Cherokee Nation has created baseball caps depicting the logos of three Oklahoma universities written in Cherokee. Fans of the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University or Northeastern State University can purchase the hats for $14.99 each at several Cherokee gift shops across the state. And the caps, which hit stores last week, are already being snapped up by shoppers. By Monday, about half the 720 hats ordered had been sold, and at least one store reported it was out of the OU brand. About 70 cents of each dollar from the merchandise will go back to the nation for education, job creation, health and social programs, such as Cherokee language immersion classes offered in Tahlequah to 4-and 5-year-olds. "You're always teetering on the edge unless you keep this thing up, you're in danger of having your language die out," said Amanda Clinton, a spokeswoman for Cherokee Nation Enterprises, a unit of the Cherokee Nation that designed the ball caps. At Northeastern State, which shares its home base in Tahlequah with the Cherokee Nation, the caps take on a greater significance: the university is believed to offer the nation's only four-year Cherokee language degree program. "Each year, Northeastern State University confers more degrees to Native American students than any other publicly funded university in the United States," NSU president Larry Williams said in a statement. "NSU has students representing 29 tribes on our campuses, and we enjoy a unique historic connection to the Cherokee Nation that has helped to define this institutions rich culture and traditions." Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, said the caps are a way to show pride both in the Cherokee heritage and a favorite university. "One of our goals as a nation is to make use of our language on a day-to-day basis," Smith said. "These hats are a symbol of that idea, and their popularity is a sign of our progress towards that goal." Hats can be purchased at several Cherokee retail, casino and tobacco shops in Catoosa, Tahlequah, Fort Gibson, West Siloam Springs and Roland. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:13:29 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:13:29 -0700 Subject: High School Students Learning Passamaquoddy Language (fwd) Message-ID: High School Students Learning Passamaquoddy Language Web Editor: Aaron Roberts, Reporter Created: 12/12/2006 2:14:04 PM Updated: 12/12/2006 3:53:21 PM http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=47397 This is the first year the class is being taught at Shead High School in Eastport. Most of the students are Passamaquoddy, but some are not. Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute On Tuesday the students were using flashcards to learn the alphabet and work on vocabulary. Students are also learning conversation. The class focuses on the Passamaquoddy language, but also addresses the history and culture. Shead High School's principal recruited Margaret Apt, who is Passamaquoddy, to teach the class. Apt likes teaching to pass on her language and culture. The class meets four times a week. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 12 23:32:53 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:32:53 -0700 Subject: Sacred gift: Bois Forte Chippewa delight in return of scrolls (fwd) Message-ID: Sacred gift: Bois Forte Chippewa delight in return of scrolls By LARRY OAKES Star Tribune of Minneapolis The Associated Press - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 TOWER, Minn. http://www.wctrib.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8LUO9UO0 For those who believe in spiritual forces, the story of the sacred scrolls of the Bois Forte Chippewa offers a wonderful affirmation. For those who believe we walk alone, the story offers an amazing coincidence. In September, members of the northern Minnesota tribe gathered at Spirit Island on Nett Lake for a ceremony. There, according to witnesses, a drumkeeper named Shane Drift recounted his recent dream that forgotten stories and songs of the tribe would somehow "come back to us." About two weeks later, in early October, the phone rang at the new Bois Forte Heritage Center and Cultural Museum, next to Fortune Bay Casino. The caller was Raymond Cloutier, a physician in Bowling Green, Ky. Cloutier said that hanging in glass cases on the walls of his study were 42 birch bark scrolls inscribed with symbols and pictures. Cloutier said the scrolls had come with a letter saying that some of the scrolls were more than 200 years old, and all originated "at Nett Lake on the Bois Forte Reservation." The letter - a report from a historical society that had sought interpretation from Ojibwe medicine men - said the scrolls depicted ceremonial songs "concerning the most fundamental laws and needs of the (Ojibwe) people." Cloutier told the astounded museum curator, Bill Latady, that he had cherished the scrolls for decades, but he had come to believe they belonged with the tribe. Last week the band announced that the scrolls are back at Bois Forte, in a climate-controlled museum room, after untold decades away. A group of elders has confirmed that they are long-lost records of the Bois Forte lodge of the Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, a selective Ojibwe religious order that preserved its rites on birch bark and was driven underground for most of the 20th century, when Indian religions were outlawed by the U.S. government. "Spiritually, this is probably the most important thing that has ever happened (to the tribe)," said Rose Berens, the tribe's preservation officer. "I was awe-struck." The Bois Forte Reservation is largely in Koochiching County in far northern Minnesota. The band's elders decided the scrolls cannot be photographed, or even seen, by anyone who doesn't belong to the religious order, except for curator Latady. Berens says that even she has not seen them, and won't until she is initiated into the order next spring in a ceremony on the Red Lake reservation. Cloutier said his grandfather, Dr. Herbert Burns, acquired the scrolls when he was superintendent of Ah-Gwah-Ching tuberculosis sanatorium near Walker in the early 1900s. Bois Forte leaders speculate that poverty-stricken ancestors might have bartered them for treatment. Cloutier isn't so sure. He said Burns was a "Renaissance man" with many interests and collections, including a trove of Indian artifacts, most of which eventually went to a museum in Walker. Cloutier suspects his grandfather bought the scrolls and the authentication letter accompanying them, probably from another non-Indian. A few years after Burns died in 1949, the scrolls, packed in cardboard drums, went to Cloutier, then only about 12. The scrolls range from 9 by 3 inches to 6 by 2 feet, according to Latady. The drawings are on the brown side of the bark, some drawn with charcoal and others applied with red paint. Some images are carved, he said. Out of respect to the band's wishes, neither Latady nor Cloutier would describe the drawings, but experts who have studied similar scrolls say they most often contain "mnemonic," or memory-aiding symbols, to recall songs among a people with no written language. "The coming of the gods is portrayed bestowing creation of men and other creatures upon the land and in the waters of the earth," says the Bois Forte scrolls' accompanying report, written in the 1930s by the Becker County Historical Society. "The heralds of these gods, half land and half water spirits, serve the gods as ambassadors. ... Another song relates how the gods give the Indians the privilege of for the first time eating meat." Cloutier said that in the 1990s he became aware of a law requiring institutions that get federal funds to return sacred artifacts to Indian tribes. The law didn't apply to him, but he said a nagging idea grew in him: "The people the scrolls came from were not some dead Indians from a dead culture; they were still there, and they may have been suffering somewhat for having lost part of their culture. About the time I realized this, I stopped being an owner and became a guardian." He found the Bois Forte band's Web site, saw that a museum had opened in 2002, and decided to return the scrolls. His only stipulation was that the band retrieve them; he didn't want to risk shipping them. A few days after hearing from Cloutier, Berens, spiritual adviser Vernon Adams and Bois Forte elders Myra Thompson and Phyllis Boshey drove to Kentucky, dined with Cloutier and his wife, Joyce, and left with their precious cargo. "Once I got over the damage to my greed, it made perfect sense to return these things," Cloutier said. "Unfortunately, most of the time, these things were taken from their owners in ways that probably wouldn't make us proud today." Tribal Chairman Kevin Leecy wrote to Cloutier that his "thoughtfulness is deeply appreciated by everyone ... from the elders who listened to the songs and stories in their youth to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who will once again have that opportunity due to your generosity." Adams said he now wonders if the strange journey of the scrolls was fortunate. Similar scrolls were destroyed by missionaries and others during the century that the Midewiwin was outlawed. "To me, they took a path they were meant to take," Adams said. "They left, were preserved and now have come back. It's exciting to see. This is where our past meets the future." ___ Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com From jtucker at STARBAND.NET Wed Dec 13 16:50:13 2006 From: jtucker at STARBAND.NET (Jan Tucker) Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:50:13 -0500 Subject: Deadline for Digital Poster materials approaching . . . In-Reply-To: <007c01c7076e$b2e50920$993f14ac@LFPMIA> Message-ID: Mia, hello :) Jan -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]On Behalf Of Mia Kalish Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 4:57 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] Deadline for Digital Poster materials approaching . . . Hello, Everyone. I am writing to remind that the deadline for the submission of the digital poster materials for LSA in Anaheim in January is approaching as quickly as a Thanksgiving turkey. Some people have already submitted, and I am grateful to them. For everyone else, could you let me know where you are with this, whether I should expect your excellent, informative, and mind-changing materials to arrive in full control of their breathing, or skidding out of breath around the corner, doing that last minute thing for which some of us are so famous. J Ahee'hee Mia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Dec 14 01:07:22 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:07:22 -0700 Subject: Aboriginal language had ice age origins (fwd) Message-ID: Aboriginal language had ice age origins Judy Skatssoon ABC Science Online Wednesday, 13 December 2006 http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2006/1809514.htm?ancient [inset - A researcher has suggested that the origin of Aboriginal language can be traced back to a time when Australia and New Guinea were one (Image: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water)] Aboriginal languages may be much older than people think, argues a linguistic anthropologist who says they originated as far back as the end of the last ice age around 13,000 years ago. This challenges existing thinking, which suggests Aboriginal languages developed from a proto-language that spread through Australia 5000 to 6000 years ago. The key to the new hypothesis is prehistoric Australia's single land mass 13,000 to 28,000 years ago, when New Guinea and Tasmania were still attached, says Dr Mark Clendon in the journal Current Anthropology. Clendon says the continent, known as Sahul, was relatively densely populated on the land bridge connecting northern Australia to New Guinea, now separated by the Arafura Sea. The other populated area was along what is now Australia's eastern seaboard. The two population groups were separated by a vast, cold, windswept, arid stretch of land that covered most of the continent, says Clendon, who was with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education when he published the research. The eastern group spoke a tongue that became what is known today as Pama Nyugen and includes languages like Pitjantjatjara, Yolngu and Warlpiri. And the Arafuran group spoke another language used today in northern Australia today. "What I'm suggesting is that Pama Nyugen and non-Pama Nyugen languages go back about 13,000 years to when there was a land bridge between New Guinea and Australia," he says. Until now, the reason why these two Aboriginal language groups are so different, each with a distinct grammar and vocabulary, has been a mystery. Climate change Around 11,000 years ago what was the Arafura plain was flooded by rising seas as the ice age ended. This caused the northern people to migrate into either New Guinea or to northern parts of Australia. Meanwhile, increased rainfall and warmer temperatures made inland parts of the continent more habitable and sparked a westward migration of eastern dwellers. This introduced their language group to more central areas of Australia. Both groups maintained their distinct languages, Clendon says. His hypothesis provides an alternative picture to the traditional view that 6000 years ago a single proto-language spread from the Gulf of Carpentaria around Australia, eventually giving rise to existing Aboriginal languages. "We know about changes in climate and sea levels at the end of the Pleistocene era," Clendon says. "I'm suggesting the way languages are configured in Australia today are a result of those changes that happened at the end of the ice age." Provocative but unconvincing Writing in a reply to Clendon's article, Professor Nicholas Evans, an expert in Aboriginal languages from the University of Melbourne, describes Clendon's hypothesis as "fresh and provocative". However, he says there are flaws in the argument, including that there is only weak evidence of similarities between southern New Guinea and northern Aboriginal languages. Evans says he remains to be convinced about Clendon's proposal. "[But] it adds a welcome alternative to a field in which we are still a long way from having any clear picture of the unimaginably long human occupation of Sahul," he says. Related Stories Two groups may have populated Australia, News in Science 30 Nov 2006 Wollemi rock art shows Aboriginal Dreaming, News in Science 2 Dec 2005 Aboriginal astronomers see emu in sky, News in Science 16 Aug 2005 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Dec 14 23:58:10 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:58:10 -0700 Subject: Bush Signs `Esther Martinez' Bill (fwd) Message-ID: Bush Signs `Esther Martinez' Bill Written by Bruce Daniels - ABQnewsSeeker Thursday, 14 December 2006 http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1914&Itemid=2 Native Languages Preservation Act named for Tewa storyteller killed in Sept. A bill that will create more language restoration programs for Native American families and language immersion programs for Native American young people has been signed into law by President George W. Bush, members of New Mexico's congressional delegation announced in a joint news release. The Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Act -- named for the Ohkay Owingeh storyteller and linguist Esther Martinez, killed in a car crash in September as she returned from being honored in Washington, D.C. -- was introduced by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., as a way to assist the survival of native languages. The bill passed the House in September and was approved in the Senate earlier this month with the support of the entire New Mexico delegation, the release said. Only about 20 of more than 300 pre-colonial indigenous languages are expected to remain by the year 2050, the release said. As of 1996, some 175 of those languages remained but are being lost at an estimated rate of 12 languages every three years. Martinez had just received a National Heritage Fellowship award in Washington when she was killed in a car crash in Espanola on her way home to Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, according to earlier reports . She was 94 years old. A 44-year-old Nambe man, Jaime Martinez-Gonzalez, was the driver of the other vehicle and was arrested at St. Vincent Hospital where he was being treated for injuries he received in the crash and charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to earlier news reports . Espanola police found an empty bottle of tequila on the passenger-side floor of Martinez-Gonzalez's pickup truck and officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from both the driver and the inside of the truck. From hardman at UFL.EDU Fri Dec 15 18:46:07 2006 From: hardman at UFL.EDU (MJ Hardman) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:46:07 -0500 Subject: Mia's poster session In-Reply-To: <003c01c54dce$78a38030$68ba8945@CRIT01> Message-ID: > I would like to ask any of you that go to the LSA to give us feedback. As it > turned out, my young colleague?s paper to SSILA on our project was rejected so > she will not be there. (I was quite [something] by the rejection since I was > the one who had encouraged her; I had wanted her to meet you-all and to see > what else was being done. Oh, well.) What we have done, I believe uniquely > (and would want to know if it is otherwise) is to provide, at the click of a > button, a full grammatical analysis of everything, including individual > morpheme identification, base form of the morpheme and morphological > conditioning rules, as well as concordance of all uses of the morpheme in the > database. Any feedback would be so very welcome by any of you who see our > movie at Mia?s digital poster session. > > MJ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From akira at KU.EDU Fri Dec 15 21:45:47 2006 From: akira at KU.EDU (Akira Y. Yamamoto) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:45:47 -0600 Subject: Mia's poster session In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The way the proposal was presented may have been the reason for not included in the SSILA Sessions. You may want to post the abstract and get feedback on it from the friends here. AY At 1:46 PM -0500 12/15/06, MJ Hardman wrote: >I would like to ask any of you that go to the LSA to give us >feedback. As it turned out, my young colleague$B+c(Bs paper to SSILA on >our project was rejected so she will not be there. (I was quite >[something] by the rejection since I was the one who had encouraged >her; I had wanted her to meet you-all and to see what else was >being done. Oh, well.) What we have done, I believe uniquely (and >would want to know if it is otherwise) is to provide, at the click >of a button, a full grammatical analysis of everything, including >individual morpheme identification, base form of the morpheme and >morphological conditioning rules, as well as concordance of all uses >of the morpheme in the database. Any feedback would be so very >welcome by any of you who see our movie at Mia$B+c(Bs digital poster >session. > >MJ -- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 15 22:26:57 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:26:57 -0700 Subject: Protestors demand Kelowna Accord be honoured (fwd) Message-ID: Protestors demand Kelowna Accord be honoured author: Greg Horn http://www.easterndoor.com/news.php?id=466 ?Liar!? protestors shouted, as Federal Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice tried to explain that it was not his Department?s responsibility for a $160 million cut in funding meant to preserve Native languages. The funding cut was announced by Canadian Heritage last month, and has since been replaced by $5 million a year for the next seven years. The $160 million was to be divided up for First Nations, M?tis and Inuit language preservation initiatives. ?Let?s just be clear,? Prentice said. ?We didn?t cut that money. The money was earmarked [for language] years ago, and it was never used.? The minority Conservative government said that it would use the money to create more effective programs to keep about 50 struggling languages from dying. This national protest ?To Save Our Legacy? was organized by the Chiefs of Ontario in response to this cut in language funding. The protest got underway at 11:30 a.m. on Parliament Hill, with several Native leaders speaking to some 400 Native protestors gathered at the foot of the Canadian Parliament. ?This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of Aboriginal Canadians,? Prentice said to the group. One protestor shouted out a response: ?Kelowna does that!? While Prentice was speaking, he was nearly drowned out by boos and catcalls. ?It?s another black mark on this Party?s record that we have to go to these lengths,? Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Chief Mike Bush said in Ottawa. Last year?s $5-billion Kelowna Accord?s goal was to improve education, housing and economic conditions of First Nation?s People. The Kelowna Accord was negotiated and accepted by the various national Native organizations with the previous federal Liberal government, as well as with all the provincial and territorial governments across Canada. However, earlier this year, the Harper government scrapped it. There were also protestors who were upset over the Canadian Government?s refusal to back the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Harper government said it did not support it over concerns that it would be contrary to Canada?s Constitution, defense laws and existing land deals with Native Peoples. National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine said the Conservative government has broken promises to Canada?s Aboriginal People, and has made very little progress in other areas. In fact, Fontaine said the Conservative government?s budget commits just $450 million in new spending for 630 First Nations communities across the country. ?Our people are frustrated and angry,? Fontaine said. ?And they have a right to be. We feel betrayed and we simply can?t be silent about this betrayal.? ?It was a good feeling to see how the protestors listened attentively and cheered their chiefs and representatives from across the country,? MCK Chief Keith Myiow said of the protest. New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton spoke to the protestors following Prentice. Layton criticized the Tories for backing down from the Kelowna Accord and for not doing enough to improve the quality of life of Canada?s Native people. Kanien?keh?:ka Onkwaw?n:na Raotitiohkwa Executive Director Donna Goodleaf said that this cut in funding prevents further expansion of KOR?s facilities, and of the services it offers to Kahnawake. ?It keeps us down to operating on a shoestring budget,? Goodleaf said. KOR offers various language and cultural initiatives to Kahnawake, including the Kanien?k?ha Ratiwennahn?:rats adult immersion program and Kanien?k?ha programming for our local television station, including the popular T?:ta t?non Ohkw?:ri children?s television show. gregh at easterndoor.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Dec 15 22:39:54 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:39:54 -0700 Subject: Native Venezuelans for Language Law (fwd) Message-ID: Native Venezuelans for Language Law http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BB40295C4-D549-4395-BE3F-42B6122B8100%7D)&language=EN Caracas, Dec 15 (Prensa Latina) The Venezuelan National Assembly's Indigenous Peoples Committee will present a draft Indigenous Languages Law intended to preserve the 34 native languages existing in the country. Noeli Pocaterra, committee chair, said that indigenous deputies are also preparing an Organic Election bill for the election of indigenous representatives. Thirty-four indigenous languages are spoken in the nation and we are to issue a legislation to preserve them, as was not done in the past, Pocaterra explained. She stressed that it is important for the indigenous population to learn Spanish and other languages without forgetting their own. About the election bill, the deputy said this complex legislation is related to the National Electoral Council as, among the benefits to the indigenous population by the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution, is their required representation in the National Assembly. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:18:52 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:18:52 -0700 Subject: Canada's cut in language preservation funding protested (fwd) Message-ID: Canada's cut in language preservation funding protested Posted: December 18, 2006 by: Shannon Burns / Today correspondent http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414200 OTTAWA - Hundreds of Natives from across Canada and northern New York marched on Parliament Hill Dec. 5, demanding that the new government reinstate funding that had been earmarked for language preservation in Native communities. The Canadian Heritage announced in November that it would not be providing $172 million that Native communities were expecting. Instead, $5 million a year for seven years would be allocated for language purposes. ''Our people are frustrated and angry,'' said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine. ''And they have a right to be. We feel betrayed and we simply can't be silent about this betrayal.'' Protesters, which included busloads of children, met at a hotel in downtown Ottawa, Canada's capital city, and marched together to Parliament Hill. Carrying aboriginal flags and signs critical of the government cuts, the group of roughly 400 made their case known. ''This rally is to underscore that First Nations people are here to stay, and that we will not remain out sight and out of mind,'' said AFN Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse. ''We want what all people want for our children - good health, safety, education and equal opportunity. We will not accept less.'' The rally, called the ''National Protest to Save Our Legacy,'' was organized by the AFN and Chiefs of Ontario. In 2002, the Canadian government announced that it was allocating $172.5 million to be distributed to Native communities over an 11 year period for ''protection, preservation and maintenance of Aboriginal languages.'' Native authorities were notified in October of this year that government officials had dropped that to $35 million. During the rally, speakers on both sides of the issue addressed the crowd. Using a bullhorn, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice attempted to tell the crowd that his department was not responsible for the cuts, but few could hear him over the loud jeers and boos. ''This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of aboriginal Canadians,'' Prentice said. Sault MP Tony Martin braved below-freezing temperatures to lend his support to the cause and defend the importance of language preservation. ''When language and culture are in the community, people can become healthy, in mind, body and spirit and the social problems will be properly addressed,'' Martin said. ''First Nations people in my community remind me of the importance of the language funding. This keeps their language alive, for the children in their communities, schools, and Native governments.'' Across North America, Native communities are struggling to retain their languages; and over the past decade, extreme measures have been taken to preserve a community's dying language. In Akwesasne, the Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education implemented an immersion program for elementary-aged students. Recent footage of students participating in the program has shown that school immersion can be successful. ''The program has taken on more of a holistic setting and is culturally based,'' said Kanienkeha (Mohawk language) specialist Kaweienonni Peters. ''Because we as Rotinonshon:ni [Iroquois] have a strong oral history, the program is designed to focus more on creating functional fluency among the students and less time on reading and writing of the language.'' Students in the immersion program rely on resources that are not always readily available. Over the past several years Peters has been developing various books, compact discs and DVDs in Mohawk so students in the immersion program have reinforcement of what they're learning. Funding for developing those resources comes from the Canadian government and the immersion program will be directly affected by language funding cuts. If the funding isn't there, Peters will have to find other sources to help keep the immersion program successful. Peters and students in the Mohawk immersion program participated in the rally. The students, who were approximately 10 and under, carried signs that read ''Respect Us.'' Canadian authorities have indicated that they hope to develop effective programs to help 50 languages at risk of extinction. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:24:10 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:24:10 -0700 Subject: A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo (fwd) Message-ID: A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo In a linguistics laboratory, Marsheena John of the Coyote-Pass Clan studies the science of language. Using books as microscopes and her culture as a lab coat, John delves into the language passed onto her by her grandfather. The language: Navajo. The laboratory: the University of New Mexico?s Department of Linguistics. [Photo: Marsheena John] Members of the Navajo Language Program Committee recently voted to give John the Robert Young Scholarship, which supports students who are engaged in the study of Native American linguistics. Fostering the Navajo language and furthering education are values, John said, imbued to her by her grandfather. ?Growing up in the midst of bilingual educators I always thought I was going to be a bilingual teacher but I had my own interests, which were in the health science field,? John said. ?Becoming a speech and language pathologist could enable me to make use of both my language and my interest in health sciences.? Recently adapted into a minor, UNM?s 36-year-old Navajo Language Program offers opportunities to students from small communities within the Navajo Nation, such as John?s hometown Tsaile, Ariz. The program accommodates students aspiring to obtain one of the many degrees offered at UNM according to Nancy Montoya, Department Administrator, Department of Linguistics. It also allows students from two-year institutions, such as Dine College and San Juan College, to continue onto a four-year degree at UNM, she said. ?While enrollment by members of Native American groups is on the rise, it is still quite low,? Montoya said. ?Many of these students have access, at best, only to junior college-level institutions in their areas. Hopefully, programs like this will help attract more of these students who would like to further their educations.? In August, John and several other Navajo students spoke to the Indian Affairs Committee of the State Legislature about the importance of the Navajo Language Program and its future expansion. This coincided with the Department of Linguistics? proposal to the State Legislature seeking support to expand the program. The proposal is one of the top 2007 State Legislative Priorities. ?This will serve the Navajo community and ensure that Navajo remains a vital language, actively learned by members of that community,? Montoya said. The scholarship achieved by John was in honor of past UNM Professor Dr. Robert W. Young, a key figure in the support and promotion of sustaining the Navajo language, Montoya said. He is the co-author of a dictionary of the Navajo language ? a thick, blue book that John remembers flipping through during her youth. Posted by scarr at December 18, 2006 04:55 PM From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:25:16 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:25:16 -0700 Subject: A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20061218172410.4848g4okggw48gck@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: here is the url: http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/001618.html Quoting phil cash cash : > A Continued Culture, A Living Language: Navajo -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:29:07 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:29:07 -0700 Subject: Program aims to keep dying dialects alive (fwd) Message-ID: Program aims to keep dying dialects alive Patrick Springer The Forum - 12/18/2006 http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/149889 People gather every other Tuesday for soup and a bit of conversational Dakota language instruction inside the gym of the tribal college in Fort Totten, N.D. The idea is to create an informal educational setting for members of the Spirit Lake Reservation who aren?t fluent in their native language. ?To do it in a non-classroom, non-threatening setting, just to get people talking,? says Cynthia Lindquist, president of Candeska Cikana ? or ?Little Hoop? ? Tribal College. Spirit Lake, on the southern shore of Devils Lake, has perhaps 120 fluent native speakers ? most of them elderly ? on a reservation with a population of 4,435. ?We?re losing these native speakers,? Lindquist says. So are many other tribes. No known fluent speakers of Arikara remain, for example, and just one fluent Mandan speaker is known to survive on North Dakota?s Fort Berthold Reservation. Lindquist was encouraged when she learned of legislation that recently passed Congress to establish several tribal ?language nests? for young children, as well as language restoration programs and native language instruction materials. The legislation was pushed by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., ranking Democrat on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. ?It is part of retaining the Indian culture,? he said. Native language programs on some reservations have demonstrated benefits beyond preservation of endangered languages, with improvements similar to those for students taking foreign language or music instruction. ?The fact is the kids who are participating in these programs also have better academic performance,? Dorgan said. Under the legislation, funding will be available for multiyear grants to three tribes, schools or other organizations to establish language survival programs, he said. That will present tribes in North Dakota and elsewhere with an opportunity to apply for funds to help safeguard their languages. ?It?s an attempt to preserve an important part of the culture,? Dorgan said. ?A good number of these languages are lost to history.? Linguists say more than 300 native languages were once spoken in North America. That number has dwindled to about 175, and one estimate predicts the number of viable native languages could drop to 20 by 2050. The Dakota language is spoken by 20,355 in the United States and Canada, according to figures compiled by Ethnologue, a language database. An estimated 6,000 Lakota speakers, a very similar dialect, also remain, making them among the most viable native languages. But the threat is increasingly critical for languages spoken fluently only by dying elders, Lindquist said. When she grew up, her grandparents spoke Dakota, but her parents, who attended boarding schools that forbade native languages, did not. ?It would be very, very helpful,? she said of the language preservation measure passed by Congress. ?We need a lot more help.? A renaissance of traditional cultures has been spreading through many tribes in recent years, which has helped American Indians reconnect with their heritage, she said. That, in turn, helped boost self-esteem and combat alcohol and drug abuse, among other problems. ?The healing is coming through the culture,? Lindquist said. ?Language and culture are entwined. Certain words and concepts, for example, don?t translate into English.? ?It?s critical,? she said of the language preservation funding. ?It?s about time.? Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Dec 19 00:32:17 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:32:17 -0700 Subject: Kiowa Children’s Books Boxed for Christmas Delivery (fwd) Message-ID: Kiowa Children?s Books Boxed for Christmas Delivery CHICKASHA OK 12/17/2006 http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8462 Native author Alecia Gonzales of Anadarko is publishing a new box set of five Kiowa children?s books. Beginning Dec. 20, the box set will be available in the USAO Bookstore. The set includes Gonzales? newest books, ?Grandma Spider?s Song? and ?The Prairie Dog Song.? Bookstore staff will handle shipping, too. Gonzales was named to the USAO Alumni Hall of Fame in 2005. ? Five colorful Native storybooks are scheduled for special delivery in the form of a new box set ? just in time for the holidays. On Dec. 20, ?Winter Night Stories and Songs? will go on sale in the University of Science and Arts Bookstore. Five years after the release of her first Kiowa language textbook, author Alecia ?Sahmah? Gonzales is compiling her five Kiowa storybooks into one complete box set targeted for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Grounded in her own Native roots, the stories are both educational and entertaining. ?The stories and songs were told and sung to the children by the grandparents nightly,? Gonzales said. ?The babies were held by the grandparents while the other children sat or laid around the grandparents. These are models, values, moral conduct and traditions learned and enjoyed for the future.? Gonzales, of Anadarko, said the preservation of language, culture and morals are the key components being taught through her storybooks. However, the underlying message of the books is clear. ?These storybooks are designed to build the bonds of love and trust between mother and child as they interact together,? Gonzales said. Each storybook contains colorful, original drawings by Native artist Shaun Dae Chaddlesone. The box set includes the children?s books ?Little Red Buffalo Song,? ?A Mother Bird?s Song? and ?Song for Grandma.? Gonzales? newest books, ?Grandma Spider?s Song? and ?The Prairie Dog Song,? both released in 2006, also accompany the set. ?All Kiowa mothers and grandmothers used to sing ?Grandma?s Spider Song? to newborns,? Gonzales said. ?The rhythm of the song is like a heartbeat, so it calms them down; they usually go to sleep. It?s a song we sing to comfort the baby and let it know it?s in safety.? Gonzales teaches Kiowa language classes at USAO, where she approaches the Kiowa language from a ?bicultural? viewpoint using two distinctly different languages: Kiowa and English. She also teaches at Anadarko High School. A woman of Kiowa and Apache descent, Gonzales was born in Fort Cobb. At birth, she was given her Kiowa name ?Sahmah,? which means, ?the lady from the North.? Readers see the bilingual stories in both Kiowa and English, shown parallel to one another on the page. For non-Native speakers, a special CD-ROM is included that features the author reading the story in both languages. Printed by USAO Printing Services, the box set will be available starting Dec. 20 for $125 at the USAO Bookstore on the corner of 17th Street and Alabama in Chickasha. The Bookstore will handle shipping, too. The five storybooks have been redesigned with special UV-transparent paper introduction pages and a Native parfleche painting on the gift box. Each limited edition box set is individually autographed by the author and numbered 1-250. Since her successful release of her first book, ?Thaum Khoiye Tdoen Gyah ? Beginning Kiowa Language,? in 2001, Gonzales has been honored nationally for her extensive knowledge of her Kiowa heritage. Her first book was praised as America?s first textbook for preserving and sharing the Kiowa language. Known for her lifelong devotion to teaching and preserving the Kiowa language, Gonzales was named to the USAO Alumni Hall of Fame in 2005. After the death of her parents and other elders, Gonzales said she realized the language would die without a systematic, written method of teaching it. ?I was nurtured by my grandparents into education,? Gonazales said. ?They believed deeply in the value of education, especially the tribal form of education. This was the seed from which we?ve grown today?s high-tech preservation of language. Today we publish a CD that helps people learn to hear and speak the language.? More information about purchasing the box set is available from the USAO Bookstore at (405) 574-1304. From jieikobu at HOTMAIL.COM Tue Dec 19 00:49:11 2006 From: jieikobu at HOTMAIL.COM (Derksen Jacob) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:49:11 +0000 Subject: Canada's cut in language preservation funding protested (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20061218171852.g4wko0sskcwsooog@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 27 21:24:27 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:24:27 -0700 Subject: Language empowerment key to aboriginal education (fwd) Message-ID: Language empowerment key to aboriginal education [photo inset - Andrew Leong/file. Jean Crowder makes her victory speech in January.] By Jean Crowder Dec 27 2006 http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=9&cat=23&id=800982&more= In schools: Put Aboriginal children in touch with their culture The year kicked off with Jean Crowder winning this riding in the federal election in convincing fashion. Year-end found her immersed in a federal issue that has a big impact here ? aboriginal education. Language is critical. Without it, a culture cannot survive. Yet, in 1996, UNESCO indicated ?Canada?s aboriginal languages are among the most endangered in the world.? It was the Assembly of First Nations that identified First Nation languages and cultures a priority in 1972, with its position paper called ?Indian Control of Indian Education.? The paper stated: ?Unless a child learns about the forces which shape him: the history of his people, their values and customs, their language, he will never really know himself or his potential as a human being.? For more than 30 years, the Assembly of First Nations has firmly maintained First Nation people must be in control of the revitalization and preservation of First Nation languages and cultures. Education is a critical factor in that revitalization. However, research shows First Nations? education in British Columbia has lagged behind. Recent graduation rates for students living on reserve were 36 per cent lower than the overall provincial rates for non-aboriginal students. The 2004 Auditor General?s report on elementary and secondary education stated this gap was so serious, at the current rate of initiatives underway, it would take 28 years to close it. This is unacceptable. Elders, First Nations? chiefs and councillors, community members, students and teachers have come together to talk about this issue and put initiatives in place. Of critical importance has been an ability to assert control, over not only the schools but also the curriculum and delivery methodologies that First Nations know will work in increasing their success rates. It is for this reason recent parliamentary activities are of such significance for First Nations. Earlier this year, an education agreement was signed between Canada, the province of British Columbia and the First Nations Education Steering Committee in B.C. The agreement enables First Nations in British Columbia to assume meaningful control over education on reserve at both the elementary and the secondary school levels. On Dec. 5, all parties in the House of Commons came together to fast-track and unanimously pass Bill C-34, an act to provide for jurisdiction over education on First Nation lands in British Columbia. Bill C-34 is the legislation that will provide the framework for a modern legislated school system driven by First Nations in B.C. It will build on the successes that we?re seeing in the community. Local examples of successful cultural initiatives include the Quw?utsun Syuw?entst Lelum Culture and Education Centre, Cowichan Tribes? dictionary project, Quw?utsun Smuneem elementary school, and Cowichan Valley Aboriginal Education Improvement Agreement. Each of these initiatives acknowledges and honours Hul?qumi?num as the principal aboriginal language of this territory and promotes its inclusion in the development of programs and curriculum. These are examples of made-in-B.C. solutions. These agreements work for First Nations peoples across British Columbia because they were achieved through an extensive consultation process driven by First Nations communities. While noteworthy, there is so much more to do. My goal is to support positive change that is both meaningful and timely. This past year, I ensured that First Nations representatives from B.C. appeared at the parliamentary Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs to discuss the B.C. Treaty process for the first time. I put forward a motion urging the government to support the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights, contributed to a committee review of post-secondary education, and supported the historic Snuneymuxw Protocol. For decades, aboriginal peoples in Canada have been asserting their rights. As we enter into 2007, it is time for Canada?s government to translate talk into action. Jean Crowder is the Nanaimo-Cowichan MP and NDP Aboriginal Affairs critic. ? Copyright 2006 Duncan News Leader and Pictorial From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 27 21:30:47 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:30:47 -0700 Subject: Vanishing vernacular (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Mon, Dec. 25, 2006 THE SPOKEN WORD | For one tribe, its native tongue is virtually foreign Vanishing vernacular In Siberia and elsewhere, thousands of languages are headed for extinction. By Alex Rodriguez Chicago Tribune FEDOR BARANOV | MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/16314284.htm [photo inset - In Bekovo, Russia, Marina Kushakova teaches children the Teleut language. She must rely on a Teleut picture dictionary and lesson materials in Shor, a similar language.] BEKOVO, Russia | The dying flickers of the Teleut language can be found here in southern Siberia, where the coal industry blackens the sky of what once was a thriving nomadic nation. In most Teleut households in this hamlet, only Russian is spoken. Teleut is kept alive by Bekovo?s older generation and Marina Kushakova, who weekly teaches a handful of 9-year-old Teleuts the rudiments of the language. Linguists have logged about 6,900 languages around the world, and they expect half to disappear in 50 to 100 years. When they vanish, whole cultures and vast storehouses of knowledge will be gone. ?Language is the embodiment of human knowledge,? said Russian linguist Andrei Filchenko, who devotes much of his work to recording and preserving Siberia?s disappearing languages. ?It?s the result of centuries of survival, and it?s our window into the way people understand the world around them.? The Teleut, a tribe that once spanned from the steppes of southern Siberia into northern Mongolia, speak one of those languages on the brink of extinction. Only 2,900 Teleut are left in Russia; only one in 10 speaks the language fluently. Once the Teleut language disappears, said Maria Kochubeyeva, president of the Association of Teleut People, ?the nation disappears.? In parts of the world, linguists are battling to revive endangered languages. The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project researches scores of dying languages and creates dictionaries and textbooks for many of them. Roughly 1.6 million people make up what is left of Siberia?s 30 aboriginal tribes. For centuries, the tribes hunted, fished and raised reindeer relatively undisturbed. In the 16th century, Cossack explorers paved the way for Russian settlement, and by the 17th and 18th centuries, legions of Russian peasants escaping serfdom were streaming into the region. The biggest threat to the aboriginal groups, however, came with the advent of the Soviet era. The Soviet Union?s unspoken policy of forced assimilation wore away what once was a rich mosaic of indigenous peoples. The territorial lands of Siberia?s indigenous nations were wrested away by Soviet authorities. Families were herded into collective farms, where their languages and heritage began giving way to the sweep of Russification. In the 1960s, the decline of many tribes accelerated as the state laid claim to reindeer pastures and hunting grounds that held vast stores of oil, natural gas and minerals. In south Siberia, coal mining drove Teleut and Shor populations off their native lands. ? 2006 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Dec 27 21:35:38 2006 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:35:38 -0700 Subject: Muted voices, compelling cry (fwd) Message-ID: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0612130307dec13,1,5530242.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-utl Muted voices, compelling cry Some still resist, but Siberia's disappearing languages underscore a chilling cultural shift December 13, 2006 BEKOVO, Russia -- The dying flickers of the Teleut language can be found here in southern Siberia, where the coal industry blackens the sky and hems in what once was a thriving nomadic nation enlivened by shamans and holy mountains. In most Teleut households in this hamlet of tumbledown cabins and garden plots, only Russian is spoken. Teleut is kept alive solely by Bekovo's older generation and by 3rd-grade teacher Marina Kushakova, who once a week teaches a handful of 9-year-old Teleuts the rudiments of a language as foreign to her pupils as French. "The word for mother?" Kushakova, speaking in Russian, asks her class. "Ene," replies Katya Yakuchayeva, tugging at her ponytail. "And the word for grandfather on your father's side?" "Abash!" barks out Maxim Shabin from the front row. Linguists have logged about 6,900 languages around the world, and they expect half of them to disappear in the next 50 to 100 years. When they vanish, whole cultures and vast storehouses of knowledge will be gone. "Language is the embodiment of human knowledge," says Russian linguist Andrei Filchenko, who devotes much of his work to recording and preserving Siberia's disappearing languages. "It's the result of centuries of survival, and it's our window into the way people understand the world around them," Filchenko says. Ultimately, mankind's diversity is reflected in the world's vast array of languages, Filchenko says. That diversity, he adds, "is vanishing with amazing speed." Teleut a centuries-old tribe The Teleut, a centuries-old tribe whose domain once spanned from the steppes of southern Siberia into northern Mongolia, speak one of those languages on the brink of extinction. Only 2,900 Teleut are left in Russia, and only 1 in 10 speaks the language fluently. Once the Teleut language disappears, says Maria Kochubeyeva, president of the Association of Teleut People, "the nation disappears." In parts of the world, linguists are waging battles to revive endangered languages. The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project researches scores of dying languages and creates dictionaries and textbooks for many of them, including the languages of the Uspanteko and Sakapulteko people in Guatemala, the Shangaji of Mozambique, the Moluccan people of Indonesia, and Russia's Archi nation in the North Caucasus and the Chulym of western Siberia. Roughly 1.6 million people make up what's left of the 30 aboriginal tribes of Siberia. For centuries the tribes hunted, fished and raised reindeer relatively undisturbed. In the 16th Century, Cossack explorers paved the way for Russian settlement of Siberia, and by the 17th and 18th Centuries legions of Russian peasants escaping serfdom were streaming into the region. The biggest threat to the region's aboriginal groups, however, came with the advent of the Soviet era, when collectivization and industrialization took hold. Soviets forced assimilation The Soviet Union's unspoken policy of forced assimilation wore away what once was a rich mosaic of indigenous peoples--the Chulym, the Evenk and Tofalar of the Central Siberian Plateau, the Shor and Teleut nestled in the steppe north of Siberia's snowcapped Altai range. After eons of existing as nomads and hunters, Siberia's indigenous nations had their territorial lands wrested from them by Soviet authorities. Families were herded into collective farms, where their languages and heritage began giving way to the sweep of Russification. Soviet authorities had little patience for the melange of tribes that stretched across the Siberian taiga. Kochubeyeva, 45, recalls how teachers hit her on the head with their pointers when they caught her speaking Teleut. "They did everything they could to make us forget the language," she says. In the 1960s, the decline of many tribes accelerated as the state laid claim to reindeer pastures and hunting grounds that held vast stores of oil, natural gas and minerals. In south Siberia, coal mining drove Teleut and Shor populations off their native lands. "They lost their pastures, which meant they could no longer raise cattle and horses," says Dmitry Funk, a Siberian affairs expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology Institute. "That dealt a major blow to their way of life," Funk says. One of the most telling indicators of the decline of Siberia's aboriginal nations has been the gradual disappearance of each nation's native tongue. Less than 10 percent of Siberia's Shor people speak their language fluently, according to a Web site run by Funk's institute that catalogs endangered Siberian languages. The language of the Chulym in south Siberia's Tomsk province has all but ebbed away. Only 426 Chulym are left, and only 35 of them speak the language fluently. Filchenko has made two trips to the taiga along the Ob River to record the language of the Khanty, a Siberian tribe with Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian roots. Of the estimated 28,000 Khanty who live in Russia, only about 20 of them speak the language proficiently, says Filchenko, who teaches at Tomsk State Pedagogical University in western Siberia. To get to one of them in 1999, Filchenko trekked 30 miles on foot across a swamp, then spent two weeks with the elderly Khanty speaker, catching and smoking fish while listening to his stories about hunting moose and the Khanty's revered prey, bear. "In Khanty, its taboo to use the word `bear,'" Filchenko says. "They either use their word for `animal' to refer to a bear, or the word `kaky,' the Khanty term for brother." In Bekovo, a village of 1,700 people, almost all of the Teleut with a firm grasp of their language are the village's older men and women. Their lexicon is rich with references to Teleut spiritualism: kam, the village shaman; emegendyr, the doll-shaped idols families prop up in their homes as icons to Teleut spirits; somdor, a young birch tree placed along a fence and festooned with ribbons that signify a Teleut's wish for health or prosperity. Almost monthly, Kochubeyeva visits the village's Aiktu, or holy mountain, that towers over the region's cluster of coal pits. She's baptized as a Russian Orthodox, but she clings to her tribe's ancient rites, like tossing bread, meat and milk into a birch fire at the foot of Aiktu. "I feel like I have to go there to talk to the spirits," Kochubeyeva says. "I always ask them to make our people friendly, to keep us together, to revive our culture." Other Bekovo villagers appear just as determined to keep Teleut heritage from disappearing. Vladimir Chelukhoyev runs the village's Teleut museum, an austere but spirited tribute to the tribe's culture that includes a cluster of nomadic tents called yurts, models of Teleut shamans and muraled walls colorfully depicting moments in Teleut history. The village's attempt to keep Teleut song alive is embodied in Solony, a troupe of seven women, four of them Bekovo grandmothers. Dressed in flowing satin gowns and accompanied by a jew's-harp and the tapshur (the Teleut version of a lute), they fill the room with layered, sirenlike harmonies and step dancing. Ultimately, however, the language's only hope for survival may rest with the lessons Kushakova gives the village's next generation of Teleuts. The odds are against her; Teleut textbooks don't exist, so she has to rely on a Teleut picture dictionary co-authored by Kochubeyeva and lesson materials in Shor, which like Teleut is a Turkic language and is similar enough to suffice. Kochubeyeva admits it's an against-all-odds battle to revive the language. Still, it's a fight she feels compelled to wage. "I personally don't think the language can be revived, but I'd like to preserve what we've got," she says. "I believe language is the treasury of the soul. You can speak about what you feel inside only in your native language." ---------- ajrodriguez at tribune.com Copyright ? 2006, Chicago Tribune From lanz at RICE.EDU Fri Dec 29 16:08:49 2006 From: lanz at RICE.EDU (Linda Lanz) Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:08:49 -0600 Subject: Tribal leaders in training learn dances, languages Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hardman at UFL.EDU Sat Dec 30 15:10:02 2006 From: hardman at UFL.EDU (MJ Hardman) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:10:02 -0500 Subject: Jaqaru, endangered language Message-ID: I am attaching a document that I wrote on the occasion of the graduation of the first official course for Jaqaru, spoken in Tupe, Yauyos, Lima, Per?, a member of the Jaqi family of languages which also includes Kawki and Aymara. I've also copied the text below, JIC. Dr. MJ Hardman website: http://grove.ufl.edu/~hardman/ -- First Jaqaru Language Course December 18, 2006 is now an historical date for Tupe. On that day the graduation for the first Jaqaru Language Course was held. This course is the beginning of sustainable work that opens the door of hope for the survival of Jaqaru. Eleven people from Tupe, mostly teachers, and twelve others, also mostly teachers, received their certificates. Yolanda Nieves Payano Iturrizaga, linguist and native speaker of Jaqaru, taught the class, as a teacher in the ISP Pedag?gica de Catahuasi (Normal School). The Director of the Normal School Mag. Manuel Gil Hern?ndez was present for the ceremony; Prof. Abelardo Ventocilla called by telephone in representation of the support of the Gobierno Regional de Lima Provincias. And Dr. MJ Hardman and Dr. Dimas Bautista Iturrizaga called at the end of the ceremony and congratulated all of the participants by telephone through a loudspeaker connected to the telephone and installed in a tree, so that all could hear. It's hard to overestimate the importance of this event. Jaqaru is in very serious danger of extinction. For the first time in a very long time there is some hope of its continued existence. For decades Dr. Hardman and Dr. Bautista have sought the necessary means for the recognition of the language; just now, on December 18, their hopes became reality. With this act Dr. Hardman passes the torch to a linguist from Tupe as a realization of one of her dreams; in this way the work already done can serve the future together with works yet to be done by the young people now preparing themselves. A little history: Beginning in the forties Dr. Bautista began searching for help to read and write his language, but without success. In the fifties he met Dr. Hardman and achieved his goal: once the phonological analysis was complete with the phonemes clearly identified, Dr. Bautista himself formulated the alphabetic representation of his language, and from that date it has been written and read. The basic description of the grammar was completed and in the sixties published in Holland. Fifteen years later it was finally published in Peru by IEP (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos). In the sixties we began the odyssey seeking bilingual education for Tupe. There were promises and pronouncements, but no official backing was ever forthcoming. Dr. Hardman taught informal courses for many years for the people in Tupe. And one Tupe professor, Lisandro Sanabria Casas, did successfully obtain backing one year for Dr. Hardman to teach the students of the 3rd and 4th grades to read and write Jaqaru. Meanwhile, We sponsored a scholarship for Prof. Nieves Payano Iturrizaga to study linguistics in Bolivia to become a linguist with specialization in Jaqaru. At that time linguistics was well developed because of the INEL (National Institute of Linguistic Studies), founded by Dr. Hardman and Dr. Elena Fort?n. On finishing her studies, for more than a decade Prof. Nieves sought a position in Peru where she could work for the benefit of Jaqaru, but without success, even thought we tried through every possible governmental office and level. Now, because Prof. Elena Huaytalla Rosales, teacher at the Instituto Pedag?gica de Catahuasi, took an interest in the formation of teachers for Tupe, and understood the necessary role of Jaqaru for that purpose, things have changed. She took the initiative to take the problem to the Gobierno Regional, and thus, with the sponsorship of the then Director Regional of Education Wilfredo Cornejo Ybarg?en, brought about the course I taught in July of 2006. The current course has come about with the continuing support of the Regional Government under the leadership of the current Regional Director de Education, Yulimo Fulgencio Milla Salas. The position for Prof. Nieves became a reality in October of 2006. It did actually happen! We are old and at times it has seemed impossible that we would live to see it, and meanwhile, with the terrorism that devastated Tupe and the influences of the recently completed road, we saw each year fewer of the young with fluency in their native Jaqaru. And often they knew little or nothing of the language and at times refused to use even the little they knew. And now is a time of celebration. The teachers have again taken hold of their language. There was a message from Prof. Nieves just before the graduation saying that the teachers wanted to use Marka, the name they use for where they live when they talk in Jaqaru, instead of Tupe ? a name obviously Spanishized from Txupi, and considered to be the Spanish translation of Marka. It is hard to exaggerate the happiness we feel. The class is already a step toward sustainability. We couldn't be there in person, but the teachers managed to connect a loud speaker to the telephone and they hung it on a tree so that we could congratulate everyone at the end of the ceremony. And it was appropriate that we be there thus, as support, because the work now passes from us to the young people, who now have what is needed to continue with the work, building on our work of the last half century, so that Jaqaru may live. ?Jaqars jakp"a! Dr. MJ Hardman http://grove.ufl.edu/~hardman/ Dr. Dimas Bautista Iturrizaga -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: First Jaqaru Language Course.doc Type: application/msword Size: 36352 bytes Desc: not available URL: