Learning to speak Tlingit

[Richard Smith]

Rosalyn,
thanks for sharing this about dormancy
I find similar "lack" of deep interest here too among tribal members.
Keeping focus upon the future generations is sometimes the only thing
that keeps me wading through resources and trying to compile stems
and trying to get our linguists to atleast TALK with one another...
There is even a mindset among tribal authorities that the language
will NEVER come back as a spoken language...so there is no sense of urgency.
sometimes I feel like zeal for recovery is merely tolerated as fantasy.

I have so many "what's the use!" moments here.......
What is a hands-on artist craftsman like me doing anyway tangling with
insurmountable tasks of this work with words and computers?
Just reading your own words encourages me
I want to apologize if i ever sound like i'm hunting for blame targets
 here on this forum. Warrior blood sometimes stirs in me, but
blame never builds anything...and is distracting from our goals.
I hope what might sound like blame, is only grief reacting
like stunned people coming out of their cellars after a tornado
trying to understand how we could have lost so much.

Hamendizhu' ayömatëdutöh tsatrihute
taskwanöht nöma këtatih hamëtayeh d'iyawishra'  de yarohniyeh
nesha d'iyawishra' d' aömetsayeh

Creator (All-Power) I ask of you - listen
give us all this day(count)  strength of the "heavens"
and also the strength of the earth

-Richard Zane Smith
  Sohahiyoh
Wyandotte Oklahoma



On 5/7/08 8:14 AM, "rrlapier at AOL.COM" <rrlapier at AOL.COM> wrote:

> I am hoping that some languages are in a dormant phase.
> 
> I absolutely agree with the observations that you address in your commentary.
> For some, language has become ornamental, like heritage clothing or jewlery,
> you only hear it when the powwow princess introduces herself.
> 
> But I am hoping that for those of us working in the field, all five of us (ha
> ha), that we can leave behind some documentation (with our research) and a few
> second language speakers (through our school), that can serve as resources for
> the future generation that may become interested. Because, let's face it, most
> of the current generation are not interested. But again, I have hope for the
> future, that if we work to provide resources for them, they will not have to
> work as hard.
> 
> So, I agree to keep the language alive you need everyday speakers of the
> language. But to pass through the dormant phase we need documentation, very
> good documentation, for those who will come after us.
> 
> Rosalyn LaPier
> Piegan Institute
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Crippen <jcrippen at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> Sent: Tue, 6 May 2008 11:43 pm
> Subject: Re: [ILAT] Learning to speak Tlingit
> 
> 2008/5/5 Jordan Lachler <jordanlachler at gmail.com>:
>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1nPCGpQ86w
> 
> Goosú wé Lingít yóo xh'atángi, wéi video tóox'? Ch'u tleix' "Lingít"
> xh'axhwa.axhch khu.aa. The video is a disappointment in the end
> because other than using the word "Lingít" to index "Tlingitness",
> there's no Tlingit language spoken. None at all. Not even "Yéi áyá haa
> yóo xh'atángi" or something like it as an introduction.
> 
> The video does make a great point, however, one that bothers me a lot.
> In my personal experience talking to the various people working in
> Tlingit revitalization, there's lots of effort put into learning words
> for *things*, but not learning how to actually express meaning. This
> is partly because of the complexity of the language (it's really hard
> to learn!), partly because its grammar is still not well described
> (I'm working as hard as I can!), and partly because of the existing
> focus on teaching words and phrases rather than communicative ability
> (TPR is not the solution!).
> 
> But I fear that this issue will fly over the heads of the people who
> it's for, in that they *won't* start to think about how they're
> learning to talk. Instead, they'll see this video as reinforcing that
> the words and set phrases they've learned is really a sign that
> they're using the language.
> 
> "I can say the names of all the berries in Tlingit." "I can say 'we
> are cutting fish' in Tlingit." But can you say "I don't want to go and
> pick berries right now. Instead I want to stay home and watch TV
> because my feet hurt" in Tlingit? [1] Why not? What matters more to
> you?
> 
> People gain lots of pride and empowerment from learning a language,
> but then go on to use it only as an occasional token of identity.
> People speak the language, but they don't try to speak *in* the
> language. They learn lots of words and phrases and such, but don't
> ever learn how to even have a basic conversation about something as
> dull as what they did last week. The language becomes a mere tool,
> nothing any more ornamental than a button blanket. It doesn't get used
> out in a boat to ward off the cold, it doesn't get used to pad a rock
> for sitting on, it doesn't get used to wipe the steam off of a window.
> Instead it only gets taken out for ceremonial occasions, treated
> gently and with great respect. It only gets used to say "look here I'm
> Tlingit" when the people with money and power are looking, and is
> otherwise shoved back in a box for the next time someone needs to show
> it off.
> 
> The language isn't just some dead at.óowu passed on from elders to be
> cherished as a valuable artifact. It's the very life of being, it's
> the xh'aséikw of the people. Who cares if it gets used for
> introductions in a political speech? Who cares if it gets used at an
> immersion camp that cost tens of thousands of dollars to arrange and
> only brought twenty people? What really matters is if it gets used in
> the kitchen while making dinner, or at the store while buying
> potatoes, or in the car while driving to work. It needs to live, not
> be some dusty old mask in a box that people only take out to prove
> their lineage and status.
> 
> My point is that an endangered language like Tlingit isn't just a sign
> to index political and social alignment, it's a living thing that
> deserves to be used, deserves to have our breath pass through it. If
> we're supposed to be revitalizing a language, that means really saying
> things with it rather than saying things *about* it. And if people are
> going to say things with it, then they need to really learn how to
> speak and not just how to read phrases from a book.
> 
> I hear the same refrain over and over from people that revitalization
> costs too much, that there's just not enough support for it, or that
> it takes too much time to really learn to talk. Too often people focus
> on how to get money for a project, where the money should come from,
> who should control the money, who should control the people who
> control the money, ad nauseam. But revitalization shouldn't cost
> anything at all. If the language is important enough to save then
> people ought to be willing to put their own free time into keeping it
> alive, and not worrying about who's going to get the government
> cheese. It's not about how to look good, or to gain prestige or power
> or money. Revitalization is really about learning to speak the
> language because you care about it, because you love it and you love
> the people who speak it, and you want to keep that alive. There's no
> other reason necessary. Politics, identity, postcolonialism,
> education, government, autonomy, history, none of that other crap
> matters except for how to get around it so you can get on with keeping
> the language spoken.
> 
> Yéi áyá axh toowú.
> Jéiwsh
> 
> [1]: To be fair, here's my attempt: Axh xh'ús' yanéekw yáa yakyee. Ách
> áwé, tléil axh toowáa sigóo khukkhwak'eet'. Néilx' yéi xhat natee, TV
> kkhwalateen.
> 
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> 


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