Student films aim to bring Native languages back to life

[Andre Cramblit]

Student films aim to bring Native languages back to life
Robert Nott | The New Mexican
Posted: Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 3/3/10

Who are you if your identity is based on your language, and your  
language is dying?

It's a question posed by teen participants in a digital-media workshop  
titled "Ancient Voices, Modern Tools," at Santa Fe's Indigenous  
Language Institute. The 13 students involved learned how to use film  
as an educational tool to promote the use of Native tongues. The three- 
day workshop culminated Thursday with an in-class screening (popcorn  
included) of the completed works, which ran 3 to 5 minutes - and  
packed a lot of story into that tight time frame.

Though not all the students fully completed their film by end of day  
Thursday, most seemed enthused with the project as they manipulated  
images, text and song on their computer screens.

The Legend of Ho'ok, by 18-year-old Klair Hubbard, Salt River Pima- 
Maricopa Indian Community, related the tale of Ho'ok, a La Llorona  
type who lived in a hillside cave and came down to the village to  
spirit away newborns. Hubbard used historical photos, traditional  
music and narration in the film.

Hubbard's grandfather told her this story - and many other tribal  
tales - when she was a child. "Our legends set a base for our way of  
life," she said.

Living Our Culture: The Quest to Preserve Our Languages, by Kenny  
Chavez, Ohkay Owingeh, and Tiffany Esquibel, San Felipe Pueblo, also  
includes historical images, Native languages and music to depict the  
decline - and hopeful resurgence - of language within their cultures.

The decline stems from the 1880s to the mid-20th century when federal  
law mandated that Native American children only speak and learn  
English. During those years, most Indian children were educated in  
"English-only" boarding schools.

The Indigenous Language Institute was founded in 1992 to revitalized  
Native languages. This workshop provides a way for young people to  
connect to the cause, according to Matt Pecos, Cochiti Pueblo, who  
teaches at the Santa Fe Indian School's Cochiti Keres Language Program.

"Our young people need to hear our language to learn it, and  
technology is a medium you can use to speak that language to them,"  
Pecos said. "Language is not only a form of communication with one  
another. It's who we are."

The workshop was funded by a grant from the First Nations Development  
Institute in Longmont, Colo., according to Inée Slaughter, executive  
director of the ILI, which is on the campus of the Santa Fe Indian  
School on Cerrillos Road.

"There is a renaissance of interest among the young generation to  
learn more about their language and culture," Slaughter said. "They  
need to learn language skills that are relevant to their lives, such  
as being able to talk about things that interest them - such as  
sports. ILI believes in taking language where the kids are and  
technology - social networking sites, texting, MySpace, YouTube - is  
where they are."

The institute will archive the shorts. Otherwise, the filmmakers can  
do with them what they wish. Slaughter encouraged them to submit their  
works to the Greater New Mexico All Roads Film and Photo Project, a  
statewide program that showcases student work.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott at sfnewmexican.com.

At First Nations Development Institute, we believe that Native youth  
represent the future of Native communities and that their health and  
well-being determines the future health and well-being of their  
communities overall. By investing in youth and giving them a sense of  
place and tradition, a community ensures that it will have bright and  
capable future leaders. For more information about First Nations'  
Native Youth & Culture Fund, please go to: www.firstnations.org/nycf





First Nations Development Institute | 703 3rd Avenue | Suite B |  
Longmont | CO | 80501

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