Berenstain Bears now speaking endangered language (fwd link)

Thu Sep 15 21:34:53 UTC 2011

good insights there Rolland,
bloody glass slipper and all...(when visiting Grimms ... do as the
Grimms...)
but really thinking about the part where "correct words" used to interpret
some foreign concept into the peoples language
is still gibberish or word stacking because the indigenous paradigm for
seeing the world is sacrificed in the process.

What if every culture in the world was asked to write their word for "green"
?
well thats very problematic,as some of our concepts about *color* are VERY
different
and it would be meaningless to try to stack up a list of sounds to describe
an english equivalent for  "green" .

Why would we want a Berenstain Bear,now talking Portuguese ,now talking
Inupiat ,now talking Pashtun, now Wyandot,now Mandarin ?
We have our OWN BEAR stories! In fact we have some wonderful bear stories
and quite the characters too.
I use raccoon and fox puppets to teach children because they are in our
stories, and they are LOVED by the kids.
we didn't have to raid sesame street...we have our own!

there is a problem if we approach education as * "lets try to make it cool
to win kids" * because kids are smarter than that.
If whats being taught is *cool* to the teacher, and the teacher is *
passionate *about the subject and loves the kids, it becomes cool to the
students.
as a teen I hated it when grown-ups tried to act like my age group to "talk
on the same level" (gag) few of us wanted to stay on that level anyway...

-richard

On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 1:18 PM, Rolland Nadjiwon <mikinakn at shaw.ca> wrote:

> **
> Richard...thanks for expressing your thoughts on this 'dicey' subject
> honestly and emphatically. I agree with all you have said and suggested.
> Most often, our languages twist Western culture into a form which expresses
> Western thought and culture...not the culture and ways of the people of that
> language. I have often referred to it as the 'glass slipper syndrome' where
> the language and culture of a people is squeezed into a format that just
> does not fit and probably never will until we have chopped and butchered it
> into the 'correct' shape for any intelligible language..in most
> cases English and much like Cinderella's step sisters an crone mother. The
> process contains the same authoritative forms used in standard education
> systems and methodologies which are destructive to indigenous language and
> culture. Our ability to raise our generations into our culture and language
> has been usurped by the educational institutions and infra structures which
> support it from childhood to Hollywood.
>
> Some years ago, a political organization supposedly representative of the
> people, decided to develop a translation unit which would translate
> government information and policies into the 'people's' language. In
> visiting the communities and speaking with the people, they expressed the
> situation pretty emphatically. They suggested, and this was par for all the
> communities, that the people know the words and understand the words but
> when it is all put together none of it made any sense. In this
> situation, the non indigenous world in company with the indigenous
> organization supposedly representing them, were collectively changing the
> language and culture of the people. Metaphorically, everything was
> travelling in the wrong direction. The organization was set up to represent
> 'the indigenous peoples' to foreign governments but were, however,
> representing the government into the peoples and their communities.
>
> One of the barriers, as I see it, and a major one is the development of an
> infrastructure which will qualify our indigenous peoples to do what we
> 'need' done and do it in 'our' way. Prior to 1492, we were not self
> destructive.
>
> Every one's comments are very interesting and appreciated. We need this
> level of discussion at our levels of involvement.
>
> -------
> wahjen
> rolland nadjiwon
> ___________________________________________
> The government cannot give to anyone anything it has not first taken from
> someone else....
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>  *From:*  *On Behalf Of *Richard Zane Smith
> *Sent:* September-15-11 10:55 AM
> *To:*
> *Subject:* Re: [ILAT] Berenstain Bears now speaking endangered language
> (fwd link)
>
> I'm going to be raw here....
>
> this borrowing from outsider cultural icons is ...ok...if its only a
> kickstart.
> but I think Native people can do ALOT better than borrowing Bernstain Bears
> or little kitty or whatever
>
> Three Blind Mice sung in Hopi might be cute...but its not Hopi doesn't
> convey Hopi thought.
> Amazing Grace sung in Wyandot might be beautiful...but its not
> representative of Wyandot thought.
>
> We have our OWN artists,
> Where are our OWN writers? with our OWN songs? our own icons? based in our
> OWN cultural perspectives?
> Is reviving language and culture simply coming up with our own "copycat"
> version of pop. society icons?
>
> THEY have a cool teeshirt...now WE have a cool NDN version of the tee
> shirt.
> THEY have a cool gang-banger cap...now we have a cool NDN version of the
> same.
> THEY have a cool award ceremonies...now WE have our version, an NDN award
> ceremonies.
>
> If the nations are looking to Indigenous people to be leaders towards a
> sustainable future
> why (with all the creative people we have) are we slipping into being
> imitators and *followers* ?
>
> sorry, i have heard alot of reasons given...just haven't heard many good
> ones
> to explain why WE aren't cutting edge ourselves.
> just had to get that out..hope i didn't make anyone TOO mad.
>
> -Richard
> Wyandotte Oklahoma
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 9:14 PM, Phillip E Cash Cash <
> cashcash at email.arizona.edu> wrote:
>
>> Berenstain Bears now speaking endangered language
>>
>> By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press
>> Wednesday, September 14, 2011
>>
>> Papa Bear, Mama Bear and their cubs have helped children curb
>> junk-food addictions and organize messy rooms for half a century. Now,
>> from their tree house in idyllic Bear Country, the beloved Berenstain
>> Bears are helping revive an endangered American Indian language.
>>
>> Access full article below:
>>
>> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/09/14/national/a003045D95.DTL
>>
>
>
>
> --
>  *"this language of mine,of yours,is who we are and who we have been.It is
> where we find our stories,our lives,our ancestors;and it should be where we
> find our future too"   Simon Anaviapik ... Inuit*
>
> richardzanesmith.wordpress.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
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-- 
*"this language of mine,of yours,is who we are and who we have been.It is
where we find our stories,our lives,our ancestors;and it should be where we
find our future too"   Simon Anaviapik ... Inuit*

richardzanesmith.wordpress.com
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