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<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>good ness gracious, this was Moonhawk
and Sakej Henderson. Moonhawk was a dear, dear friend who passed away 2 years
ago. I met Sakej only through his words. . . but Moonhawk held Sakej in highest
regard. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>Thank you for this email; when I
communicate with others, I am reminded about how much a "Western" concept people
seem to think science is. In fact, the people who lived here before the
colonists had calendars, ways of measuring, building, healing, understanding,
learning, and to my great pleasure, stealing horses. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>I think of these things as "science".
I guess most people don't. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>But I liked your email, and the
charming reminder, through the Universe, from my beloved friend, who I truly
miss. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>sincerely, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>Mia</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mona@ALLIESMEDIAART.COM href="mailto:mona@ALLIESMEDIAART.COM">MM
Smith</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
href="mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU">ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, March 08, 2004 12:32
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Native Languages and
'science'</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>I humbly precede this by saying that I am curious, not an
expert, and can only glimpse the ideas. Too, I know nothing of the wasicun
linguist who's site I sampled and pasted here, but am hoping the ideas will
add to the discussion.<BR><BR>The question seems to need to move quickly
beyond what words exist in a given language for a given western scientific or
mathematical concept, but rather how do Native languages relate to indigenous
ways of describing the
'cosmos.'<BR><BR><BR>http://www.enformy.com/dma-ql03.htm<BR><BR>In reference
to a conference between some Native people and some scientists in
1992?<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Times New Roman><?bigger><?bigger>Historic
as far as Native Americans are concerned<BR><BR>(Sa'ke'j:)<U><?color><?param 0000,0000,FFFF>*<?/color></U>
It was an amazing experience to get that kind of respect, for most Native
Americans, to be sitting at the table with the greatest scientist on some
kind of cognitive equality, and come to certain agreements that our language
may better describe the subatomic world... than their language. but they
don't know any other language, and they are very curious about why we would
have pre-knowledge of something hat their methods and rules are just
arriving at.<BR>Noun/verb-dominated Languages<BR><BR>And what did Whorf mean
by verb-dominated language? {Benjamin Whorf] Whereas every sentence in
English must properly have a subject, a noun or noun phrase, and a verb,
many if not most Native American languages can have sentences with no nouns
at all. 'Rehpi,' a full sentence in Hopi referring to a celestial event,
means 'flashed,' where we have to say 'the lightning flashed.' But this goes
much further: sa'ke'j says that when he's speaking mi'kmaq back on the
reserve, he can go all day long without ever uttering a single noun. this
statement is mind-boggling to most English speakers. So much of our facts
and knowledge are wrapped up in nouns, so what would all that knowledge look
like in a language that doesn't value nouns in the same way? This includes
all concepts, all the way to 'god'.<BR><BR>(Sa'ke'j:) We don't have one god.
You need a noun language to have one god. We have forces. All forces are
equal and you are just the amplifier of the forces. The way you conduct your
life and the dignity you give to other things gives you access to other
forces.<BR><BR>Even trees are verbs instead of nouns: The Mi'kmaq named
their trees for the sound the wind makes when it blows through the trees
during the autumn about an hour after sunset, when the wind usually comes
from a certain direction. So one might be like a 'shu-shu' something, and
another more like a 'tinka-tinka' something.<BR><BR>Although physics in the
western world has been essentially the quest for the smallest noun (which
used to be a-tom, 'that which cannot be further divided'), as they went
inside the atom things weren't acting like nouns anymore. The physicists
were intrigued with the possibilities inherent in a language that didn't
depend on nouns but could move right to verbs when the circumstances were
appropriate.<BR><?/bigger><?/bigger><?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>