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<TITLE>Re: [ILAT] indigenous language survival</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14pt'>The Aymara would understand the mua / muri example perfectly. As to the treaties, yes indeed. And the ethnographies as well; I ended up learning more about the anthropologists that about the Aymara, e.g.<BR>
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And we had one last night (I hate translation):<BR>
<B>Musa </B>feel, think, ponder, appreciate, cogitate or in Spanish: sentir, querer, apreciar, pensar, cognizar<BR>
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I like the Italian saying: </SPAN></FONT><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14pt'><FONT FACE="New Century Schlbk">< <I>traduttore</I>, <I>traditore ></I>, the translator is a traitor, said for European languages, but even more true of the ones we work with. MJ<BR>
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On 10/22/10 12:54 AM, "Richard Zane Smith" <<a href="rzs@WILDBLUE.NET">rzs@WILDBLUE.NET</a>> wrote:<BR>
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</FONT></SPAN><BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14pt'><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">kweh (kia ora) Peter,<BR>
so good the language is alive with your family<BR>
If the Maori fail to revitalize...there is probably little hope for any of us.<BR>
Because <B>mana</B> is strong and evident in Aotearoa.<BR>
That "mana" is directly related to "whakapapa" as i understand it.<BR>
and how does one translate such concepts?<BR>
<B>mana</B> like essence , or powerful unseen reality?<BR>
<B>whakapapa</B> is an ancestrial kind of rootedness ?<BR>
We have words in our Wyandot language for similar concepts...but it seems to always<BR>
translate out as "law/story/way"<BR>
<B>whakapapa</B> can't be "obtained" by a Pahkia student taking a night course in Maori language.<BR>
Culture is imbedded in language and language is inseparable from culture.<BR>
THIS is what i mean when i express concern about a newer kind of notion<BR>
"I'll just take a language class" it might teach something but its not enough for survival.<BR>
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Pat Hohepa stated:<BR>
"When a word is translated ,are you trying to fit it into the cultural context of the others language<BR>
or are you shifting what it means in yours?" p.22.58<BR>
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giving the example of <B>mua</B> - in front -- in Maori representing "the past"<BR>
<B>muri </B> - behind - representing "the future"<BR>
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try to wrap an anglophone brain around that one!<BR>
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Makes me think about a lot of our nation to nation indigenous treaties.<BR>
how much was signed with little clarity and a perceived insignificant gesture or scratch?<BR>
but once a chiefs x mark was put on paper<BR>
it became irrevocable within the foreign mindset and LAW.<BR>
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I only hope for our Native American languages the same successes as the Maori.<BR>
Anyone who has seen the Haka performed can feel the <B>mana and Ihi in Aotearoa.<BR>
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kia kaha, kia maia, kia <U>mana</U>wanui <BR>
</B><BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE="Arial">Richard Zane Smith <BR>
Wyandote Oklahoma</FONT></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE>
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