Self-Intro New Member

[Lance Foster]

Hi

I thought I would introduce myself, as I just joined the list. Thanks
John K for letting me know about it. I know a couple of you (Hi Robert
R, and the indefatigable and knowledgable Jimm GT) and have heard of
some of the others (I look forward to seeing Louann F's book on the
Chiwere.. does Lori know?)

I am a member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. I also have
ancestors among the Otoe, Omaha, Sauk, and Yankton. My particular
interests are Chiwere and comparative Siouan that helps me get a handle
on it. My grandmother knew only a little of the language, and many years
ago, when I was taking a NA linguistics class for my undergrad in Anthro
from Timothy Montler at U Montana (he was into Salish as I recall) I
found Jimm and Lila W-Robinson's work on IOM. I must commend Jimm, for
in those days few were interested, and he took the time and effort. He
should never be forgotten for that.

I have a BA in Anthro and Native American Studies from U Montana, and an
MA in Anthro from Iowa State. I have been studying Chiwere since I was
about 20 (I am 40 now), mainly because I was not raised in the Ioway
community, but in Montana, among Cheyenne and Blackfeet. One thing I
learned was that language is the heart of culture, that without the
language, you cannot understand the culture.

I did not do my Masters work on linguistics per se, it was more of an
old style multifield Anthro approach (the benefits of small universities
are that they aren't under such pressure to fit you into a
"archaeologist" or "linguist" box.. what I lost in depth I think I
gained in breadth). I did my thesis on the Sacred Bundle system of the
Ioway, with a focus on using linguistic taxonomy to determine the actual
taxonomy of the system rather than the one ascribed to it by collectors
and ethnographers.

I am not a linguist per se, and have not kept up with the latest. I work
as a historical landscape architect in the cultural landscapes program
of the National Park Service. My connections to Chiwere are avocational
on one level, but deeply personal on another.

I am not particularly deep in my interests about the subtleties of
phonetics.. language changes, speakers differ, and family dialects often
go to war... how do we maintain a language community with these opposing
forces? ..it will take some time to get up to speed on some of the
terminology I've seen in the archives. I am mainly interested in the
language and how it shapes how we think, how it relates to ethnic
identity.. and I don't know if this is the place, but the real power of
the spoken word in a native sense.. how speaking something creates it in
a sense. There is something magical about language.. and I do mean magic
in the real sense.

I guess that's it for now..

--
Lance Michael Foster
Email: ioway at earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~ioway
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Baxoje Ukich'e: The Ioway Nation (http://www.ioway.org)