native language article

[David Lewis]

Sunday, April 9, 2000

Indian Children Find Forum to Perform in Their Native Language

By Brendan Smith
Journal Staff Writer
For almost a century, government and mission boarding schools for Indian 
children sought to extinguish a vibrant culture by forbidding the speaking 
of native languages and the practice of tribal religions.
"Kill the Indian, save the man," was the motto of Gen. Richard Pratt, 
founder of the first off-reservation federal boarding school in 1879.
Because of this stifling legacy, many Native American children today don't 
speak their native language, said Inée Yang Slaughter, executive director 
of the Santa Fe-based Institute for the Preservation of the Original 
Languages of the Americas.
"It was a U.S. government policy to assimilate the people," Slaughter said 
Saturday. "When children no longer speak or use the language, it's 
considered an endangered language."
The institute held its Second Annual Native American Youth Language Fair & 
Pow Wow on Saturday at Santa Fe Indian School to showcase the talents of 
Native American children in speaking and performing in their native languages.
The language fair grew from just six contestants last year to about 150 
this year from pueblos and reservations across New Mexico, said Santa Fe 
actor Wes Studi, a Cherokee who has appeared in many movies including "Last 
of the Mohicans." Studi, who was honored last year by the institute for his 
work in language preservation, served as master of ceremonies Saturday.
"It's becoming a popular event," Studi said. "Language doesn't have to be 
something serious. It can be fun to do."
Each contestant, ranging in age from 8 to 19, received a medal and a gift, 
with additional awards in three age categories.
Autumn Gomez, 13, and her 9-year-old brother, Matthew, gave a puppet show 
with 8-year-old Julian Wahnee. The trio, who take Comanche language lessons 
in Santa Fe, sang the alphabet and some numbers in Comanche before offering 
a Comanche rendition of "Old McDonald Had a Farm."
"We are all going to speak Comanche again," Autumn told the audience after 
the puppet show. "From now on, we're going to speak Comanche forever."
Autumn said she became interested in learning the language from her 
grandmother, who speaks Comanche fluently.
The youths participating in the fair had to work with teachers, parents or 
other relatives to create their presentations in about 20 Native American 
languages, so the fair is a "wonderful community-building activity," 
Slaughter said.
The Institute for the Preservation of the Original Languages of the 
Americas hopes to expand and hold more Native American language fairs in 
other parts of the country, Slaughter said.
Out of 300-plus original Native American languages, only 175 still exist.
During an intermission Saturday afternoon, Blue Star Singers, a group of 
five teen-age girls from Santa Fe, sat around a large drum, beating a 
rhythm while they sang, their voices rising in unison.
The language fair, which was followed by an intertribal powwow with gourd 
dancing, is meant to instill pride in Native American children in using 
their native language, Slaughter said.

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               David Gene Lewis
         P.O. Box 3086
Eugene, OR 97403, USA
Home 541.684.9003  Cell 541.954.2466
Fax 541.346.0668

talapus at kalapuya.com, coyotez at darkwing.uoregon.edu,
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~coyotez
http://www.kalapuya.com
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~coyotez

Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community, Oregon
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