Tututni (was...Re: A failure of communication)

[David D. Robertson]

On Sun, 1 Dec 2002 11:54:59 -0800, hzenk at PDX.EDU wrote:

>While Chinuk Wawa is no one's
>tribal language, at Grand Ronde it was something very much like a de facto
>tribal language--it was the community "Indian language" of a dozen-plus
tiny
>tribal groups, all plunked down together in one small mountain valley.

To take up the topic of the large number of disparate Native ethnic &
language groups at Grand Ronde & Siletz reservations, and the difficulties
faced by each of them since relocation to the rez:

The latest issue I've received of the SSILA Newsletter (XXI:3 October 2002)
notes the language revival efforts of the Lower Rogue River Athabaskans or
Tututni.  They were one of the many groups removed to Grand Ronde about 150
years ago.  To briefly quote, "a few elders retain some knowledge of the
traditional language, and one of them, Gilbert Towner...this past summer,
spent two weeks near Agness on the Rogue River sharing Tututni with about a
dozen learners at a workshop...."

What is wonderful about this news is that some elders still have knowledge
of the old language, a rare case among numerous examples of tribal
languages disappearing in the pressure cooker (not to say melting pot) of
the new reservation society, which apparently tended to favor Chinook
Jargon & English over other idioms.