Cree hand signals homepage

[Jeffrey Kopp]

A bit off-topic:  When I was in the Coast Guard stationed on Cape Cod
back in the mid-seventies, I heard about the deaf population on
Martha's Vineyard (the larger island west of Nantucket).  One of the
guys stationed over there had a deaf girlfriend, was learning the
language, and told me about it.   I have since read that due to the
island's isolation and an unusual proportion of hereditary deafness
there, they had an early and unique deaf-sign language, unrelated to
ASL.  But on a quick Web browse today I found a couple assertions
that ASL either descended from or was a kind of adaptation of it
incorporating the Clerc/Gallaudet method of the time.

http://www.mvrhs.mv.k12.ma.us/netsite/Lab/students/projects/reece/chips%20project/pages/essay.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/11942/asl.html

On the latter page above is the intriguing note (see the last one
listed): "[T]here are several different sign languages in the US
today, including Signed Exact English I and II, Cued Speech, Signed
English, Pidgin Signed English."

Regards,

Jeff

P.S. A few years ago here in Oregon (before the age of cell phones),
I had the slightly unnerving experience of noticing two women in a
car, driver and passenger, having a lively conversation in sign as
they cruised along the highway.

P.P.S.  Those in the Seattle area who are interested in sign might
check to see if Tex's Tavern (just across from Seattle Center to the
east--if it still exists) remains the home of "Deaf Night." 15 years
ago the place filled with signers weekly; I think it was every
Thursday evening.  About a quarter to a third could hear or speak
somewhat, and a few with natural hearing and speech had signing
partners.  It was near where I lived and I stumbled in on such a
night by chance; while I was just a curious outsider, a couple were
willing to discuss their life and community briefly with me.

(P.P.P.S. The deaf love to dance, they can hear or feel the beat.)

On Wed, 24 Apr 2002 04:41:07 +0900, Nobukatsu Minoura
<minoura at FS.TUFS.AC.JP> wrote:

>Dear Liland and all,
>
>on 4/24/02 1:22 AM, Liland Brajant Ros' at lilandbr at HOTMAIL.COM wrote:
>> PS Unfortunately I have no idea what the answers to your questions are. It's
>> not listed under Canada in the Ethnologue, either.
>
>It was only after I posted the last message to this list that I looked at
>all the movie files of the signs.  The so-called "Cree signs" seem to be
>more than 95% identical with ASL.  I do not know if it's used by hearing
>Crees or by deaf Crees, but as far as the small on-line lexicon is
>concerned, it's safe to assume that the "Cree Sign Language" is actually
>just a dialect of ASL.  If it is a descendant of a native sign language, it
>has been heavily influenced by ASL, which is the most widely used sign
>language of Canada.  (Ethnologue's claim that Canada has Canadian Sign
>Language is not supported by any sign language linguists at present.  It is
>just a variation of ASL.  On the other hand Langue des Signes Quebecoise =
>LSQ is a distinct language used in the Francophone areas of Canada.)
>
>I wonder if the "users" of the "Cree signs" think that they use an
>indigenous sign language.  I doubt it though.
>
>I just started a discussion on SLLING-L (sign language linguistics mailing
>list).  If there are any substantial feedbacks, I will get back to you guys
>with them.
>
>Nobukatsu Minoura
>Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
>minoura at tufs.ac.jp