reference on research in endangered language communities (fwd link)

[MiaKalish@LFP]

How do you say "tá'c halaxp" back? Or maybe it's just all tá'c halaxp.

I read the article with interest, since it seems to be the topic of the day.
But I think we need some new perspective in addition to the academic
linguist/traditional tribal member perspective.

First, many societies have undergone catastropic loss. In 1943, a ship with
3746 Jews tried to seek asylum in the US. Roosevelt sent them back. They
were all killed in the concentration camps. For more than 5,000 years, the
Jews wandered without a land, unable to own certain kinds of businesses,
unable to worship in public. As recently as 1945, people still believed Jews
had horns. In Germany, Hitler didn't kill only the Jews: He killed all the
"undesirables", Gypsies, Homosexuals, the poor, the blind, the feeble, the
deaf. . .He even got the people to kill their own.

Recently, populations of Eastern Europe and the Middle East have been
annihilated, their women raped by "conquering" soldiers. . . . there has
been massive genocide.

So I am no saying that Patrica Shaw is wrong; I am saying that more balance
is needed. For example, she said the following:

"What the community's expectations entail here is a re-evaluation of the two
principal goals motivating research on endangered languages, namely:

1. The scientific documentation of linguistic diversity; and

2. The reclamation and revitalization of these languages for posterity.

Linguists, traditionally, have been compelled by the first. Communities are
compelled by the second. The stakes are pretty high for both parties."

When we were working, we were very focused on (2), the reclaimation and
revitalization of these languages for posterity. My partner in this crime
was a Tribal member. What they did to her was abominable. I am still stunned
and angry that a bunch of humans could treat a sweet, good-hearted person,
one of their own, the way they did.

I can't say that "everyone has history". I can only say that "I have
history". I come from 2 displaced Peoples, the Irish who were annihilated as
a practice effort in anticipation of the American Indian effort, and the
Jews. So when people say to me, Oh, you're White and your advantaged, and
nothing like this ever happened to you and so on and so forth, eventually, I
run out of patience.

So there Are other sides.

Shaw also recommends: "Local control through increased skills development in
research, development, and implementation at the community level are
integral to the success, the stability and the long term efficacy of the
shared objectives of language documentation and language revitalization."

I don't know how this can be accomplished in a world where everyone is the
enemy. I don't know how this can be accomplished in a world where people
don't do things because they are "hard". Technology is "hard" by many
standards. Coming into a place where there are no fonts, no tools, no
technology, and having to build it all to support a language, by yourself. .
. THAT is hard. Maybe we were too nice, too giving. I don't know.

I still support my friends who are trying to teach the children. I make sure
they have materials, and old stories reformatted into Word-accessible fonts
so they can be used in the classroom. But I don't know that I will ever
really go back, at least not to the Tribe here, because they broke my
partner's heart. They took her beautiful gift and they stomped on it and
then they threw it in her face. And when I saw how hurt she was, it broke my
heart, too.

So we need some more sides here, where people talk about who and how they
are and why. I know some linguists who fit Shaw's description. I could name
them. I won't.

Mia

----- Original Message -----
From: "phil cash cash" <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU>
To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 3:03 PM
Subject: reference on research in endangered language communities (fwd link)


tá'c halaxp (greetings),

fyi and to complement the recent discussions on working with endangered
language communities, i posted to...

http://projects.ltc.arizona.edu/gates/online_resources.html

a recent article that might be of interest.

"Patricia A. Shaw. Negotiating Against Loss: Responsibility,
Reciprocity, and Respect in Endangered Language Research"

i am not sure how long this article will be available since it is
scheduled for publication sometime soon.  again, as always, i claim a
"fair use" exemption on the use of the hyperlink.

phil cash cash
UofA