Keeping alive a language and a culture (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Keeping alive a language and a culture

By Travis Coleman
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/25/local/10054255.txt

MACY - An Omaha Indian Reservation high school student stares at three
juice bottles and answers an instructor timidly.

"Sezi ni," (sez a-nay) he says, pointing at a bottle of orange juice
during a class on the Omaha language.

His anxious expression melts into a grin as the instructor praises him.

"Udon shkaxe," (oo-done shkaw-hay) says Vida Stabler, an Umo`nhon,
(oo-mon-hon) or Omaha, language instructor.

It means, "You did a good job."

The student is one of 100 high school and elementary students fighting
to keep the Omaha language alive by taking courses at the Omaha Tribe
Public School.

In 1994, the Omaha Tribe said less than 1 percent of its total
enrollment - nearly 7,000 - was fluent in the language of one of
Nebraska's earliest inhabitants.

Of that 1 percent, only 30 lived on the Omaha reservation.

The reservation's senior center is where many of the tribe's fluent
speakers come to eat.

The elders are keeping the language alive.

"(The preservation of the Omaha language) is very important to our
tribes," said Maxine Parker, 66. "We have to pick up what our ancestors
left behind."

Stabler and her team of 16 elders and teachers have joined Mark
Awakuni-Swetland - a professor of the Omaha language at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln - and the Omaha Tribe Head Start program and
Nebraska Indian Community College to save the language and, in turn,
the culture.

"Iknow it's a struggle," Stabler said. "But these young ones have good
minds - with each day, they produce more and more."

To ensure the Omaha language survives and thrives, educational and
community centers on and off the reservation teach the language to
youths of all ages.

At the Omaha Tribe Head Start program, preschoolers are taught Omaha
names for shapes, colors and numbers, said Lenna Spears, the director.

Elementary school Omaha courses have been formed and will be taught this
semester.

Natives are exposed to further instruction in high school and can seek
Omaha language courses at Nebraska Indian Community College in Macy or
at UNL.

The words transmit more than just commands and phrases, according to
instructors.

"The majority of Omahas see language and culture as two sides of the
same coin," Awakuni-Swetland said. "The common phrase is, 'If you learn
our language, you learn our culture.'"

The way the language is spoken, Awakuni-Swetland said, is what makes it
precious.

"Omaha is very context-specific. When you talked Omaha, you knew what
you were talking about," he said. "The jokes are funnier. The stories
are more potent. The prayers are more special."

The level of instruction in the classroom cannot match the level of
learning in the home, Stabler said.

For students to fully grasp the concepts of Omaha language and culture,
a family-like environment must exist in the classroom, Stabler said.

Omaha Tribe Public School language classes take place in the hutuga,
(who-la-ga) or tribal circle.

There are no desks or chalkboards. Few written materials exist.

"I don't like tables. I see them as a deterrent to learning," Stabler
said. "We try to create a family environment."

Traditionally, the language has been passed to the next generation
orally.

This family environment, according to Stabler, ensures students are
taught the language the same way their ancestors learned it.

"Vida and her team of elders have been diligent in their approach to
this multifaceted situation," Awakuni-Swetland said. "In every case
possible, they have tried to use an Omaha-appropriate approach."

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska faces similar problems: 11 of the 4,222
people enrolled in the tribe speak fluent Ho-Chunk.

Since 2003, more than 600 students have taken Ho-Chunk classes in
several schools surrounding Winnebago.

A federal grant pays for the Omaha Tribe's efforts to revitalize the
language.

But each time the $78,000 grant runs short, Stabler confidently asks the
school board for help, because it fully supports the project.

The financial challenges are small when compared to the work of making
the Omaha language thrive again, Stabler said.

"You can't let up on these efforts. The challenge is to create
opportunities for people to engage in Umonhon on a day-to-day basis,"
Stabler said.

"I have to have hope. I have to believe it will be a thriving language."

Donna Parker, 64, is an elder who instructs alongside Stabler.

Often, when Stabler cannot find a word or a phrase during class, she
seeks guidance from Parker or Karen Tyndall, another instructor.

This is the way the language should be passed down: from one generation
to another, Parker said.

But, the fear of losing what Omahas hold dear is strong in Parker.

"It's fading away. - We would like to preserve the language. If we
don't, it will be lost."

And with it, a way of life.

Travis Coleman was a Journal Star intern this summer. He plans to attend
the University of South Dakota this fall. He can be reached through
citydesk@;journalstar.com.