Whistling language remains a mystery (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Whistling language remains a mystery

Friday, December 9, 2005 - by Natasha Rasheed
http://www.ktuu.com/cms/templates/master.asp?articleid=2541&zoneid=1

Savoonga, Alaska - There are over 6,800 languages the world. Most are 
spoken, but some have a rather unique form of delivery, including 
whistling. More than 1,000 miles from Anchorage, in the village of 
Savoonga, which is located on Saint Lawrence Island, some claim an 
ancient form of communication still exists.
 
At 89, Ora Gologergen is the oldest living woman in Savoonga. She has 
raised a family, seen her children grow and move away and now spends 
her days with old friends in a place she loves. Although Gologergen has 
never heard of using whistling as a form of communication, she believes 
one of her friends, another elder, may know about it. But it was not 
so.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 1032 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2541-1209whistle2.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 21709 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------

?He doesn?t know about that, he never heard,? said Gologergen (right).
 
Frustrated but determined, we pressed on. Billy Noongwook hadn?t heard 
of it.
 
?They haven?t told me that story,? said Noongwook.
 
But finally, there was the possibility of a clue.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 285 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0001.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2541-1209whistle3.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 32887 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------

?That?s a code word, you know. Morse Code, we use, we use Morse Code,? 
said Jonathan Annogiyauk (left).
 
Barbara Kogassagoon is another elder in the village and she learned to 
whistle Morse Code when she was a girl.
 
?If somebody spells my name when they whistle, I know that they want 
me,? said Kogassagoon.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 338 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0002.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2541-1209whistle4.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 36751 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------

However, it's not something she uses anymore. Kogassagoon says it was 
never a recognized language that was frequently used throughout the 
village.
 
Believing we had found an answer to the mystery of the whistling 
language, we returned to Anchorage. But then we met Yaari Kingeekuk and 
Marisa Jackson. Originally from Savoonga, Kingeekuk says when she was 
growing up, the language was used throughout the village and it?s not 
Morse Code. There is even a name for it: Kookameegeenuk.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 508 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0003.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2541-1209whistle6.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 25128 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------

?We use it to communicate when my friends or relatives were a distance 
away and I wanted to communicate with them,? said Kingeekuk.
 
According to Kingeekuk, the language was used most frequently when the 
men were out hunting, to keep track of each other and communicate 
messages.
 
Jackson  (pictured at left) also grew up in Savoonga and considers the 
language to be a big part of her daily life. She and Yaari use it often 
to keep track of each other when they go to the mall.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 507 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0004.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2541-1209whistle7.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 30144 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------

?She asked me what I was going to do tomorrow,? said  Jackson.
 
?She said she is going to be cooking,? said Kingeekuk (far right). ?I 
enjoy using it as a source of communication and I would think it would 
be really interesting to pass it on to a younger generations.?
 
Passing on the whistling language is exactly what Yaari hopes to do 
with her children. She knows that the only way to keep it alive is to 
do just that. For what was once commonly used during her upbringing is 
now starting to fade away, with many of the secrets perhaps tucked 
under this small Bering Sea Island, where the snow covers questions 
that may never be answered about a language only a handful of people 
still know.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 721 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0005.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2541-1209whistle8.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29684 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------

According to linguist professors at both the University of Alaska 
Anchorage and University of Alaska Fairbanks, they have never heard of 
the language. That does not mean, however, that it does not exist. One 
professor told us that he thinks it has just never really been 
researched, so the mystery continues.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 330 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20051214/efe401cf/attachment-0006.bin>