Indigenous languages replace Spanish in Oregon fields (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Indigenous languages replace Spanish in Oregon fields
Agencies reach out to farmworkers who speak neither English nor Spanish

GABRIELA RICO
Statesman Journal
November 12, 2005
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051112/NEWS/511120306/1001

Just as the Oregon employment department was feeling confident that it
offered enough Spanish-speaking farmworker liaisons, everything
changed.

In the Willamette Valley fields, a growing number of migrant workers
arrive speaking Mixteco, Triqui and Zapoteco, indigenous languages from
Oaxaca.

"Pretty soon, you won't need me in this job," said Daniel Quiñones, a
Spanish-speaking farmworkers representative with the Oregon Employment
Department.

In the position since 2001, Quiñones was struck by the blank stares he
got when he addressed workers in Spanish.

"The people tend to come in groups," he said. "So, I'll ask if anyone in
the group speaks Spanish."

Usually a man steps forward with limited Spanish skills, but enough to
understand what Quiñones is trying to communicate.

"Our job is to educate them that they have rights," he said. "A lot of
them don't know that they have rights in the United States."

Enforcing minimum-wage laws, workplace safety and child labor laws all
are the responsibility of the state, Quiñones said.

The number of indigenous workers from the state of Oaxaca is growing in
Oregon, but they maintain an unusually low profile, he said.

"They're a different breed of people than we're used to," Quiñones said.

"The reason we know they're here is because there's so many of them."

In response to the phenomena, the Oregon Law Center started an outreach
program three years ago.

The Indigenous Farmworker Project of the Oregon Law Center employs three
trilingual outreach workers to communicate with migrant workers and
offer legal services, said Julie Samples, an attorney with the Oregon
Law Center.

One initiative involved putting wage and hour laws and workplace safety
information on audio cassettes in these indigenous languages -- the
best way to reach migrant workers from Oaxaca who either don't read or
speak languages without a common written equivalent.

Earlier this year, the Legal Aid Services of Oregon and the Oregon Law
Center received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Immigration
Related Unfair Employment Practices division and a visit from the
special counsel, William J. Sanchez in recognition of these efforts.

Although Oaxaqueños first started migrating into the United States
during World War II, the population in Oregon has grown significantly
in the past five years, Samples said. It is estimated that tens of
thousands of people from Oaxaca now live in Oregon, and this state's
demand for these workers continues.

Aside from outreach, the project educates employers, police,
social-service agencies, medical clinics and schools about indigenous
people.
The women are less likely to speak Spanish and being able to provide
information to them in their native language is rewarding, Samples
said.

"Watching their eyes light up when someone speaks their language ... it
never gets old," she said.

Future farmworker outreach employees in Oregon may need to have an
indigenous language on their résumé.

"We're tossing around changes in recruitment to reflect the population,"
Quiñones said. "It's all new to us."




Copyright 2005 Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon