Language Is Life

[Andre Cramblit]

Language Is Life©

André P. Cramblit Karuk Tribe

  
I recently attended the Language Is Life Conference LILC) at the  
Marin Headlands Institute.  This was the 7th biannual symposium  
sponsored by the Advocates for Indigenous Language Survival  
(www.aicls.org). The Advocates for Indigenous California Language  
Survival is an organization devoted to implementing and supporting  
the revitalization of indigenous California languages. Its mission is  
to assist California Indians in language maintenance and renewal.

Members of Native Language Programs from throughout California (and  
one group from Vancouver BC) came to the LILC to learn about  
innovative renewal projects, share strategies for success,  
difficulties encountered, and gather with other American Indians who  
feel that language revitalization is the foundation of our cultural  
survival.

Representatives from about 30 Tribal and community groups gathered to  
learn from one another.  Many sessions were held to help explain what  
different people are doing in their own areas.  One session I  
attended that particularly intrigued me was on a new gizmo called the  
Phrasealator® (www.ndnlanguage.com).  These devices show a lot or  
promise for helping Tribes document and learn languages.  It was  
initially developed for field use in enemy territory for the  
military.  It has been adapted to record Elders saying phrases in  
their Tribal languages to be used on a portable device for  
individuals to access as needed.

Some Tribes showed videos they have developed where youngsters have  
merged their skill with technology and traditional story telling  
techniques.  Others acted out plays of situational conversations they  
have learned.  Many talked about the importance of the Master- 
Apprentice program and how it has positively impacted the growth of  
language learning through one on one exposure.  Sometimes the old  
technology is still the best.

I did a presentation with the Karuk Language Programs that discussed  
our latest efforts at bringing language to the people.  After  
recently completing a major revision of our Dictionary (http:// 
corpus.linguistics.berkeley.edu/~karuk/karuk-lexicon.html) the  
members of the Karuk language Restoration Committee (KLRC) searched  
for a way to make our curriculum and teaching approaches available to  
more Karuk people.  At nearly 4000 members the Karuk Tribe is the  
second largest tribe in California, but many of our people live far  
away from our aboriginal territory.  With a recently funded three  
year grant from the Administration for Native Americans the KLRC is  
embarking on a novel Distance Learning program.  We are looking to  
combine Internet, video, and other hi-tech tools to assist us in  
teaching the language to more members.

The LILC was great weekend full of laughter, learning and positive  
energy.  The comments I heard mainly were that it was a rejuvenating  
shot in the arm to reenergize people as they went home to work on the  
daunting task of bringing back the language.  I heard a quote once  
and cannot recall the author but the gist of it was: “if you no  
longer speak your language you are not a member of your tribe but  
rather a descendent of the people.”  The LILC is one of the valuable  
tools in helping us maintain that link to our past and keep us all  
members.


André Cramblit (andrekar at ncidc.org) is an enrolled member of the  
Karuk Tribe of California and is also of Tohono O'odham blood. His  
family are traditional dance owners and come from the center of the  
Karuk World at Katimíin.  He is at present the Operations Director of  
the Northern California Indian Development Council (www.ncidc.org), a  
non-profit that meets the community development needs of American  
Indians throughout California.  He is a founding member of the Karuk  
Language Restoration Committee and currently serves as Chairman.  He  
lives with his wife Wendy and children Kyle and Leah in Northern  
California and dreams of winning the lottery so he can work on  
language restoration full time. http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/index.html
  
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