Keeping a Native Langauage Alive

Mon Jul 31 13:05:46 UTC 2006

Fyi item. 

Thanks

Carolyn 

Keeping a native language alive

Computer software seen as key to increasing the number of Mohawk
speakers Immersion programs featured at Kahnawake Reserve, writes Robert
J. Galbraith 

Jul. 29, 2006. 11:37 AM

ROBERT J. GALBRAITH

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

MONTREAL-The Kahnawake Reserve near here is home to 8,000 Mohawks, but
only about 1,000 of them can speak their native language. 

To correct that, the community recently launched a computer software
program it hopes will help revive the Mohawk language and encourage
residents to get more in touch with their ancient culture and its
teachings. 

This is the first program to be initiated under the Rosetta Stone
Endangered Languages Program, with similar software now being developed
for the Seminole of the southern United States and the Inuit of the far
north. Rosetta Stone software is currently being used to teach millions
of users 30 major languages in more than 150 countries. 

"Language defines nationhood. It shapes and forms your whole world of
who you are. It's part of everything we are as a people," says Donna 

Goodleaf, a PhD in education and the executive director of Kahnawake's
Cultural Centre. 

"Part of our agenda as a cultural centre is to develop and implement
language programs for the people of the community," she says. 

The computer program will supplement a variety of other language
training elements that are already in place in Kahnawake, including
adult language enrichment classes, language immersion "nests" for
preschool-age children and a cable access program for family members of
all ages. They are all aimed at expanding the number of fluent Mohawk
speakers. 

The software immerses the user into the language he or she is trying to
learn, through its dynamic immersion method. Words and phrases spoken by
people from the community are matched with pictures of familiar places
and faces. There are several options to choose from, and through the
process of elimination, the user will pick the appropriate picture to
match the words. Where other language software packages teach by
translation, immersion ensures that language meaning is not lost, as it
never equates indigenous words with English words. 

Word of the program has sparked great interest in native communities
across North America. 

"We have received calls from the Six Nations, the Sak and Fox Nations of
Oklahoma, the Navaho of Arizona, the Squamish of British Columbia, the
Seminoles of Florida, the Inuit and the Ojibwa in Ontario," Goodleaf
says. "They all want to know how it is working out." 

The Kahnawake band council, under the leadership of Grand Chief Michael
Delisle, wholly endorses the learning program. Not only is the program
being used in schools and private homes, but by Sept. 1, the council
will require Kahnawake's 900 public servants to enrol in Mohawk language
lessons. This includes social workers, teachers, medical workers,
firefighters, peacekeepers and infrastructure employees. 

"There's a fine line on our public employees in learning Mohawk. We're
not going to throw people out," Delisle says. "We're not trying to force
businesses to conform immediately. We're not saying your job is being
threatened if you don't learn our language, but people with language
skills will definitely be an asset when it comes to hiring. There is no
real timeline (for language enforcement) but this is transitional. If we
don't see the necessary results, we will have to be stricter." 

________________________________

`Language defines nationhood. It shapes and forms your whole world of
who you are' 

Donna Goodleaf, Kahnawake Reserve 

________________________________

"I don't foresee any problems," Delisle says. "For doctors and nurses it
may be tough because of their workload, but we will eventually have to
serve our community in their own language. We are hoping the civil
servants bring the initiative home." 

According to the grand chief, "in 1998 the elders told us that language
is where our culture is based, and when we die off, our language will
die with us. So, that year they put forward a declaration calling for
its preservation," Delisle says. "With this in mind, in 1999 the band
council passed a law making Mohawk the reserve's official language. 

"We didn't want to do what Bill 101 (the Quebec language law) did and
scare people off. We said, `let's look at a transition program and
develop a plan.'" 

Delisle's goal is to have 30 per cent of Kahnawake's public employees
fluent in Mohawk in five years, 60 per cent in 10 years and 80 per cent
in 15 years. 

"Our younger people are getting Mohawk cultural and language education
at the two immersion schools and at the Survival School, located in the
village. All subjects are taught in Mohawk there, but it is the middle
generation, those of the 30 to 60 years group we are most hopeful of
attracting. A lot of these people went through the residential school
experience. They were not allowed to speak their native Mohawk tongue
while incarcerated in these institutions and many lost that ability.
They will get the most impact from it." 

Delisle says Mohawk language and culture began its modern decline in the
1950s, largely due to the overwhelming English media and pop culture,
then by the French language and political changes. 

"Theirs (the English culture) is a dominant language and culture in
Canada, especially with MTV, radio and television. To some of our youth,
it's not sexy to know Mohawk; it's sexy to know hip-hop," he says. 

The idea for the language revitalization drive came three years ago,
when then-Kahnawake grand chief Joe Norton sent letters to 40 businesses
in the online gaming industry, asking for cash contributions to be aimed
at ways to regenerate interest in learning the language. 

There was only one response. That came from John Moshal, a Jew who lives
in Durban, South Africa. Moshal is the president of Microgaming Inc.,
the world's largest online gaming software developer. 

Moshal saw similarities between the situation with the Mohawk language
and Hebrew's revival, so he contributed $250,000 over a five-year period
to find a way to preserve the language. 

The Mohawk used the money to hire Fairfield Technologies of Virginia to
develop the Rosetta Stone software program for the Mohawk dialect. Two
months ago, the first 1,000 CD-ROMs were delivered to the reserve. They
feature four local Mohawk speakers, and numerous Kahnawake landmarks and
familiar faces, making it a truly home version for the people of
Kahnawake. 

The struggle to preserve a language is not solely a Mohawk problem. Of
the world's 6,000 spoken languages, 50 per cent are endangered, and an
average of one language disappears every two weeks, according to a
UNESCO study of the present state of the world's languages. 

"The struggle with preserving language is not inherent to Kahnawake or
other nations exclusively," Delisle says. "My hope is that there will be
in the near coming years, a national affiliation of Mohawk speakers
across the nation. There is a lot at stake, but we are not going to
disappear."

______________________________________

Carolyn Hepburn

Director, Native Education and Training

Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology

443 Northern Avenue

Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 5L3

Phone: (705) 759-2554 ext. 2499

Fax:     (705) 759-0175

Web:    www.saultcollege.ca/NativeEducation
<http://www.saultcollege.ca/NativeEducation>  

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