Robison looks to maintain the Western Shoshone language (fwd)

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Robison looks to maintain the Western Shoshone language

[photo inset - Click to Enlarge
Viktoria Pearson/LVN photo Betty Robinson will teach her grandaughter,
Crystal Allen, the Western Shoshone language and culture in August.
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VIKTORIA PEARSON, vpearson at lahontanvalleynews.com
June 17, 2006
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20060617/News/106170026

The Nevada Arts Council approved 12 Folklife Apprenticeship grants in
May, including two in Fallon.

The council approved more than $28,000 to be divided between the 12
recipients throughout Nevada. The two Fallon grants equal $4,907 for
apprenticeship programs in the art of Western saddlemaking and Western
Shoshone language and culture.

Each grant is based on the amount needed for the master artist to teach
the apprentice an art form handed down within families, occupations,
tribes, ethnic, regional and other community groups to preserve
Nevada's rich cultural heritage.

Betty Robison of Fallon is one of the master artists that will be
teaching granddaughter and apprentice Crystal Allen, 23, of the Fallon
Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, the Western Shoshone language and culture.
Robison's grant was for $2,407 and will be used for materials and
continuing education throughout the year.

Allen will learn the cultural aspects and the majority of the language
skills in a two-week, 80-hour study course.

"We will focus on the culture and language eight hours a day for the
entire two weeks. By the end of the two-week course, no more English
will be spoken," said Robison. The training will continue with Allen
through a correspondence program consisting of study guides, tapes and
booklets Robison will make throughout the year.

Robison said she tried to teach Allen the language as a child, but she
had no interest in learning.

"She became interested once she graduated from community college," said
Robison.

Robison said when Allen began studying culture in college and learned
many of the nation's traditions were slowly disappearing, she realized
she had a responsibility to learn and to help preserve a culture that
could die out in the near future.

Allen is pursuing a degree in political science with a full scholarship
to Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Mount Holyoke is an
all-female Ivy League college located near Boston.

"I had taken it for granted (the language)," Allen said. "When I went to
school on the East Coast, I noticed a lack of Native American
representation."

The Nevada Arts Council began the grant program in 1988 to preserve
cultural heritage that was on the verge of disappearing from Nevada
communities.

Folklife Apprenticeship Grants of no more than $2,500 are given to
individual master artists statewide that apply with either one or more
apprentices to preserve a relevant cultural heritage.

Classes for the apprentice can last from a couple of weeks to an entire
year, depending on the time needed to master the skill.

The grants are yearly and the application process begins in December.
Grant decisions are generally voted on in May.

Visit the Web site for information on the Folklife Apprenticeship
programs at www.NevadaCulture.org

Viktoria Pearson can be contacted at vpearson at lahontanvalleynews.com