Preserving a language

[Andre Cramblit]

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/may/14native.htm
Author preserves dying language

Over 1,000 words translated from Odawa to English

BY CRAIG McCOOL

mccoolrecordeagle at sbcglobal.net

 Special to the Record-Eagle/Kevin Johnston
Ray Kiogima, co-author of the book "Odawa Language and Legends," the  
Odawa Bands Governmental Center in Harbor Springs.
HARBOR SPRINGS — Ray Kiogima rarely gets a chance anymore to talk  
with others in his native language.

The number of people who speak Odawa has dwindled over the years.  
Now, Kiogima said, you could count on a single hand the number of  
locals who are fluent in the old language.

"In the tribe, we've probably got four people besides me," Kiogima  
said. "I used to enjoy talking Odawa to people who were fluent in it,  
but they die off."

Kiogima, 73, an elder with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa  
Indians, has done something about it, recently publishing a book  
containing Odawa/English translations of more than 1,000 common words  
and hundreds of phrases. The book, "Odawa Language and Legends," is  
the culmination of decades of work.

It is the only known instance in which the regional Native American  
language has been translated to English. Kiogima broke down the Odawa  
words — historically spoken but rarely written — to their syllable  
sounds, then transcribed them, phonetically, into English equivalents.

Ah-nee, for example, means "Hello." There is no Odawa word for  
Goodbye, Kiogima, said. The closest thing is Bah mah pee: "Later."

The language of the Odawa people is apparent everywhere in northern  
Michigan. The word Cheboygan, for example, comes from the Odawa  
phrase Zhah boo guhn, or "The way through."

But while traces of the language are ever-present, the heart of the  
language is dying, said Carla McFall, who runs the Little Traverse  
Bay Band's language preservation and revitalization program.

"Ray's generation is the last generation that is fairly fluent,"  
McFall said. "This is the very last chance" to preserve the language.

Kiogima — Ki means 'land'; Ogima means 'boss' or 'ruler' — lived  
as a teenager in Harbor Springs with his grandmother, who spoke  
little English and insisted her grandson become fluent in Odawa.

"She told me right out that if I was going to live with her and talk  
to her, I was going to talk Odawa," Kiogima said.

His five brothers also learned Odawa, but only Kiogima retained the  
knowledge into adulthood. He taught his own children a few words, but  
realized that, by-and-large, the younger generation would never learn  
the language.

"I thought, if we can write it, we can preserve it, and that's what I  
want," he said. "It's always been a dream of mine, to have it written  
down. We want to get it to the younger crowd."

Preserving and resurrecting the language is important, said McFall.

"A people is defined by its language," she said. "Without it, we lose  
a lot. Not just the language, but culturally as well."

Kiogima offered an analogy: "It would be like a person without a home  
or a man without a country," he said. "He would be lost."

Translation?

"Kah mah-buh duh yah zeen gojibi wah daht."

"This man has nowhere to live."


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20060514/76e6aa40/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 14native.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 17185 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20060514/76e6aa40/attachment.jpg>