ILAT Digest - 12 Aug 2008 to 13 Aug 2008 (#2008-200)

Thu Aug 14 19:19:22 UTC 2008

TORONTO, August 13, 2008 -- Many of the 50 Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada may be included in graduate work at York University as it becomes the first postsecondary institution in Canada to officially sanction graduate thesis work in languages other than English and French.
 Starting this fall, graduate students at York can complete and defend a major paper, project, thesis or dissertation in French or in the language of Aboriginal people in North America. Interested students must first receive confirmation from the director of the graduate program concerned that relevant supervision and sufficient support can be provided. The change in the Faculty of Graduate Studies regulation on language was approved by the Committee on Curriculum & Academic Standards of the Senate of York University and reported to Senate this past spring. Proposed initially by the graduate program in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), the successful amendment to the language requirement follows years of discussion and research by FES Dean Barbara Rahder and Anders Sandberg, associate dean and professor of environmental studies, among others. "Several years ago, I was approached by two graduate students who wanted to write their graduate theses in their native language [Míkmawísimk]," said Rahder. “They were both passionate about the importance of Aboriginal languages and wanted to create a path for future students to follow.”Rahder discussed the topic with interested students and faculty members and determined that there would be considerable support for the initiative. She also surveyed the academic scene to determine if precedents had been set by universities in North America for Aboriginal languages. While Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. and St. Mary’s University in Halifax, NS, had limited provisions for undergraduate and master’s level study, Rahder found there were no formal precedents in Canada. Rahder and Sandberg developed a mechanism for appointing a supervisor for master’s level students interested in completing their work in French or a First Nations language. They also considered the conundrum of the PhD dissertation and the requirement for a doctoral candidate to defend their work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the University.“How could we create that same environment in a dissertation defense where there would be provisions for speakers and non-speakers that would allow people to ask questions in either language,” Rahder said.There are 50 languages spoken by Canada’s First Nations peoples that belong to 11 major families. A survey completed for the most recent Atlas of Canada map published in 1996 shows that many of these languages are in danger of extinction. The map illustrates that while some languages are strong and viable, others are small and vulnerable to extinction. The three largest families represent 93 per cent of people with an Aboriginal mother tongue and include the Algonquin, Inuktitut and Athapaskan languages. “The Faculty of Environmental Studies thought it was very important to create a way for people to work in their language,” Rahder said. “I surveyed other scholars in Canada and it sparked an interesting debate on how we could retain the academic integrity of graduate studies.”Once the proposal was approved by the Faculty of Environmental Studies’ Council, it was expanded to include all graduate studies programs at York. Members of the council noted that the proposal had implications for York students studying American Sign Language, and that scholars who graduate after accessing the language option could then become facilitators, supervisors and committee members. For Rahder, the formal adoption of the motion marks a new era in graduate studies at York University. “There are many living languages, cultures and knowledge that are on the brink of extinction,” said Rahder. “This is one way of helping preserve that knowledge.”York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as more than 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 24 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.-30-Media contact:Killeen Kelly, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22938 /

 killeenk at yorku.ca. 

Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:01:17 -0700From: LISTSERV at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDUSubject: ILAT Digest - 12 Aug 2008 to 13 Aug 2008 (#2008-200)To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU

ILAT Digest - 12 Aug 2008 to 13 Aug 2008 (#2008-200)

Table of contents:

Fw: [ASNJ] New Tower of Babel? 
[Fwd: [Dakota-net] Tribe Declares State of Emergency] 

Fw: [ASNJ] New Tower of Babel? 

Fw: [ASNJ] New Tower of Babel? (08/13)From: Sandra Gaskell <enviro.design at YAHOO.COM>
[Fwd: [Dakota-net] Tribe Declares State of Emergency] 

[Fwd: [Dakota-net] Tribe Declares State of Emergency] (08/13)From: Mona Smith <mona at ALLIESMEDIAART.COM>

 Browse the ILAT online archives. --Forwarded Message Attachment--Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:27:48 -0700From: enviro.design at YAHOO.COMSubject: Fw: [ASNJ] New Tower of Babel?

forwarding this article about the Native people I am related to...member New Jersey Archaeological Society and Society California Archaeology...

This is from the list serve... 
Sandra Gaskell, RPA, MS, MA Registered Professional Archaeologist ARC Archaeology Resources & Culture Speech & Language Therapist Glazing Contractor CA C17-862592 since 1986 4986 7th Street @ Bullion P. O. Box 1881, Mariposa CA 95338 (209) 614-2505 , (209) 846-0157 fax
2808 Espana Lane, Modesto, CA 95355enviro.design at yahoo.com  arcresours at gmail.com  www.enviro-design.org
www.arcresours.com 

----- Forwarded Message ----From: "Becker, Marshall" <mbecker at wcupa.edu>To: Anvilbangr <anvilbangr at aol.com>Cc: ASNJ at yahoogroups.comSent: Monday, August 11, 2008 11:36:08 AMSubject: RE: [ASNJ] New Tower of Babel?

Seems that the various natives speaking their traditional languages met on saturday, when I could join them. The claimant "Lenape" group from Penna (ask Jim Rementer about them) met on sunday, a date for which I had a previous commitment. From what I have been told, none of the people in this claimant group have any document relationship with any native peoples, although the claims vary. They do have a website.

Best to all - MArshall

From: ASNJ at yahoogroups. com on behalf of AnvilbangrSent: Mon 8/11/2008 10:42 AMTo: asnj at yahoogroups. comSubject: [ASNJ] New Tower of Babel?

Reporting on a recent "Native Language Crisis Conference", an August 11th item in 'News From Indian Country' informs us:

"Language workers from the Miccosukke, Chichti Pueblo, Lakota, Miami, Sac and Fox, Apache/Chicana, Yuchi, Euchee, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Snqwiiqwo Salish, Maliseet, Shawnee, Kashaya, Navajo, Munda, Kallawaya, Maori, Sami, Hnahno, Turkic and LENAPE/DELAWARE (emphasis mine) languages came together to talk of the urgency of revitalization, best practices, new technologies and recognizing the roles of linguists and non-Native educators." 

(My question: wonder what language they used to speak to one another  as they "came together to talk" of all these portentuous affairs? H-m-m-m-m... .)

************ *

NJ Lenape "buffs" and others may enjoy further some au courant beliefs and activities of the Native Person participants:

" ....The Lenapeʼs homeland spanned thousands of acres across New Jersey and Pennsylvania for more than 10,000 years. They were pushed from their homelands to Wisconsin and Kansas, southwest to Oklahoma and northward to Canada. 
The English called them Delaware, likely because the people centered around the Lenape Sipu which became called the Delaware River. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, about 16,000 people across America say they are descendants of the Lenape.... "
"....People of the Lenape came from the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma, the Moravian Band Delaware Nation in Ontario, the Delaware Nation in Thamesville, Ontario, the Stockbridge- Munsee Band of Mohicans in Wisconsin and the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Anadarko, Oklahoma.... "
"...The Lenape presenters are discussing how to provide Lenape language curriculum to schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey...." 
Kawliga

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--Forwarded Message Attachment--Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:59:03 -0500From: mona at ALLIESMEDIAART.COMSubject: [Fwd: [Dakota-net] Tribe Declares State of Emergency]-------- Original Message -------- 

Subject: 
[Dakota-net] Tribe Declares State of Emergency

Date: 
Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:43:50 -0500 (CDT)

From: 
Tammy DeCoteau <tdc.aaia at verizon.net>

Organization: 
Assoc on American Indian Affairs

To: 
dakota-net at mail.socsci.umn.eduExecutive Proclamation
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate
Office of the Tribal Chairman

Whereas, the Tribal Council of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, by and through its authority vested by the Revised Constitution and By-laws adopted Resolution No. SW-08-079; and

Whereas, by that resolution the Tribal Council of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Lake Traverse Reservation declared that the Dakota language embodies the life, culture and identity of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and revitalization is paramount to the survival of our Nation; and,

Whereas, the Tribal Council of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Lake Traverse Reservation recognized the importance of revitalizing the Dakota language and declared that it will be recognized as the first language of the people of the Lake Traverse Reservation and we must eliminate the disparity between the use of English and the Dakota language; and

Whereas, in this year, 2008, from January through this date, nine — and possibly more — of our fluent treasured elders have went on their journey to the spirit world representing a loss to the Oyate of nine percent (9%) of the entire population of our fluent treasured elders: 

Now, Therefore, I, Michael I. Selvage Sr., Tribal Chairman of  the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, do hereby proclaim a Dakota Language Crisis and further declare that the Dakota language is in a state of emergency.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, on the Lake Traverse Reservation, in Agency Village, South Dakota, this 30th day of July, 2008.

/s/Michael I. Selvage Sr., Tribal Chairman

Tammy DeCoteau
AAIA Native Language Program
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