on translation

[phil cash cash]

One additional subject not too well known to the idea of translation is wholly
internal indigenous translation and translators.  Most linguists and anthros
speak of the translation act as "making sense of the foreign" and, 
maybe due in
part to our written language bias, creating words as things--texts, corpora,
books, dictionaries, bibles, etc.

But Indigenous translation and translators tend to exist unobserved by
outsiders.  In one example of which I am intimately familiar is found in the
Columbia Plateau with what are often called "echos" or indigenous translators.
Generally speaking, speech communities in this region share a somewhat unified
culture but are strongly multilingual or were at least such in modern times
pre-1960s.  The presence of these "echos" promoted an indigenous
multilingualism (no Eng in earlier times but it is more common to hear Eng
now).  Several years ago, I once gave a short speech in Nez Perce at a ritual
gathering and was doubled teamed by these echos, one translating Nez 
Perce into
Columbia River Sahaptin and the other translating the same words from Columbia
River Sahaptin into English.  It was awesome!  Other more public roles
available to "echos" are serving as translators at the Tribal General Councils
where they translate English into the local vernacular.  Naturally, these
"echos" require superior linguistic/interpretive skills and it is a demanding
occupation.  But, they too are experiencing a decline and lament the loss of
our languages more so than most.  Certainly, as a linguistic 
anthropologist and
tribal member, I hope to work with these extraordinary individuals since they
are endangered as much as the languages are endangered!

Phil Cash Cash
UofA