indigenous language survival

[MJ Hardman]

The Aymara would understand the mua / muri example perfectly.  As to the
treaties, yes indeed.  And the ethnographies as well; I ended up learning
more about the anthropologists that about the Aymara, e.g.

And we had one last night (I hate translation):
Musa  feel, think, ponder, appreciate, cogitate or in Spanish: sentir,
querer, apreciar, pensar, cognizar

I like the Italian saying: < traduttore, traditore >, the translator is a
traitor, said for European languages, but even more true of the ones we work
with.  MJ

On 10/22/10 12:54 AM, "Richard Zane Smith" <rzs at WILDBLUE.NET> wrote:

> kweh (kia ora) Peter,
> so good the language is alive with your family
> If the Maori fail to revitalize...there is probably little hope for any of us.
> Because  mana  is strong and evident in Aotearoa.
> That "mana" is directly related to "whakapapa" as i understand it.
> and how does one translate such concepts?
> mana  like essence , or powerful unseen reality?
> whakapapa is an ancestrial kind of rootedness ?
> We have words in our Wyandot language for similar concepts...but it seems to
> always
> translate out as "law/story/way"
> whakapapa can't be "obtained" by a Pahkia student taking a night course in
> Maori language.
> Culture is imbedded in language and language is inseparable from culture.
> THIS is what i mean when i express concern about a newer kind of notion
> "I'll just take a language class"    it might teach something but its not
> enough for survival.
> 
> 
> Pat Hohepa stated:
> "When a word is translated ,are you trying to fit it into the cultural context
> of the others language
> or are you shifting what it means in yours?" p.22.58
> 
> giving the example of  mua  - in front -- in Maori representing  "the past"
>                                  muri  - behind -  representing    "the
> future"
> 
> try to wrap an anglophone brain around that one!
> 
> Makes me think about a lot of our nation to nation indigenous treaties.
> how much was signed with little clarity and a perceived insignificant gesture
> or scratch?
> but once a chiefs x mark was put on paper
> it became irrevocable within the foreign mindset and LAW.
> 
> I only hope for our Native American languages the same successes as the Maori.
> Anyone who has seen the Haka performed can feel the mana and Ihi  in Aotearoa.
> 
> kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui  
> 
> Richard Zane Smith 
> Wyandote Oklahoma

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