Preserving Mechoopda tradition (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Preserving Mechoopda tradition

A young tribe member creates a learning program using old recordings of the
native language

By Meredith J. Cooper
meredithc at newsreview.com
This article was published on 09.30.10.
USA

When Kyle McHenry stood in front of the elders of his Mechoopda Maidu tribe
and played for them a program he’d created of their native language this
summer, tears came to their eyes.

“There are no native speakers,” he said. “It was worth all the work that I
did just to see the look on their faces. They haven’t heard it since they
were kids.”

One of the elders he spoke to was his grandmother, Delores McHenry.

“My grandfather was fluent in the language,” Delores explained. “But he
could not pass it on to my dad because Bidwell wasn’t letting them speak the
language.”

So Koyoongkawi, the Mechoopda dialect, could have been lost forever. But for
young tribe members like Kyle, preserving traditions like language are
extremely important.

Access full article below:
http://www.newsreview.com/chico/content?oid=1822431
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