Native Nations, Native Voices

Thu May 6 14:13:29 UTC 2004

	I am working with the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center of Albuquerque New
Mexico to create Native Nations, Native Voices--a festival to honor
contemporary Native language writers. To honor Native language authors,
  Native language writers have been invited to participate in a
three-day festival.  Writers will read from their works in their own
languages;  National language translations will be made available to
the audience at the option of each writer.  A special effort has been
made to include and honor high school and college authors in Native
languages, for they are the future of languages.  Selected writers
represent as broad a range of languages and styles as possible.  The
festival is scheduled for July 2005.
	Over 500 Native Nations, each with its own language and culture. These
are the Nations which were encountered by the first Europeans to enter
North America.  Yet now Native languages are under threat everywhere,
due to Euro-American educational policies, disease, and the virtual
omnipresence of English language television.  Some languages are
extinct--from Guale to Esalen, from Eyak to Timucuan.  Others are only
spoken by a handful of elderly individuals.
	Yet throughout Native America, a small but growing body of writers
are giving new voice to Native languages, using their own languages to
write about and confront the world they live in, the world of the
Twenty First Century.  Often unknown outside their own communities,
such writers have much to say to all of us.
	Right now, participants include
1. Greenland--Jokum Nielsen (Kalaallisut [Greenlandic])
2. Canada--Floyd Favel (Cree), Peter Irniq (Inuktitut)
3. United States--Jim Northrup (Anishnaabe [Chippewa/Ojibwe]), Eveline
Battiest Steele (Choctaw), Nia Francisco and Nora Yazzie (Navajo),
Dominik Tsosie (outstanding high school writer--Navajo), Virgil Reeder.
(Kawaikagamedzene [Laguna Pueblo]),   Frances Washburn (Lakota)
4. Hawai¹i--Kainani Kahaunaele, Larry Kimura (Hawai¹ian)
5. Saipan--Frances Sablan (Chamorro)
6.  Guam--Peter Onedera (Chamorro)
7. Mexico--Jesus Salinas Pedraza (Nyahnyu [Otomi]), Diego Méndez Guzmán
(Tzeltal Maya), Ruperta Bautista Vazquez (Tzotzil Maya),  Jun Tiburcio
(Totonac)
8.  Peru--Martin Castillo (Quechua), Felix Julca (Quechua)
9.  Brazil--Nanblá Grakan (Xokleng)
	Might this be of interest?  Naturally I would be happy to provide more
information or answer any questions you might have.
	Thank you.

				Yours,

				Gordon Bronitsky, PhD
				Bronitsky and Associates
				3715 La Hacienda Dr NE
				Albuquerque, NM  87110

				505-256-0260
				e-mail g.bronitsky at att.net

On May 6, 2004, at 7:37 AM, Paromita Chakraborti wrote:

>
> I think what Dr. Chidananda Murthy is trying to say that he fears that
> once the minority languages are given official recognition in the
> various districts of Karnataka, then those minority folks might want
> those districts (down the line) to be integrated with other states.
> Hypothetically, for him, what if people speaking X (a minority in
> Karnataka) eventually want to join with the neighboring state where X
> is the official language. This way Karnataka could become
> disintegrated and Dr. Murthy happens to think that the Karnataka Sate
> Officials who issued the order want just that to happen.
>
> Paromita Chakraborti.
>
>
>> From: "P. Kerim Friedman" <kerim.list at oxus.net>
>> Reply-To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
>> To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
>> Subject: Re: CIRCULARS IN LANGUAGE OF MINORITIES LAND IN TROUBLE
>> Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 09:04:09 -0400
>>
>> Thanks. This much I know, but I still don't understand the story -
>> what is contentious about this. Why are they calling it a
>> "conspiracy"?
>>
>> - kerim
>>
>> On May 6, 2004, at 8:54 AM, Harold F. Schiffman wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Kerim and others,
>>>
>>> This has to do with whether the government of Karnataka State in
>>> India
>>> will communicate with its citizens in a language other than Kannada.
>>> Karnataka State has the highest proportion of language "minorities"
>>> (people speaking a language other than the dominant or official
>>> language,
>>> in this case Kannada) of any major state in India--35% by last
>>> reckoning
>>> that I'm familiar with. The largest "minority" are Tamil-speaking
>>> and have
>>> been demanding that Tamil be officialized in Karnataka for some
>>> time, but
>>> this demand has been resisted. Other "minority" languages are Telugu,
>>> Tulu, Konkani, Marathi, Kodagu, and Urdu.  (Maybe some others, too).
>>>
>>> This issue has been a contentious one since the states in India were
>>> reorganized after independence in the 1950's.
>>>
>>> Does this help?
>>>
>>> Hal
>>>
>>> On Thu, 6 May 2004, P. Kerim Friedman wrote:
>>>
>>>> Can anyone explain this to me? I've read it three times and I still
>>>> don't understand what the issue is that is being disputed. Maybe I'm
>>>> just still not awake this morning...
>>>>
>>>> - kerim
>>>>
>>>> On May 6, 2004, at 8:37 AM, Harold F. Schiffman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>    Forwarded from Star of Mysore
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>                CIRCULARS IN LANGUAGE OF MINORITIES LAND IN TROUBLE
>>>>>
>>>>>             Bangalore, Apr. 30 (KVV)- The State Government has
>>>>> reportedly
>>>>> issued an order to the Heads of Departments to issue important
>>>>> Government
>>>>> Orders (GOs), notifications, rules etc., to benefit the linguistic
>>>>> minorities also in their own language.  The State Government has
>>>>> issued
>>>>> the disputed order on Mar. 31 and the same has triggered a
>>>>> controversy
>>>>> with Kannada Sahithya Parishat and Pro-Kannada activists opposing
>>>>> it.
>>>>> They
>>>>> have urged the Government to immediately withdraw the disputed
>>>>> order,
>>>>> failing which, they would launch agitations. The disputed order has
>>>>> been
>>>>> issued under the seal and signature of Mr. C. Krishnamurthy, Under
>>>>> Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms
>>>>> (DPAR).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             The Government Order has instructed the Heads of
>>>>> Departments
>>>>> to issue important Government Orders, notifications, rules etc.,
>>>>> also
>>>>> in
>>>>> the language of linguistic minorities alongwith Kannada and English
>>>>> language.  According to the said order, prominent Government
>>>>> orders and
>>>>> notifications should be issued in Tamil and Telugu for Bangalore
>>>>> District,
>>>>> Urdu and Telugu for Bangalore Rural, Marathi, Urdu (Belgaum, Bidar,
>>>>> Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Shimoga Districts) Telugu and Urdu
>>>>> (Bellary
>>>>> District), Malayalam, Konkani, Tulu (Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu
>>>>> Districts).
>>>>>
>>>>>             A conspiracy
>>>>>
>>>>>             Researcher Dr. M. Chidananda Murthy has condemned the
>>>>> order
>>>>> terming it a 'deep conspiracy to disintegrate Karnataka in a phased
>>>>> manner' and to wipe out Kannada.  He said that Chief Minister Mr.
>>>>> S.M.
>>>>> Krishna may not be aware of the consequences of the order.  Dr.
>>>>> Murthy
>>>>> said that such kind of order cannot be issued even in States like
>>>>> Andhra
>>>>> Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala. In Maharashtra, there
>>>>> are
>>>>> a
>>>>> large number of Kannadigas, but does the Government of Maharashtra
>>>>> promulgate such an order in favour of linguistic minorities ?" he
>>>>> questioned.
>>>>>
>>>>>             "Where is the end, if the Government goes on issuing
>>>>> orders
>>>>> like this? The Kannada Development Authority should immediately
>>>>> take
>>>>> serious note of this," he demanded.  The office of the Kannada
>>>>> Development
>>>>> Authority is located in Vidhana Soudha from where the disputed
>>>>> order
>>>>> was
>>>>> issued. The KDA came into existence with the sole objective of
>>>>> implementing Kannada as the official language in the State. Kannada
>>>>> Development Authority should prove its existence, he said.
>>>>>
>>>>>             KDA keeps mum
>>>>>
>>>>>             "If the KDA observes silence in this regard, it will
>>>>> send
>>>>> wrong signals. We all know about its in-action. When I said this,
>>>>> some
>>>>> vested interests criticised me. But now, it is the duty of KDA to
>>>>> stall
>>>>> the implementation of the order," he said.  "Kannadigas should
>>>>> raise
>>>>> their
>>>>> voice against the anti-Kannada order. They should launch a peaceful
>>>>> struggle," he said.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>