New life for dying language: A lifeline for languages on the brink

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Minneapolis Star Tribune,
 October 16, 2005 at 12:54 AM

New life for dying language A lifeline for languages on the brink

Published October 16, 2005

BY JEAN HOPFENSPERGER  hopfen at startribune.com

Cleone Thompson's mother was sent as a child to an Indian boarding school
where she was hit with a ruler if she spoke Ojibwe.  Seven decades later,
Thompson is now part of an unusual experiment to breathe life back into
the language her mother was punished for speaking. Thanks to a new federal
grant, the young children she greets with the word "boozhoo" at the day
care center she runs from her home in Minneapolis will be part of the
first Indian-language immersion program in the nation for urban
preschoolers.

Thompson said that in about 10 years most of the elders on the
reservations will be gone and there won't be anyone left who speaks the
language. "That's why we've got to do this now," she said. Thompson's
mother, Emma Fairbanks, now a frail 79-year-old, can hardly believe the
turn of events. "I never thought it would come back," she said. "I was
worried they [future generations] would forget their Indian ways."

About 55,000 American Indians are enrolled in tribes in Minnesota. Roughly
3,000 are fully fluent Ojibwe speakers and about 30 are fully fluent in
Dakota, according to estimates by the Grotto Foundation, which has focused
much of its philanthropy on language revitalization. Many Indian people
can say certain words and phrases, but few can carry on a conversation,
community leaders say.

It's part of the legacy of the boarding schools that American Indians were
forced to attend for decades. "My parents didn't want me to speak Dakota;
they were afraid for us," said Jennifer Bendickson. She is a program
director at the Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, which was
awarded the federal grant to launch the preschools this month. "They would
talk to each other in Dakota, but when we came in, they'd stop."

While universities and tribal schools have offered language and culture
classes over the years, new ideas are taking root across Minnesota. Dozens
of people are attending night classes in Ojibwe and Dakota at "language
tables" in schools and community centers. There's an Ojibwe immersion
preschool in Leech Lake; Indigenous Language Symposiums are held annually.
Specialized classes are sprouting up, including one that teaches Dakota to
entire households -- as opposed to an individual -- in the Upper Sioux
community. And University of Minnesota language students drive up to
Canada on weekends this time of the year for an immersion experience
harvesting wild rice and learning the accompanying vocabulary.

Even so, much of the learning is being done piecemeal, said Margaret
Boyer, executive director of the Alliance for Early Childhood
Professionals. Research shows that immersion programs, from preschool to
high school, are the best route to developing a core group students who
are truly fluent, she said. "If you want to learn Spanish, you can go to
South America," Boyer explained. "If you want to learn French, you go to
France. But there's nowhere in the U.S. you can go and hear only Ojibwe or
Dakota. So the best way to learn is immersion - and starting at a young
age."

These are Minnesota's first languages and saving them is saving an
important piece of Minnesota heritage, say language activists. The word
Minnesota, for example, is based on the Dakota word Mnisota which means
"land where the water reflects the sky," said Neil McKay, University of
Minnesota Dakota instructor.

Values and a world view

For Indian people, the language conveys the values and world view of their
ancestors and their culture, said Gabrielle Strong, who oversees the
Grotto Foundation's language program. For example, the word for family in
Dakota means "the people who live in the same lodge" -- a much broader
meaning than in English. A Dakota elder sat in front of several
preschoolers at All Nations Child Care Center last week, with a backdrop
of colorful drawings of eagles, wolves and other animals that long have
been symbols in Indian cultures.

"Today we're going to count numbers," he said to the little girls.
"Ready?" The girls nodded and began chanting, "Wancha. Nunpa. Yamni. Topa.
Zaptan." "Wahshte," said the teacher. "Good."

For the next 15 minutes, the children practiced animal names, colors and
the alphabet. By next year, those 15 minutes will grow to three hours, and
the program will be conducted only in Dakota. Similar immersion programs
will be launched at Four Directions Child Development Center and Cherish
the Children Learning Center, as well as Thompson's home day care, called
Nokomis Child Care. If all goes as planned, the first batch of tiny Dakota
and Ojibwe speakers will graduate in three years.

There's a ripple effect, said Boyer. Parents must take a class to learn
the same materials as their children. The "language tables" have agreed to
incorporate the children's weekly vocabulary. And people playing community
bingo in the Phillips neighborhoods - where the immersion centers are -
will hear the numbers yelled out in Dakota or Ojibwe, she said. "Our
project rolls a lot of different things into one," said Boyer. "So all
around the community, when people meet each other, they can use the same
words."

The model, said Boyer, hails from New Zealand, where the Maori Indians
slowly brought back their language from near extinction. Hawaii used the
same technique of immersion programs starting with preschoolers, with
success, she said. That trend now is moving across the United States, she
said. "We're one of the leaders," she said, referring to Minnesota.

Dreaming of a revival

The sheer dearth of fluent speakers, much less speakers who are skilled
teachers, makes a full-blown language revitalization movement difficult,
said community leaders. There's a distinct shortage of teaching materials
such as books, music and tapes in Ojibwe and Dakota. At All Nations
preschool, for example, the Dakota-language ABCs posted on the walls are
hand-drawn letters with hand-drawn pictures. And there are no pretty
preschool books or catchy kids' songs.

In fact, Grammy award-winning musician Keith Secola has offered to record
a CD of children's music that can be used in these and other pre-schools,
said Boyer. Secola, an Ojibwe, even gave a mini-performance for the
children at a park last weekend. The preschools -- and other language
programs -- are likely to buy language materials from Canada, where
language revitalization is about 10 years ahead of the U.S., said Dennis
Jones, an Ojibwe language instructor at the University of Minnesota.

About five years ago, the Canadian government, which also had forced its
native children into boarding schools, issued a public apology, he said.
It earmarked $365 million for language revitalization, money now being
used to develop teaching materials and rekindle the country's first
languages. Minnesota's language activists dream of seeing that happen
here. They imagine the day when American Indians can click on the radio or
TV, and find Ojibwe or Dakota programming; when street signs will be
printed in native languages, when kids can get a video of "The Lion King"
dubbed in a native language. "Right now there's a little flame we're
fanning ever so gently," said Strong. "We're hoping it becomes a
brushfire."


Jean Hopfensperger


http://www.startribune.com/dynamic/story.php?template=print_a&story=5670530

Indian language policy history


Published October 16, 2005

INDIAN LANGUAGE POLICY HISTORY

1879-1934

Indian children -- by law -- had to attend boarding schools, where they
were banned from speaking native languages or practicing their culture.

1934-1970S

Indians still sent to boarding schools to be educated; no longer mandated.

1972

American Indian Education Act. Under federal law, Indian education no
longer means assimilation, but incorporating Indian language and culture
to support quality education.

1990

Native American Language Act. Federal law is designed to preserve native
languages; little funding.

2004

Minnesota Senate and House pass resolutions in support of the
revitalization of native languages. No funding attached.