US: Tribes aim to revive language: Summit planned at Barona reservation

[Harold Schiffman]

 Forwarded From: edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu


Tribes aim to revive language



Summit planned at Barona reservation



Pat Curo grew up on the Barona Indian reservation in the 1950s, when
the tribe's native language was heard outside church and at funerals,
parties and tribal gatherings. "We grew up speaking English," Curo
said. "We didn't speak much Indian in the house." But Curo's
grandparents lived 300 yards away, and they spoke it at home.
One time, an uncle who was there "told me something in Indian," Curo
recalled. He couldn't answer. Embarrassed, he asked his grandparents
to speak to him in their native language so he could learn. Now, Curo
- who doesn't consider himself fluent - is doing the same, teaching
others and helping update the Barona Indian band's dictionary, so
words spoken here for thousands of years won't disappear.



Full story:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080429-9999-1m29yuman.html
-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************