[lg policy] Indigenous Language Institute: Native Language News

Sat Feb 11 15:23:59 UTC 2012

Forwarded From: Indigenous Language Institute <ili at ilinative.org>

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  *SUSPENSION OF AMERICAN INDIAN STUDENT*
*FOR SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE IS IGNORANT*
*AND INTOLERANT *
     Miranda Washinawatok
*Menominee*

 On January 19, 2012 a Menominee Indian seventh grader named Miranda
Washinawatok was benched and suspended from a Catholic School in Shawano,
Wisconsin, for speaking her Native Menominee language with two other girls
from the Menominee reservation. Shawano is a small town located several
miles south of the reservation; and like many off-reservation communities,
there is a longstanding history of racist attitudes against Indians,
although we like to think that the relations have improved over the years.
Unfortunately, this incident shows that racism is alive and well in
Wisconsin. That this also happened in a parochial school makes it a wake-up
call for everyone who believed that America has moved beyond such displays
of  ignorance. Historical precedents to this type of action are plentiful –
think of all the Native children who were cruelly punished for speaking
their languages in the shameful days of Indian boarding schools in the
20th century.
Yet, the bad heartedness behind this history persists when a 12 year-old
child is subjected to such treatment in 2012.

The Washinawatok family is a well-respected family at the Menominee
reservation. They have a long history of involvement in American Indian
issues at home and abroad. Miranda’s great aunt, Ingrid Washinawatok, was
murdered in Colombia in 1999 while working for the rights of Indigenous
people there. Her grandmother, Karen Washinawatok, is currently the
director of the Menominee Language Program, and former chairwoman of the
Menominee Language and Culture Commission and is a past Menominee tribal
chairwoman. Last year in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Karen was a presenter at
a symposium sponsored by the Indigenous Language Institute. Miranda’s great
grandfather, James Washinawatok, was a tribal judge, whose namesake
grandson is now a practicing attorney.

This family, like many others in Indian Country, has been generationally
dedicated to the preservation of the culture and sovereignty of their
people and Indigenous people everywhere. So my response is much more than
an expression of moral support or a reaction to a single incident; my
response has joined others that are resonating throughout Native
communities in the U. S., Canada and the Western Hemisphere. Of course,
there are those who have trivialized this incident, but seemingly small
events are the catalyst for huge reactions. I believe this is one such
incident that proves the days when one was forbidden to speak his or her
Native language are not behind us but, sadly, is still part of the mindset
of many Americans.

The work of the Indigenous Language Institute, on which I currently serve
as president, is to help preserve the use of heritage languages of Indians
and other Native people here and throughout the world. The Washinawatok
incident has served to refocus the attention of Indian Country and the
general public on how the use of one’s Indigenous language is still an
active, controversial and, sometimes, explosive issue. Moreover, it is a
sharp reminder that we continue to live among those whose ignorance would
force them to strike out at a child upon hearing words they don’t
understand.

The Indigenous Language Institute stands with the Washinawatok family,
especially Miranda – the brave young girl who drew the wrath of her
teachers –, the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin and Native peoples everywhere
who have endured such undeserved abuse for simply using the language of
their ancestors.

Let’s all show our support for Miranda Washinawatok and the countless
others who have been disrespected by ignorant adults who ought to know
better.

–
Jerry L. Hill, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
President of the Indigenous Language Institute
Santa Fe, New Mexico

                          1501 Cerrillos Road U-Building | Santa Fe, NM
87505 US

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