LL-L "Language maintenance" 2007.08.06 (03) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  06 August 2007 - Volume 03

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
 Subject: Language maintenance

Dear Lowlanders,

This morning I had a chance encounter and conversation with a visitor from a
Blackfoot reservation in Montana, and inevitably we brushed on the subject
of language.

I have traveled through Blackfoot country both on the US side (Montana) and
on the Canadian side (Alberta).  It struck me how spread out the population
is and how remote some of their locations area, and I imagined that this
would be difficult with regard to communication but also possibly favorable
with regard to language and culture preservation.

The lady I spoke with made it clear that her people are used to wide open
country and long-distance traveling, and for many of them the international
border is merely a technicality.  This means that there is a fair bit of
ethnic cohesion and communication despite the physical and political
conditions. Furthermore, there has been a softening of earlier tribal
divisions within this Blackfoot (Nitsitapii) confederacy: North Peigan (
Aapatohsipiikanii), South Peigan (Aamsskaapipiikanii), Kainai (Kainaiwa,
"Blood") and Siksika (Siksikawa, Blackfoot proper), the South Peigan living
in Montana, all others in Alberta.

She told me that she does not speak her ancestral language and is a
monolingual English speaker, which is typical. She described the typical
story of linguistic neglect, discouragement and prohibition, including
punishment for using the language in school. This is not unheard of in our
Lowlands language area either, as most of you know. Therefore, most speakers
are old and even ancient.

She further told me that there is now a movement striving to bring back the
language, mostly through courses, though it is not clear if it has been
introduced as a part of ordinary school curricula. (There are indications
that this is the case on the Canadian side, e.g.,
<http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/aborigin/blackfoot.asp>
tinyurl.com/28emny, and a private school in Great Falls, Montana,
tinyurl.com/ys9lsf.)

One of her uncles happens to teach the language in Great Falls. Apparently
the experience has been that most or sometimes even all of his students are
"white." She smiled, grinned perhaps.  I asked her how she herself felt
about that.  She had to think for a little while. I suspect she wanted to
find something socially acceptable to say.  Then she said something to the
effect that she guessed her uncle had a point when he said, "Just as long as
someone's learning it ..."

I think this is not irrelevant to issues related to Lowlands minority
languages, their maintenance and activism. The "racial" issue isn't really
important. We might boil it down to saying that there is often more interest
among people whose ancestral languages they are not.  Reactions to this
among people whose ancestral languages they are tend to be mixed, and
sometimes the enthusiasm on the part of these "outsiders" is dampened by
attitudes among the actual heirs, including heirs that choose not to know or
use the languages.

What are your thoughts about this?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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