[RNLD List] Spinning a Better Yarn: Decolonisng Linguistics study group - two USA-friendly sessions in October: Professor Clint Bracknell 12th October and A/Prof Jenny L. Davis (Chicksaw) 20th October

[Ruth Singer]

Hi everyone,

See below for information on two bumper sessions we are having this month. Note that they are also USA-friendly times (mostly).

If you would like to get updates for Spinning a Better Yarn: Decolonising Linguistics Study group, please sign up to our email list!
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You can also view past sessions on our website or on Youtube.
Website: https://www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au/ialr/decolonising-linguistics-spinning-a-better-yarn/2022-meetings/
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAPSm4ftmOW7FfxhvMN5OLA

Cheers,

Ruth

Spinning a Better Yarn: Decolonising linguistics study group: two big sessions in October
Hi we have two big sessions in October - don't miss Clint Bracknell on 12th October discussing Australian Aboriginal song language and Jenny L. Davis (Chickasaw, U Illnois) on 20th October discussing ethical approaches to Indigenous languages in archives. And see 'you may also be interested in' section at the end of this email for information on Solomon Island linguist Alpheaus Zobule's seminar Friday 7th October for the Pacific Interest Group (University of Melbourne)

Wednesday 12th October 2022 1pm (AEDT) 12 noon (AEST) (yes this has been postponed twice!)
“Australian Aboriginal song language: So many questions, so little to work with” by Michael Walsh, Australian Aboriginal Studies, no.2, 2007, pp. 128–144

Discussion led by Professor Clint Bracknell, Noongar of south coast WA, Professor of Indigenous Languages (University of Queensland)

In his state-of-the-art review published fifteen years ago, Michael Walsh candidly discusses the limited and speculative nature of Aboriginal song analysis. Most Aboriginal songs themselves are short and esoteric in nature, and linguistic accounts of Aboriginal languages rarely include detailed information about songs and singing practices. More widely known songs often have multiple interpretations, and lesser-known songs can lack the contextual information required to understand much about them at all. Consequently, it is difficult to draw hard conclusions about songs and song language. Walsh concludes by raising questions about the roles and responsibilities of researchers:
“As one subjects ‘short but tricky’ song texts to finer and finer analysis there can be concern that one will end up killing the specimen on the dissecting table, and this inevitably leads into the tricky issue of traditional knowledge management (Marett et al. 2006; also Barwick et al. 2005). In particular some interpretations of song texts would only have been available to the most senior Aboriginal persons, as knowledge has been progressively delivered in a kind of drip-feed fashion over a lifetime. How is one to manage this inner core of knowledge?”
Bracknell will open a conversation on developments in Aboriginal song analysis since 2007, particularly on the increased involvement of Aboriginal researchers in this field.
Reading:
Walsh, Michael (2007). Australian Aboriginal song language: So many questions, so little to work with<https://dynamicsoflanguage.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ab40e6e405ba2e978356b0bae&id=b83da88718&e=f3627acd5d>. Australian Aboriginal Studies, no 2, 128-144

Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android:
https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/82292005593?pwd=Q1B6UWNQWWFTVHBZeXJSc0NkNEl3dz09
    Password: 653514

Thursday, 20th October 11am (AEDT) 10 am (AEST)

Repatriation, Continuous Consent, and Collaboration: Ethical considerations for working with Indigenous languages in archives & databases

Jenny L. Davis, Chickasaw Nation, Associate Professor of Anthropology & American Indian Studies<https://dynamicsoflanguage.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ab40e6e405ba2e978356b0bae&id=2bf41a5ff9&e=f3627acd5d> and Director, American Indian Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

How do we engage with archived collections and linguistic databases that were created within a different set of ethics than those that we now hold, or when we do not know the ethics of how they were collected? How do we address the gaps between what may be considered the best practices—currently or in a previous moment—in a field of research, and those held by the community/ies from which the collection comes? A growing body of research addresses the options and strategies for collecting data or conducting research within Indigenous communities in ways that are grounded in ethical practice. Framed under the rubrics of collaborative, engaged, activist, community-based, and Indigenous methods, these discussions represent an exciting opportunity to move our field(s) away from the violent and colonial research methods established under historical and ongoing colonial frameworks. But, they are largely limited to those who are actively doing language documentation and description work themselves. In a largely unconnected field of practice, that of repatriation (or rematriation) of Indigenous Ancestral remains and Indigenous material collections, guidelines have emerged that center/require consultation with Native nations and descendant communities around access, research, and display of collections from Indigenous communities (Consultation). This talk brings together best practices across collaborative research models for language documentation, consultation procedures in repatriation, and data sovereignty models which require ongoing consent to propose ethics and strategies for engaging with Native American and Indigenous language databases and archival materials.

Join via Zoom: https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/85322668807?pwd=QzJXUFRtMWNuVWdnczg1K2hZdVhNZz09<https://dynamicsoflanguage.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ab40e6e405ba2e978356b0bae&id=02d7d10e9a&e=f3627acd5d>

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