PSL

["Alfred W. Tüting"]

"(...) This author found that by the 1980s, Plains Sign Language was no
longer commonly used on the northern plains because forced accommodation
to the English language had led to its gradual replacement. Its decline
mirrors that of many spoken languages of the Plains Indians. In the late
twentieth century fluent sign talkers are few, but they can be found in
several communities where elders learned the language at an early age,
where traditional storytelling keeps it alive, or where deafness in a
family has preserved its practical function. Signing remains in use
among the Assiniboins, Stoneys, Blackfeet, Piegans, Bloods, Crows, and
Northern Cheyennes, in contexts involving such activities as religious
ceremonies, drumming, and storytelling. This author has also noted that,
in speaking their native language, Plains people frequently use gestures
from the sign language to accompany their speech in everyday
interactions. The revival of interest in indigenous languages, and the
efforts to preserve them, have led to a renewed interest in the Plains
Sign Language. Among the Assiniboins at Fort Belknap, and on the
Blackfoot, Crow, and Northern Cheyenne Reservations in Montana, for
example, the sign language is being incorporated into
language-maintenance programs."


(Brenda Farnell, University of Iowa)


Alfred
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