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I know what the topic line says and I'll delve into it soon but first an explanation. I'm not going to talk about DAPL or anything except specifically how Native Americans have consistently been shafted throughout the history of this country, even up into the 21st century(Apache land in Arizona
being seized by the state of Arizona to give to oil companies).
What I propose here are two solutions that would work great in tandem...the first having a native American man/woman as an anchor of a
national news program daily, network would be ideal, cable networks like MSNBC or CNN secondary with FSTV being last(I LOVE Free Speech TV but I'm looking at this specifically with the positive effect of visibility and numbers of eyeballs, i.e. Native Americans still exist...see?!
This would be a great positive effect in the short term to starting to get people to wake up to the plight of Native Americans, be it voting access,
infrastructure, etc.
The stronger long term setup would be to set up an "Indigenous Language Elementary Education Initiative" which would start teaching regional
Native American language in elementary schools, see...the critical period hypothesis in Linguistics. Cherokee in some, Lakota in others, Cree and Danae in still others, etc. There are multiple benefits to this on both sides, I'm sure some of us have heard the studies on multiple
language acquisition effecting the brain to help stave off conditions in old age like Alzheimers. I believe the cost would be more economical than teaching Chinese, Arabic and others where some of these languages are not reasonable to allow heavy practice, especially in regards to native speakers with a real community around which would help in retention. The other big reason references the first and what I believe is a
definite cognitive shift towards that population. I believe there is a real possibility to create more empathy in the process by learning and
becoming fluent in that language. Certain words or concepts may be highlighted, dampened or introduced. I'm sure those of you who have
taken Japanese and likely other languages have noticed the lack of Watashi or "I,I,I" in every sentence. The first person subject context is assumed unless otherwise indicated.
There's also "to-omoi-masu", which indicates what YOU think of something. You always preference this with additional precautions to indicate there is no way of knowing what is in that other persons mind.
Anyway, I'm hoping to get some advice on how to write legislation to get support for this initiative and educational funding for it, especially propositioned as a value AND something that would save money. Obviously I'm not looking at proposing this during Trump's terms but later. Any suggestions on how to write this or working groups that would help me would be VERY much appreciated.
Comments
I believe
This is a great idea, When I was in high school the only foreign languages offered were Latin and Spanish, neither of which I was interested in. Had Tsalagi been offered I would have jumped on the chance to learn more about it.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Speaking of which(language map).
Do you know where I might find a language map? If only to catalogue the desired language by region.
how's this one?
For a map of native american languages?
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
1/8 Cherokee+
My great-grandmother was Cherokee. Tsalagi is a difficult language. How difficult is it? The NAME for the language is derived from a Muskegee or Choctaw word because almost no one who didn't grow up speaking it is willing to learn its actual name which is something like eight syllables and has tones. :) Translated the real name of Tsalagi means something like "Language of the Principal People." Tsalagi itself originally meant something like "Mountaineers," in Choctaw or Muskegee but the Cherokee do not use it as their name for themselves or their tribe, just for the language.
Great-Grandma Columbia had an English name and gave my father a Muskegee one meaning something like: "Here's another one," because as a newborn he looked exactly like his 22 month older brother. :) They continued to look alike for almost seventy years.
Hugs,
Erin
(The plus part is probably Chickasaw but might be another tribe.)
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Sounds interesting, hope you get some help.
I'm not from the US myself, I'm Canadian. I'm mixed blood, mostly Caucasian with a bit of native (1/8, half of that Cree, half Ojibwa) plus a smattering of black, either 1/16 or 1/32 depending on whether the person was two greats- or three greats-grandparent. I don't have the birth records for my ancestors, but I remember bits and pieces from a scrapbook (lost long ago) about my birth mother's family.
Yeah, that's only one half of my family tree, but as I have no idea who my birth father was, anything else will remain unknown. In all honesty, I'm not sure that I want to know, especially if, as I suspect may have been the case, I was the result of a rape. I don't know many twelve year old girls that run around looking for a romp with the boys, or even a boy, although I wasn't much older when I had my first romp.
I apologize for all the blather about my family/background, I have no intent to offend anyone.
I used to have rather a gift for learning languages when I was in school in the '70s and '80s. I might still have it, and would love to learn those particular native languages, perhaps others. I will be moving over the summer and will look into things once I am in my new place.
I wouldn't mind seeing this expand past the U.S. so....
If you're interested I'd be willing to work and help draft legislation there to see First Nations taught as well within' Canadian schools(Mohawk, etc.).
Mexico could use this for Mayan and others(hope I got that right) but they've struggled to pay the teachers period lately. Let us also consider that economy is on the verge of implosion absent the money those who work jobs here send via Western Union and others(a number put it as high as 50% of GDP).
Still all of this is worth readying for the Hopper, like ALEC does. Be worth getting info from that site to see how much you have to modify the framework outside US laws.
Effort Duplication
In fact, there are efforts to this end in many tribes already, and documentation efforts in many more. However, in accordance with self-determination principles, such programs ought NEVER be imposed from without the Tribe, at least. Thus, attempting to assist with this becomes necessarily an admittedly less efficient case-by-case process, with appeal to each sovereign group as being in their interest so far as, for example, tribal identity. If you have a desire to aid these efforts, may I suggest locating the tribe or tribes nearest you, and inquire about any language preservation and propagation programs they may have in place. If there are none, consider VERY CAREFULLY putting yours forward; doing so without adequate sensitivity to the tribes culture and wishes is the epitome of the very worst practices of cultural imperialism, and as such far beyond unethical. If there is no language program in place, consider discussing that fact with language academicians at a nearby university. Language preservation and language pedagogy are major sub-fields within the formal discipline of Linguistics, and there's a great deal of potential expertise available, including knowledge of how to effectively approach tribal groups with proposals. Essentially, that's our job, as well as the actual study and education program design. (Yes, that is my field of expertise. No, I don't particularly feel like discussing it in much more depth in the open; if you do wish to do so, please PM me.)
That said, the last part of what you said reeks of something that the less methodical, less scientific end of anthropology keeps rolling out, and that gets incredibly tiring to linguists to debunk: the "strong" version of the so-called "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis". A culture's specific language does NOT determine cognition in a significant way, but merely exemplifies which concepts and relationships that culture has grown to value. That is to say, the direction of relationship of Language to cognition is the opposite of what is commonly put forward by well-meaning, but ultimately poorly-informed and overly self-opinionated anthropology students: Cognition informs Language, not Language determining Cognition. Making that particular mistake has significantly negatively affected attempts to assist marginalized populations around the world, in that it cognitively biases the worker with an implied superiority to their client group. This inflated self-aggrandizement is instantly apparent to those groups, and very, very off-putting. Please, please, please, PLEASE avoid this trap.
Thank you, and good luck! There is a great hunger for identity-affirmation among especially first nations/"native american"/indian (yes, many actually use that term for themselves, with no little irony, admittedly) groups. Language is a key part of that.
-Liz
Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"
Thank you!
For voicing a thought I'd had myself but had no proper frame to argue it from. All I had was a gut feeling that it was incorrect.
Another thought I had... as someone who has had recent experience with social organizing... Since this is an inherently grass-roots problem, this would actually be an IDEAL time to do something that goes counter to the current national political tide.
Bear with me on this, because to most people, what I'm about to explain makes absolutely no sense... But... It's very much a real phenomenon.
When the national political tide tends towards "Big Brother" Democrats, people are actually more likely to become complacent with the status quo. Even as the Democrats do some truly despicable things to "other" people, as long as they're being a "protective Big Brother" to US, most people who would normally be all for something like this just wouldn't give a damn. And people who would naturally be less inclined to agree would fight it just because it's a "leftist" thing and the "leftists" are already controlling too much! (According to such people.)
Conversely, when the Republicans are in control and being all about rugged individualism, states over feds, etc, these kinds of grassroots, but left-leaning, programs get a MASSIVE boost to their perception. People are now actually worried about how someone stronger than them might actually somehow become enabled to take advantage of them in some way that wouldn't have, they think, been possible under Democratic leadership. Some of these people even voted Republican. At any other time, some would have totally opposed anything that even MENTIONED words like "indigenous" or "education" especially together. Others would have simply not cared enough to get off their butts. But now? Now the Republicans are cutting back all the federal programs that could have stood in for anything like this, and the masses are getting restless.
While reality is, of course, far more nuanced than these public perceptions, it's the perception you have to work with or struggle against as a social organizer.
NOW would, in fact be the PERFECT time to start grassroots organizing for an effort like this. Bearing in mind, of course, that anyone you actually send to speak with their local tribal leaders HAS to be able to approach them as equals. No looking down on them. No taking "pity" on them. No putting them up on some kind of pedestal either. They have as much or more disdain for people romanticizing them as they do for people tossing dirt on them. This has to be treated as exactly what it is, a great equalizer. Something that WOULD benefit BOTH communities, equally. And, if, despite doing absolutely everything right, the leaders still say no? You have to respect the wishes of the tribe.
Abigail Drew.