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6, 2018 Culture Page 7 A loss for words Between the 1870s and 1930s, Native American languages and culture were battered and suppressed by American political policy. Despite the Native American Languages Act being passed in 1990, the dialects of indigenous communities still face extinction. BY ROSALYN R. LAPIER C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R Environmental knowledge Embedded in indigenous languages, in laska has a “linguistic emergency,” particular, is knowledge about ecosystems, according to the Alaskan Governor conservation methods, plant life, animal Bill Walken A report warned earlier behaviour and many other aspects of the this year that all of the state’s 20 Native natural world. American languages might cease to exist by In Hawaiian traditions and belief systems, the end of this century, if the state did not for example, the tree snails were connected act to “the realm of the gods.” Hawaiian royalty American policies, particularly in the six revered them, which protected them from overharvesting, i decades between the 1870^aritL lOSOs, * '' The Bishop Museum in Honolulu holds a suppressed Native American languages and shell necklace^ or lei, of Queen Lili‘uokalani, culture. It was only after years of activism the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. by indigenous leaders th at the Native It is made from tree snail shells, which American Languages Act was passed in signifies the high rank of female royalty. 1990, which allowed for the preservation Wearing a shell was believed to provide and protection of indigenous languages. “mana,” or spiritual power and a way to Nonetheless, many Native American understand ancestral knowledge. languages have been on the verge of Many of these snails are now extinct and extinction for the past many years. those remaining are threatened with Of the nearly 7,000 existing languages on extinction. Scientists are working with Earth, the majority are spoken by Hawaiian language experts to learn about indigenous poeples representing the the belief systems that once helped protect greatest cultural diversity on the planet, them and their habitats. according to the United Nations. Of those, the UN estim ates that nearly 2,700 are in danger of disappearing. A tool for doctors Efforts are now underway worldwide to Words in indigenous languages can have remind people of this reality. The United cultural meanings, that can be lost during Nations has designated 2019 as the translation. Understanding the subtle ‘‘International Year of Indigenous differences can often shift one’s perspective Languages” in order to raise awareness of about how indigenous people thought about indigenous languages as holders of “complex the natural world. systems of knowledge” and encourage For example, as an indigenous scholar of nation states to work toward their the environment, I led a team some years revitalization. It has created a special ago of language experts, elders and scholars website, en.iyil2019.org, with more from Montana and Alberta, Canada, to information about the year-long educational create a list of Blaekfeet words, called a opportunities and events ahead. lexicon, of museum objects. The elders I Tjangtiageis carry deep cultural knowledge worked with noted that the English word and insights. So, what does the loss of these “herb,” which was used to describe most languages mean in term s of our plant specimens within, museums, did not understanding of the world. have the same meaning in Blaekfeet. In English, the word “herb” can have H numerous meanings, including a seasoning for food. The closest English word to herb in Blaekfeet is “aaprinima’tsis.” The elders explained this word means “a tool that doctors use.” The hope is that the lexicon and audio files recorded in the Blaekfeet language that our research helped create, might assist future scholars access the embedded meanings in languages. Saving vanishing languages Many Native American communities in the United States are now working to save these cultural insights and revitalize their languages. In Wisconsin, an Ojibwe language school called “Waadookodaading,” translated literally as “a place where people help each other,” immerses its students in the environmental knowledge embedded in the language. The Ojibwe believe that theirs is a language of action. And the best way for children to learn is by doing and observing the natural world. Each spring, for example,: the students go into the woods to gather maple sap from trees, which is processed into maple syrup and sugar. These students learn about indigenous knowledge of plants, their habitats and uses. Language loss can be considered as extreme as the extinction of a plant or an animal. Once a language is gone, the traditional knowledge it carries also gets erased from society. The loss of indigenous languages is not Alaska’s concern alone. It affects all of us. Rosalyn R. LaPier is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at The University o f Montana Courtesy o f The Conversation/ INSP.ngo A ll Street Roots vendors complete a form al training session with Street Roots sta ff a n d receive a badge. Please buy our newspapers only from bodged vendors. A musician performs a t the inaugural Tribal N ations S u m m it in Portland, Sept. 28, where Tribal government officials from Oregon's Cowlitz, NezPerce, Grand Ronde, Siletz, U m atilla, Warm Springs a n d Yakama Tribes were represented.
