SpilyayTymoo
Warm Springs. Oregon
July 17, 1997 7
Wasco, Paiute lessons
WASCO LANGUAGE LESSON
Going Huckleberry Picking
MONDAY'S LESSON
Key Words:
itkalagwax
idunayax
shangi
i-dtmubil
itskmtwamax
ilshkalimax
kwtkwt
dukst -part
j
lun i
qadamt
qngi
dan
chi
ngi
sqw'ap
kwaba
aga
k'aya
mountains
huckleberries
someone
car
bears
big berrybaskets
to pick, gather
ripe
full
three
(to) where
how
what
(transforms a statement
into a question)
by means of
near
there
now
no, not, don't
TUESDAY'S LESSON
Part 1:
A: Qadamt amshuya? (Where are you all going
to go?)
B: Anshuya itkalagwax-yamt. (We're going to
go to the mountains.)
Part 2:
A: Dan kuba amshgiuxa? (What are you going
to do there?)
B: Kwtkwt anshkduxama idunayax. (We're
going to pick huckleberries.)
Part 3:
A: Dukst chi aga idunayax? (Are the huckleber
ries ripe now?)
B: Shangi nalgima dukst
aga idunayax Highrock-ba.
(A little while ago, someone
said the huckleberries are
ripe at HighRock.)
A: K'aya sqw'ap amuya
itskintwamax-ba. (Don't go
near the bears!)
WEDNESDAY'S LESSON
Part 4:
A: Qngi aish alma amshuya?
- (How are you going to go there?)
B: I-dtmubil ngi alma anshuya.
(We're going to go by car.)
Part 5:
A: Amtnitla lun ilshkalimax pal! idunayax
ngi. (Bring me three big baskets full of huckle
berries!) A: Qadash ashmshxutlka itskmtwamax
kwaba. (Watch out for the bears!)
A: Qadash ashmshxutlka itskmtwamax
kwaba. (Watch out for the bears!)
THURSDAY'S LESSON:
Complete Conversation
Part 1:
A: Qadamt amshuya? (Where
are you all going to go?)
B: Anshuya itkalagwax-yamt.
(We're going to go to the moun
tains.) Part 2:
A: Dan kuba amshgiuxa?
(What are you going to do
there?)
B: Kwtkwt anshkduxama idunayax. (We're
going to pick huckleberries.)
Part 3:
A: Dukst chi aga idunayax? (Are the huckleber
ries ripe now?)
B: Shangi nalgima dukst aga idunayax
Highrock-ba. (A little while ago, someone said
the huckleberries are ripe at HighRock.)
A: K'aya sqw'ap amuya itskintwamax-ba.
(Don't go near the bears!)
Part 4:
A: Qngi aish alma
amshuya? (How are you
going to go there?)
B:f I-atmubil ngi alma
anshuya. (We're going to
go by car.)
Part 5:
fZZZs
i m
s
A: Amtnitla lun ilshkalimax patl idunayax ngi.
(Bring me three big baskets full of huckleber
ries!) A: Qadash ashmshxutlka itskmtwamax kwaba.
(Watch out for the bears!)
Help Iskintwa find the Idunayax.
n.';:rir.;;ni:ii;:!i'i;Ti?.';:;i!i?i
j We'll miss you Dana!
The summer
youth is learning
their Sahaptin,
Kiksht, and
Paiute ABC's.
Have you talked
to your child to
see what they've
learned???
in
: i
fa
it:!
y
1)1
p' , i'4 y ti- i
9
ii
!
to KWSO (Ihcy missed him), jj
Bui we're slill looking for-
ml ward to working with you. ji
Thnnki for rwrvthini!. Good l
Paiute Langauge Lesson
The Alphabet
KA'ABE break off
Mu ka'abesc mootoo meo.
Break off from them and go the other way.
He ka'abe.
What broke?
KAMMU
rabbit
A
,1 Luck!
Ewayoo kammu o'o.
There are alot of rabbits
over there.
Mu ha'a kammu koiyootoowa.
Did you guys go and kill
some rabbits?
Nu kammu kwena'a kayoo.
I have a rabbit for a pet.
KWEDAGAGA'E magpie
Mason kwedaeasa'e oduoo kwasekavob. A
That magpie has a long tail.
Ki maka kwedagaga'e maka pana.
Don't feed that magpie.
Osoo kwedagaga'e umu kammu matsamawunu.
That magpie is bothering those rabbits.
Continued from previous column:
Other American languages are perpetuated by the
periodic influx of immigrants into the United States. Our
languages do not have the luxury of this influx because
nowhere else in this world, for instance, is Athabascan
Gwich'in spoken. This lack of an influx puts our lan
guages in a unique but highly vulnerable position. They
are unique because they represent a microcosm com
plete with its own linguistics, world-view, spirituality,
ethos, and community of speakers. They are vulnerable
because they exist in the macrocosm of the English
language and its awesome ability to displace and elimi
nate other languages.
To reverse this influence of English, families must
retrieve their rightful position as the first teachers of our
languages. They must talk our languages every day,
everywhere, with everyone, anywhere. But if they are
going to relinquish this teaching responsibility to the
schools then they must be supportive. They must make
sure the schools use teaching methods which are oral
based. We must use all of the items (except flash-freezing)
in the litany to preserve our languages instead of
pinning all of our hopes on just one.
That means that we must know where each item is
appropriate. Knowing the appropriate place is often
dependent on knowing the amount of language loss that
has occurred in the group which speaks that language.
For instance, a language spoken only by people ages 60
years or older may no longer be viable as a language
immersion program. The reason is that the stamina
required to teach the language may be too much for this
age group.
This foregoing example shows why we must keep
discussing the issues surrounding Alaska NativeNative
American language preservation efforts. The issues are
ever-changing and we must keep abreast of them in
order to maintain a high level of effort at language
preservation.
We must get beyond the self-victimization stage
and quit pointing fingers at the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
the mission schools, the media, and the public schools as
the causes of the loss of our languages. Even though we
are right when we blame the loss of our languages on
these organizations, the stark fact remains that they are
not going to help us restore, revive, or preserve our
languages. They have no stake in these language preser
vation efforts. In fact, they nearly succeeded in accom
plishing where they had a stake: killing our languages.
So the responsibility for saving our languages is
ours and ours alone; we are the pivotal generation be
cause we are probably the last generation of speakers
who can joke, converse about highly technical topics,
articulate deep, psychic pain, and also discuss appropri
ate healing strategies without once resorting to the
English language.
Conclusion
Our Native American languages are in the
penultimate moment of their existence in this world. It is
the last and only time that we will have the opportunity
to save them.
We must continue to promote the successful
programs throughout Alaska and Indian Country. We
must quit endlessly lamenting and continuously cata
loguing the causes of language death; instead, we must
now deal with these issues by learning from successful
language preservation efforts.
So if we do nothing, then we can expect our
languages to be dead by the end of the next century.
Even that time-line might be an optimistic, if we do
nothing to preserv e our languages.
A great void will be left in the universe that will
never be filled when all of our languages die.
-Reprinted by permission "Stabilizing Indigenous
Languages," 1996 Northern Arizona University.