Spilyqy Tymoo, Wrro Spring. Oregon June 28, 2001
THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES LANGUAGE LESSON-
(In our community, do we have people that are
giving us an "A" for effort, but believe that it is
futile to revive our languages, to where we are
hearing it daily within the community? If so,
what is the message to our children?)
There are 211 indigenous languages still extant
throughout the United States and Canada, but
only 20 of them are spoken by the youngest
generation of their communities. The rest may
well face oblivion in the next 50 years. "All 211
are in danger of extinction," said Akira
Yamamoto, a professor of linguistics at the Uni
versity of Kansas who works each summer at the
University of Arizona's language reclamation
institute.
(With 211 indigenous languages left in the US
and we have three of them, will the three Warm
Springs languages become extinct? What will
that mean to our cultures?)
But even as the language revival movement is
picking up steam, some scholars outside of lin
guistics are questioning whether people should
try to save endangered languages at all. "Lan
guages have died throughout human history,
our own language bears little resemblance to the
English of the 15th century," said Michael Blake,
a professor of philosophy at Harvard University,
who recently published a broadside attack on
the movement to protect endangered cultures in
Civilization magazine. "It is not immediately
clear to me why we should try to preserve
them," he said in a telephone interview.
(As Warm Springs continues to teach and pro
mote our languages, do we question why we
should try to preserve them?)
One reason, Mr. Yamamoto said, is aesthetic:
languages, like animal species, contribute to the
richness and diversity of the world: "If you
speak English, you have one world; if you speak
Navajo, you have another world." For example,
Mr. Yamamoto points out, in the Algonquin
family of languages, noun endings are divided
into two basic categories: animate and inani
mate. So, while Romance languages separate
nouns by gender, the Algonquin sees the world
in terms of things that have spirit and things that
do not. And, Mr. Yamamoto adds, "This is re
flected in their culture."
(Language construction is wonderful in how it
expresses more than just black and white ideas;
do we understand that within our Warm Springs
languages exists spirituality?)
Mr. Blake said it might be sad to lose languages
but that sometimes it is a necessary price to pay
for progress and freedom of choice in society: "I
think we can acknowledge a sense of loss, but I
think these are losses that we suffer as a free
people, when we decide what norms to adopt
and to leave behind. There are reasons that these
languages are dying out, that members of these
communities have decided to assimilate, and
those reasons have to be respected, too."
(Do we want to pay the necessary price of
progress and freedom of choice, if it means los
ing our identity and assimilating to the larger
population?)
But supporters of language revival respond that
the idea of "freedom of choice" is highly prob
lematic, especially in the case of American In
dian languages, which were frequently aggres
sively suppressed. "As an Indian, to hear about
languages 'dying' or becoming "extinct' hits at
our core," said Mr. Baldwin. "The federal gov
ernment has always wanted Indian people either
to become extinct or to assimilate."
(As languages die or become extinct, will we as
Indian nations follow?)
The history of the Hawaiian language is an ex
ample. It had dwindled to about 1,500 fluent
native speakers by the 1980's, and today, there
are 150,000 fluent speakers of the Hawaiian
language. They set up a preschool in which
elderly Hawaiian speakers taught the language
to the children. Gradually, by adding a new
grade each year, they succeeded in creating a
preschool-to-high school system in which Ha
waiian is the primary language of instruction.
(If we were to follow this example, could we The
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs move
from 20 fluent speakers to 1,000 or more in a
given time? And wouldn't that be a success?)
But wouldn't it be more useful for young Ha
waiians to learn languages like Spanish or
French, which are spoken by millions of people,
rather than a language used by only a few thou
sand? And are language revival programs hold
ing youngsters back from acquiring the skills
they need to succeed in mainstream society? Mr.
Blake said that children "are going to lose some
of the opportunity that English education gives
them."
Advocates answer that students in the Hawaiian
program score slightly higher in standardized
tests than native Hawaiian students from English-language
schools.
(When our children learn one, or all three of our
Warm Springs Tribal languages, will they have a
higher success rate in school? Will it demon
strate that having self-confidence and cultural
self-awareness is indeed a factor in the success of
our Indian children?)
mass culture, pop culture and the whims of the
marketplace? What do we want for the future of
our tribes as compared to our past and how we
live today?)
Culture and Heritage program would like to
thank those who write compelling stories and
ideas that give us something to think about.
My Family
Dauda Itkiukdiksh
My name is Radine Marrietta Johnson, everyone
here in Warm Springs know me as "Deanie." I
was born in Seattle, Washington in 1962 when
my father was attending carpentry school. My
father was Robert Johnson, and my mother is
Marcia Minthorn. My father is deceased and I
have a stepfather that raised me his name is
Roger Minthorn (Ricky).
My mom's mother and father are Joseph Thomp
son and Gladys Miller Thompson. My father's
mother and father are Buford Johnson Sr. And
Louella Johnson. My mother has one older
brother, Rico Thompson. She has two older
sisters, Irene Towe and Lola Sohappy. She also
has one younger brother, Dennis Thompson and
two younger sisters, Christine Scott and Marlene
Thompson (deceased). Four other children who
are deceased as young babies.
My Father's mother and father is Buford
Johnson Sr. And Louella Johnson. He has four
older brothers, Buford, Reuben(deceased),
Cyril(deceased), and Delford Johnson. He has
one older sister, Sadonia David.
Diane Ravitch, a professor of education at New
York University a critic of progressive educa
tional fads has a strongly positive view of lan
guage revival. "I think cultural retrieval is an
important thing that people need to go through,
as long as it is voluntary and the children also
learn English, which they need to go to college," Johnson. I have lived here most of my life here
she said. "The language sustains their culture in Warm Springs. I grew up with my grand-
and their link with the past, which is an impor- mother and grandfather, knowing to gather
tant aspect of who we are." Ms. Ravitch states, "I foods and work hard. Today, I am working
find the argument that we should do nothing to hard at learning my grandmother's language,
I have one older sister, Reva Johnson. I have , n
two yourige? sisterjolehe J6hnsohraiid: Maria
Minthorn. I also have two younger brothers,
Mark Johnson and Dion Minthorn. I only have
one child, which is my daughter, Sharice
preserve languages and culture, toxic. Other
wise, we are just left with mass culture, pop
culture and the whims of the marketplace."
(As bottom line, do we want to be blended into
the melting pot of America, and be left with
Kiksht. I would also like to learn Ichishkiin, and
Numu as I have blood in all three tribes.
Would you like to see more biographies of
our teachers?
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