Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1962)
2 FRIDAY, JUNE IS, 1962 MCDtOHD MAIL. THIBUWC. MtUtOMU, OnEGON Wycliffe Translators Live With Indians in Southern Mexico (Ediior't n o t ti "Sam" Lambert Huffman, a pub lisher from Winona Laka, Indiana, recently returned from Mexico where he vis ited American translator! working with isolated In dian tribes to bring them a written language. In a se ries oi dispatches, he tells oi the dedicated linguists and their work.) By "SAM" LAMBERT HUFFMAN Written for UPI "Guess next time he comes, '. we'll just shoot him and eat him," said Elizabeth Murane as she cooked biscuits on a . mud stove in the Mexican jungles near the Guatemalan . border. Her 5 month old , daughter played happily near- . by- She was talking about her face-to-face meeting with a boa constrictor, large, calf swallowing snakes that abide in the rain forests near La Victoria, Mexico, in Chiapas state. She explained that when she and her husband, John, first arrived they had to build their own "champa," a hut made of cane poles. Before it was finished they slept out side. Slept in Sleeping Bag "I had to feed the baby so she and I slept in the sleeping bag on the ground. I think it was about the second night," she said. "I heard a faint noise like a freight train off In the dis tance. I knew there was no train here, so I listened and P 1 nnaauauac CUBBY'S DRIVE-IN Restaurant and New" Coffee Shop featuring 0 BROASTED CHICKEN D D Si PATIO PACK 12 Pc. Tub of Chicken, 1 Quart Potato Salad 1 Gallon Root Beer Buttered Rolls Forks Plates Napkins Cups $445 FREE DELIVERY Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m. Minimum Order $3.00 CUBBY'S DRIVE-IN Phone Orders 773-2919 a D BREAKFAST c3 ' ( wit m VP. ,' V (ft m f , IT Packed to Go Only! TRADE CENTER - The tiny village of Las . pics around the world a written language Cosas, Chipas, Mexico, is trade center for go out among these tribes to learn their many tribes of southern Mexico. Wycliffe languages and bring Christianity to them in Translators - a nondenominational group of linguists dedicated to giving unlettered peo- the Indian's tongue. (UPI) finally decided it was some the hammock, it just disap- anunai iiiuvuik mmuubu mc pearca in me unaemrusn. dry unaerorusn. " "I wriggled my flashlight out of the sleeping bag and flashed it on. There, about 10 feet from us, was a boa con strictor in an attitude of watchful waiting, sort of try ing to decide whether he should retreat or coil up for the night. 'What did you do?" "I called John. When the snake heard John stirring in "What will you 1 do if he comes back again?" I asked. Both Elizabeth and John laughed. "Guess next time he comes," Elizabeth smiled, "we'll just shoot him and eat him." As the 28-year-old brunette Elizabeth, who couldn't weigh more than 110 pounds, fin ished breakfast and tidied up WE NOW SERVE Open 7 a.m. BREAKFAST WITH BaAMBY'S AT THE BIG Y HIWAY 99 NORTH PANCAKES HASH BROWN POTATOES OMELETTES Ham Bacon or Sausage and Eggs ' Served with Hash Brown Potatoes or PANCAKES any way you like 'em Open 5 a.m. Breakfast Anytime Fri. & Sat. 24 Hrs. own previously unwritten the mud-floored champa, I asked her why she had come to the jungle. She has advanced nursing degrees from Columbia uni versity and religious educa tion training at Biblical Sem inary in New York. Her hus band also studied at Bible Seminary after getting a de gree from Stanford. "It's the challenge the challenge to help others, to do God's work," she said. "Life back there seemed empty and purposeless," John broke in. "I now have a call ing, a purpose, a goal, and I'm able to measure my prog ress here mentally, physical ly and spiritually day by day." 1 a Wa'i? ; mK ' - & "L. .....,a ,:1 ; John and Elizabeth are Wy cliffe translators, non-denom- I inational missionary-linguists 1 who live with remote tribes j around the world while they study the spoken language 1 and reduce il to writing. Then AT JUNGLE CAMP - Sam Lambert Huffman, a publisher from Winona Lake, Ind., recently returned from Mexico where he visited American translators working with isolated Indian tribes to bring them a written language. Here, Mrs. Elizabeth Murane, a Wycliffe Translator, holds her baby, Marianne, while standing in front of banana supply at a Wycliffe jungle subsistence camp, where new translators are given final training before going to live with tribes whose language they hope to decipher. Mrs. Murane's husband, John, is also a translator, and the entire family will "move in" with a tribe, in the remote Mexican jungles. (UPI) they teach the tribe to read their own language. Founded in 1935 by a mis s i o n a r y named Cameron Townsent, Wycliffe translat ors, named after the late famed English Bible translat or, are working in 266 lan guages now. Of these, 200 have been reduced to writing and the New Testament trans lated into six of them. There are about 5,000 known languages in the world today, and only 1,170 of them have been reduced to writing. After Wycliffe finishes the job, denominational church missionaries are encouraged to come in and take over the tribal church and use the native ment. language New Tesia- John and Elizabeth Murane were at the Wycliffe jungle subsistence camp where new translators are given final training before going to live with the tribe whose language they hope to decipher. Translators stay with their tribe for five years at a time and get monthly salary of $115 for each adult and S50 for each of their children. Also at the jungle camp were Lee and Lynn Henrik sen. He had been a construc tion worker in Philadelphia. She was a nurse. Married just 10 months, they considered the jungle training a honey moon. Down the path from their cane hut lived 23-year-old blue-eyed blonde Donna Het teck of Lucerne, Calif., and brunette Marjorie Crouch, 22, Northridge, Calif. Alone, the girls had built their champa and had killed a possum for Sunday dinner. But before they could get it cooked, army ants ran them out and ate the possum. Un daunted, they returned. When I went by they were frying bananas in lemon-flavored telimon weed. Nearly all Wycliffe trans lators are college graduates. many with masters' degrees and 20 or more with Ph.D.'s. Before being sent out, they attend a summer institute of linguistics where they learn how to break down the un. written language, form an alphabet, and finally, teach Indians how to read in their own tongue. They also study at the advance camp, main camp and at Wycliffe's translation center in Mexico City before being assigned to a tribe where they will work. This is what they're work ing for to live with, help, study, understand, and in struct the Indian tribes. GROTTO Air Conditioned for Your Comfort Complete Italian Dinners FULL SEVEN COURSE DINNER INCLUDES Iced Relish Tray. Appetiser Plate, Salad Bowl, Soup, Raviolis, Spaghetti, Sourdough Bread, Coffee or Tea, Butter and Dessert. ENTREES Spaghetti 1.75 Ravioli 1.95 Half Spaghetti and Half Ravioli 1.85 Spaghetti and Meat Balls - 2.00 Fried Chicken 2.25 . Scallopini of Veal 3.00 Chicken Cacciatiore 2.50 2.50 3.00 n ft m Ham Steak and Pineapple Sauce New York Cut Steak, One-Half Pound .. A IA CARTE ORDERS Veal Scallopini Chicken Cacciatiore Italian Spaghetti or Ravioli . M 2.25 1.85 1.50 Also Choice of Fine American Dinners DINNERS SERVED FROM 5 TO 10 P.M. OUR FAMOUS CHUCK WAGON LUNCH SERVED FROM 11 A.M. to 2 P.M. CLOSED MONDAYS AT 2 P.M. (Chuck Wagon Lunch Only Served Mondays) Enjoy Your Favorite Beverage In Our lounge M ;" I I" IB. "iSIlPn M June is JTaeksonville Museum Moitilt1 IEMV(B the colorful clays of the old West. the thrills of the gold rush and Indian wars! YOU CAN when you Visit the . . . Jacksonville useum A tit. i jjr mi - vt- . rmrr The attractive old brick courthouse that houses the Jack sonville Museum is, itself steeped in the history of the days before the turn of the century. The former seat of Jackson County government, dating from 1883-84, this venerable old structure was scene of many bitter court cases, the most sensational being the trial of the D Autre mont brothers, train bandits, and the trial of alleged Ku Klux Klan members for an attempted lynching. To accom modate the growing number of exhibits, the Southern Oregon Historical Society has added buildings adjacent to this old courthouse all open to the public ... all freg? The entire Rogue River Valley is rich in the ro mance of the old West, and there's no finer, more enjoyable way to relive those days than to visit YOUR Jackson ville Museum. You, your family and especially out-of-town guests will delight in the more than 6,000 individual collections. Among its most popular exhibits are the Britt Gallery, a replica of Peter Britt's Photographic Studio, one of the earliest in the Pacific Northwest, the Indian Room, containing artifacts and relics made and used by the valley's first inhabitants, the Gun Room, mineral displays and fluorescent room, a children's room, parlor, collection of wedding dresses and a Civil War exhibit. The Southern Oregon Historical Society administers and maintains this museum one of the finest in the West and approximately 466,000 names appear on the regis tration book. So, with JUNE JACKSONVILLE MUSEUM be sure to make a date to visit the museum . . . you may spend all the time you wish and it is all FREEI 8 Is ' B iff 'QHiWll-Si A few of mora than 6,000 individual 43Sz$?sTlk McdfOTfi ' collections awaiting your visit to the j&-S!tY239' ,. Jackionvilla Musuem this month ... en- StjgSSJfcjBfcfci-.." Mdll joy a visit this month, bring your family FtZSStV' 1" -L and friends ' Visit YOUR Jacksonville Museum THIS MONTH! 1 ? m. otos by Bob Vroman
