Showing posts with label Native American. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Native American. Show all posts
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Dictionary for a Dying Language
This 81-Year Old Wrote a Dictionary to Save Her Tribe's Dying Language
Anna Culaba
http://www.ryot.org/native-america-wukchumni-dictionary-language-extinction/855101
Even though it seems like the English language has pretty much given up on life, it’s more alive than ever as we add more and more words like “selfie” and “YOLO” to our vocabularies. But do you know that we are losing about one language spoken around the world to oblivion every two weeks?
According to the United Nations, there are almost 7,000 spoken languages in the world and, by the year 2100, we will have said goodbye to more than half of them. Here in America, the New York Times reports that more than 130 Native American languages are currently at risk and 74 of those languages are “critically endangered.”
One likely language to die out is that used by the Wukchumni tribe. Today, there are only about 200 Wukchumni members left, and only one of them can speak their language fluently — Marie Wilcox.
Fortunately, Marie is doing all she can to preserve her tribe’s language. She learned to use a computer so she can create a Wukchumni dictionary. Pecking away at her keyboard day and night, Marie worked for seven years to ensure that her culture will live on.
In the year 2100, when almost half of the languages in the world are lost, we will still have the Wukchumni language thanks to Marie Wilcox’s dedication.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Young Navajos Studying to Save their Language
10/10/2015
Voice of America
Young Navajos Study to Save Their Language
For part of her life, Sylvia Jackson stopped speaking her native
language, Navajo. Like many Native American children, she had little
chance to speak her language.
“We had to speak English. So I lost a lot of just speaking the Navajo language.”
More than 100 years ago, the U.S. government began sending Native American children to boarding schools. All the instruction was in English. The native cultures and languages of the children were discouraged.
In the last 20 to 30 years, tribal governments have started to promote the teaching of Native American languages in schools. The U.S. Department of Education now also supports Native American language programs.
Today, Sylvia Jackson is a Navajo language instructor in the small town of Holbrook, Arizona. She teaches Navajo to students at Holbrook High School. Her class is taught entirely in Diné, the Navajo language.
Ms. Jackson said both she and her students have an important part in keeping their language alive.
“My parents are actually, they grew up speaking the Navajo language; they’re fluent speakers. They’re like a dictionary. If I ask them, “How do you say this?” they translate. But me, I’m learning as I’m going.”
Navajo Nation
The town of Holbrook is an hour by car from the Navajo Nation. The 69,000-square-kilometer territory is the largest of the 326 Indian reservations in the United States. The Navajo Nation covers parts of four states in the American Southwest. It is about the same size as the country of Ireland.
During the 1800s, increasing numbers of European settlers in America moved west. In 1864, the federal government began a campaign to deport Navajos from their lands. The natives were moved to the northwest in a series of marches called the "Long Walk." The marches took place under the threat of death.
Navajo leaders and the U.S. government reached a peace treaty in 1868. It established the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Today, more than 250,000 people live in the Navajo Nation. They have their own laws, fly their own flag, and elect their own president.
The 2010 United States Census showed that about 170,000 Navajos speak Navajo at home. It is one of the most robust Native American languages today.
A right to speak Navajo
But there is a growing worry that the Navajo language could disappear. Seventy years ago, nearly everyone on the Navajo reservation spoke Navajo as their first language. But today, few young Navajos can speak the language of their grandparents.
A study in 1998 found that only 30 percent of Navajos entering school spoke Navajo as their mother tongue. Just 30 years earlier, that was true of 90 percent of first-grade Navajo students.
Richard Epstein is a linguist and professor at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. He said a language’s survival depends on one generation passing down knowledge to the next generation.
“In order to keep a language alive, the adults of the community have to be able to transmit it to the young folks.”
Dr. Epstein calls teaching and transmitting your native language to your children a right that should be better protected.
“Everybody should have the right to speak their own language, just as much as they should have the right to practice their religion. Because their language is as good as everybody else’s language…So if you take that away, you’ve taken away a massive resource for knowing something about a part of human life.
"And you’ve taken away a part of who those people are. Is that right? Everybody should have the right to speak their language and to transmit their language to their children and to keep their culture alive.”
On the reservation itself, Navajo language instruction in schools starts at a young age. At Indian Wells Elementary School, 3rd graders are learning how to read, write, and speak Navajo. The school opened in 2001.
Dr. Robbie Koerperich was Indian Wells’ first principal. Now, he is the superintendent of the Holbrook Unified School District. He said his district is concerned with preserving the Navajo language.
“The Navajo language itself, I believe, is a major concern on the reservation and in our district, pertaining to the preservation of the language. So the preservation of the Navajo language is part of our mission.”
Hortensia is a third-grader at Indian Wells Elementary. She said Navajo language is her favorite class.
“So we could learn it and teach it to other people.”
The role of older generations
Hortensia said she often visits her grandmother, or naali in Navajo. Grandparents on the reservation play an important part in passing down both the language and culture to their grandchildren.
Morgan is a Navajo language student at Holbrook High School. She is one of Sylvia Jackson’s students. She visits her grandparents’ home with her cousins, nieces and nephews. She said she sometimes feels like an outcast.
“With my nieces and nephews and my cousins, they’re about my age or a bit older and they don’t speak Navajo. And so it’s a bit hard when we go out to my grandparents’ place and they try to talk to us. And it feels like — when my grandparents and my parents talk together — I feel like, kind of like an outcast, like I don’t know what they’re saying, but it's like, I want to learn the language so I can carry it on and then teach my kids. And so we won’t lose the language.”
Some of these students’ grandparents and great-grandparents may also have played an important part in U.S. history. During World War II, the U.S. military recruited Navajo speakers. Together, they developed a code to send secret information past Japanese and German code-breakers.
The code was never broken.
Dr. Epstein credits the Navajo language’s complex structure for it being such a successful code.
“It was so unbelievably complicated that the enemy couldn’t figure out how it worked. And yet we took the children of these people away from their families to train them to speak English only on the grounds that this language was inferior.”
Sylvia Jackson was once one of those children. Today, she finds herself at the forefront of keeping her language alive.
“If you just think about it, my parents, if they go, then that’s going to be me right there who has to carry that on. If I don’t have the knowledge that they had, that’s going to be it right there. So, I’m glad that we have students who want to learn the language, who want to keep that language.”
I’m Ashley Thompson.
And I’m Caty Weaver.
Ashley Thompson and Adam Brock wrote this story. Caty Weaver and Jill Robbins were the editors.
______________________________________________________________
promote - v. to help (something) happen, develop, or increase
robust - adj. strong and healthy
transmit - v. to give or pass (information, values, etc.) from one person to another
folks - n. people in general
principal - n. the person in charge of a public school
outcast - n. someone who is not accepted by other people
code - n. a set of letters, numbers, symbols, etc., that is used to secretly send messages to someone
inferior - adj. of little or less importance or value
forefront - n. the most important part or position
“We had to speak English. So I lost a lot of just speaking the Navajo language.”
More than 100 years ago, the U.S. government began sending Native American children to boarding schools. All the instruction was in English. The native cultures and languages of the children were discouraged.
In the last 20 to 30 years, tribal governments have started to promote the teaching of Native American languages in schools. The U.S. Department of Education now also supports Native American language programs.
Today, Sylvia Jackson is a Navajo language instructor in the small town of Holbrook, Arizona. She teaches Navajo to students at Holbrook High School. Her class is taught entirely in Diné, the Navajo language.
Ms. Jackson said both she and her students have an important part in keeping their language alive.
“My parents are actually, they grew up speaking the Navajo language; they’re fluent speakers. They’re like a dictionary. If I ask them, “How do you say this?” they translate. But me, I’m learning as I’m going.”
Navajo Nation
The town of Holbrook is an hour by car from the Navajo Nation. The 69,000-square-kilometer territory is the largest of the 326 Indian reservations in the United States. The Navajo Nation covers parts of four states in the American Southwest. It is about the same size as the country of Ireland.
During the 1800s, increasing numbers of European settlers in America moved west. In 1864, the federal government began a campaign to deport Navajos from their lands. The natives were moved to the northwest in a series of marches called the "Long Walk." The marches took place under the threat of death.
Navajo leaders and the U.S. government reached a peace treaty in 1868. It established the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Today, more than 250,000 people live in the Navajo Nation. They have their own laws, fly their own flag, and elect their own president.
The 2010 United States Census showed that about 170,000 Navajos speak Navajo at home. It is one of the most robust Native American languages today.
A right to speak Navajo
But there is a growing worry that the Navajo language could disappear. Seventy years ago, nearly everyone on the Navajo reservation spoke Navajo as their first language. But today, few young Navajos can speak the language of their grandparents.
A study in 1998 found that only 30 percent of Navajos entering school spoke Navajo as their mother tongue. Just 30 years earlier, that was true of 90 percent of first-grade Navajo students.
Richard Epstein is a linguist and professor at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. He said a language’s survival depends on one generation passing down knowledge to the next generation.
“In order to keep a language alive, the adults of the community have to be able to transmit it to the young folks.”
Dr. Epstein calls teaching and transmitting your native language to your children a right that should be better protected.
“Everybody should have the right to speak their own language, just as much as they should have the right to practice their religion. Because their language is as good as everybody else’s language…So if you take that away, you’ve taken away a massive resource for knowing something about a part of human life.
"And you’ve taken away a part of who those people are. Is that right? Everybody should have the right to speak their language and to transmit their language to their children and to keep their culture alive.”
On the reservation itself, Navajo language instruction in schools starts at a young age. At Indian Wells Elementary School, 3rd graders are learning how to read, write, and speak Navajo. The school opened in 2001.
Dr. Robbie Koerperich was Indian Wells’ first principal. Now, he is the superintendent of the Holbrook Unified School District. He said his district is concerned with preserving the Navajo language.
“The Navajo language itself, I believe, is a major concern on the reservation and in our district, pertaining to the preservation of the language. So the preservation of the Navajo language is part of our mission.”
Hortensia is a third-grader at Indian Wells Elementary. She said Navajo language is her favorite class.
“So we could learn it and teach it to other people.”
The role of older generations
Hortensia said she often visits her grandmother, or naali in Navajo. Grandparents on the reservation play an important part in passing down both the language and culture to their grandchildren.
Morgan is a Navajo language student at Holbrook High School. She is one of Sylvia Jackson’s students. She visits her grandparents’ home with her cousins, nieces and nephews. She said she sometimes feels like an outcast.
“With my nieces and nephews and my cousins, they’re about my age or a bit older and they don’t speak Navajo. And so it’s a bit hard when we go out to my grandparents’ place and they try to talk to us. And it feels like — when my grandparents and my parents talk together — I feel like, kind of like an outcast, like I don’t know what they’re saying, but it's like, I want to learn the language so I can carry it on and then teach my kids. And so we won’t lose the language.”
Some of these students’ grandparents and great-grandparents may also have played an important part in U.S. history. During World War II, the U.S. military recruited Navajo speakers. Together, they developed a code to send secret information past Japanese and German code-breakers.
The code was never broken.
Dr. Epstein credits the Navajo language’s complex structure for it being such a successful code.
“It was so unbelievably complicated that the enemy couldn’t figure out how it worked. And yet we took the children of these people away from their families to train them to speak English only on the grounds that this language was inferior.”
Sylvia Jackson was once one of those children. Today, she finds herself at the forefront of keeping her language alive.
“If you just think about it, my parents, if they go, then that’s going to be me right there who has to carry that on. If I don’t have the knowledge that they had, that’s going to be it right there. So, I’m glad that we have students who want to learn the language, who want to keep that language.”
I’m Ashley Thompson.
And I’m Caty Weaver.
Ashley Thompson and Adam Brock wrote this story. Caty Weaver and Jill Robbins were the editors.
______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
promote - v. to help (something) happen, develop, or increase
robust - adj. strong and healthy
transmit - v. to give or pass (information, values, etc.) from one person to another
folks - n. people in general
principal - n. the person in charge of a public school
outcast - n. someone who is not accepted by other people
code - n. a set of letters, numbers, symbols, etc., that is used to secretly send messages to someone
inferior - adj. of little or less importance or value
forefront - n. the most important part or position
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Peter Onedera: Ti malago' yu bai hu li'e' i finatai i Fino' Chamoru
Ti malago' yu' bai hu li'e' i finatai i fino' Chamoru
by Peter Onedera
Pacific Daily News
June 2, 2015
Annai ma empleha yu' para direktot prugråma gi i Kumision I Fino' CHamoru, hu pega na unu este na petsonåt milågru para guåhu. Gi tinituhon ayu na tiempo, hu eyak dinuebu i fino' CHamoru ni' hagas hu honño gi maloffan na såkkan siha. Ayu i hagas tiningo' siha ha na'baya' yu' gotpe ya måtto di ha na' apurao siñente-ku.
Sigun ginen i kumisina siha para ayu na ahensia, taiguihi as Doktora Bernadita Camacho-Dungca, si Rosa Salas Palomo, si Josefina Perez Barcinas, si Sister Bernadette Quintanilla, si Juanita Toves Peredo, si Bill Paulino, si Tan Ana Borja Garcia, si Frank San Nicolas yan i difunto as Doktot Jeff D. Tainatongo, ma baba nuebu na mundo para guåhu ya hu tutuhon kinahulo'-hu para bai hu gacha' nuebu na tiningo' siha put i lengguahi-hu.
Ma tåla' yu' ni' i hestorian i fino' CHamoru ya gi magåhet sentåya' tiningo'-hu put ayu ni' håfafa ha'. Ma sangåni yu' put i rilasion-ña yan otro lengguåhi siha gi i uriya ya pumoddong gi i familian Austronesian. Ti hu tungo' put utugrafiha ya hu espiha este na palåbra gi i deksenårion Webster's put para bai hu tungo' håfa kumeke'ilekña. Sumaonao ha' lokkue' i atfabeton CHamoru ya ha yåma atension-hu sa' put i ma fa'nåna'gue esta gi i sesteman eskuelan pupbleko.
Put mås, ayu gof takhilo' na hinekkå-ku na magåhet na lengguåhi i fino' CHamoru. Enfin eraki håfa hu hongge ni' kulan parehu yan noskuåntos taotao siha, ti påtte gi i fino' Españot i fino' CHamoru sa' put i finedda' palåbra siha ginen ayu na lengguåhi. Hu eyak nuebu na finiho', Chamorrocization ni' ineksplikåyi as difunto Doktot Donald Topping gi i tinige'-ña lepblo Spoken Chamorro.
Kumeke'ilekña este na i inadåpta yan inayao palåbra siha ginen otro na lengguåhi. Ma fa'nå'gue yu' na i manaotao tåno' manma fuetsa para u faneyak pumalu lengguåhi taiguihi i fino' CHapanes gi i tiempon gera, yan lokkue' enfin, kontodu fino' Españot ni' dinira kåsi nomås di tres siklo na tiempo.
Pues måtto i fino' Engles Amerikånu ya, lokkue', nuebu na areklo, na u ma chomma' i tinaotao na u famfino' CHamoru putmås espesiåt gi lugåt pupbleko yan eskuela siha. Ma månda este ni' i Estådos Militåt Navy, ya este na aksion inekstendi yan chumenglong dekådu na tiempo siha ya ha afekta lameggai na hinirasion CHamoru.
Ya estague' tumutuhon estao pineddong ni' mumåtka i tiempo. Na'triste lokkue', i ma chomma' uson lengguåhi ni' tumåddong gi kurason yan titanos Mañamoru, espesiåtmente, mañaina ni' ma siente na dañuyan fumino' CHamoru sa' ti u maolek mo'na hinanao-ñiha i famagu'on-ñiha. Måtto di ha sohyo' este na siñente gi sanhalom mañaina ya ha afekta hinirasion siha na famagu'on sa' siempre ti ma fakcha'i i guinifen Amerikånu para lina'la' ni' kabåles kollat åpaka' gi uriyan guma', minaolek lina'la', yan ginesa yan minalago' nuebu yan takhilo' na estao ni' chumilong siempre. Este lokkue' tumutuhon tumunok-ña i hinasso put minantienen lengguåhi.
Bula, kontåtki todu, na taotao Guåhan humokka este na hinasso ya ti åpmam na ha palala'i i mayuriha na familia este na siñente. Estague' tumutuhon i finakpo' asunto. På'go, na'dañu estao-ña i lengguahi-ta ni' nina'i ginen mismo as Yu'os ya gaige gi iya kadenan Mari'ånas gi, sigun ginen rekot siha, nomåsdi kuåtro mit na såkkan siha.
Bula malingu-ta put este. Yanggen hu atan tåtte i lina'lå'-hu ni' hu na'chetton siñenten minamåhlao put håyi yu' sa' put i eksperensiå-hu ni' ti maolek ya ha dirihi despues i aksion-hu siha, isao yu'. Ti hu tungo' lamaolek ya hu diseha na siña ha' mohon hu pañot ha' enlugåt di hu ketulaikan-maisa yu' put para bai hu maolek gi i lengguåhi ni' ti iyo-ku put fin. Mistet, hu fokos yu' kulan dipendiente yu' sigun put lina'lå'-hu na dinirecho.
Hu hasso na hu eyak i tiningo' manå'paka', put kuentos, na hu hongge este sigun ginen tinaitai-hu put sichu'asion Amerikånon Natibu osino Manmo'nan Tinaotao Estådos Unidos. Mumaolek yu' ya kulan prubecho-ku pues menos på'go i isao hu kåkatga. På'go sa' åmko' yu', hu dirihi yu' mo'na para i fino'-hu put rason na bai hu fangontrebuyi gi i inadahi-ña. Satisfecho yu' na hu giha i lina'lå'-hu gi este na direksion.
Hu chalåni todu gi i nina'siñå-hu. Hu li'e' inengkebukao sinhostisia gi i lengguahi-hu ya hu pañot lokkue' i insutto put i kinalamten inadahi-ña yan gine'te-ña piot ginen i mismo CHamoru siha. Hu sungon ma faisen-hu put håyi yu' noskuåntos biåhi piot yanggen sesso di ma sangåni' yu' na sentåya' CHamoru esta på'go na tiempo, fino' yan tinaotao parehu. Hu kåtga yan hu pañot i piniti-hu ginen pumalu siha, piot ginen kumetsiånte yan inetnon sibit gi iya Guåhan, ni' manma pega tapbleru gi i sagan humotnat ya ma månda na para fino' Engles ha' u ma na'setbe entre manemplehao.
Tinakka' dekådu siha para bai hu fångge' fino' CHamoru gi lucha gi iya PDN ya ha senhongang yu' si David Crisostomo annai ha fåna' yu' ya ha faisen yu' bai hu tutuhon. Ti siguru yu' kao ha tungo' si David, na iya PDN, gi tåtte na tiempo gi otro na påpblisha, sumaonao iya PDN mamega tapbleru lokkue' ya ha månda i nina'setben fino' Engles. Sumaonao yu' gi ayu na prinotesta kontra siha ya put fin ma håtsa i minanda. Annai guaha un editot siudåt ni' hagan CNMI ya maskeseha nå'an åpaka' apeyidu-ña lao annok na guaha hagå-ña CHamoru ya ha dulalak yu' huyong ginen ufisinå-ña ya ha botleha yu' ni' sinangånña, "mumanengheng Sasalåguan yanggen u annok i fino' CHamoru gi i pappet di'årion PDN…" ya atan ha' på'go na guaha alos uttemo, humålom yu' håfa mohon?
En fin, ha guaife gotpe i titanos-hu ya hu habao i chansa maskeseha guaha presiu ni' debidi bai hu apåsi. Yanggen mångge' yu' debidi u saonao i pinilå'-ña gi fino' Engles ya ma sangåni yu' na para u annok i fino' Engles gi iyon-ñiha uepsait ya i fino' CHamoru gi i pappet di'åriu. Ti hu kuestiona este na opottunidåt ni' mandådakdak guihi na mumento ya ti malago' yu' na bai hu chånda.
Guaha ta'lo.
Imel Peter R. Onedera giya peteronedera@gmail.com
by Peter Onedera
Pacific Daily News
June 2, 2015
Annai ma empleha yu' para direktot prugråma gi i Kumision I Fino' CHamoru, hu pega na unu este na petsonåt milågru para guåhu. Gi tinituhon ayu na tiempo, hu eyak dinuebu i fino' CHamoru ni' hagas hu honño gi maloffan na såkkan siha. Ayu i hagas tiningo' siha ha na'baya' yu' gotpe ya måtto di ha na' apurao siñente-ku.
Sigun ginen i kumisina siha para ayu na ahensia, taiguihi as Doktora Bernadita Camacho-Dungca, si Rosa Salas Palomo, si Josefina Perez Barcinas, si Sister Bernadette Quintanilla, si Juanita Toves Peredo, si Bill Paulino, si Tan Ana Borja Garcia, si Frank San Nicolas yan i difunto as Doktot Jeff D. Tainatongo, ma baba nuebu na mundo para guåhu ya hu tutuhon kinahulo'-hu para bai hu gacha' nuebu na tiningo' siha put i lengguahi-hu.
Ma tåla' yu' ni' i hestorian i fino' CHamoru ya gi magåhet sentåya' tiningo'-hu put ayu ni' håfafa ha'. Ma sangåni yu' put i rilasion-ña yan otro lengguåhi siha gi i uriya ya pumoddong gi i familian Austronesian. Ti hu tungo' put utugrafiha ya hu espiha este na palåbra gi i deksenårion Webster's put para bai hu tungo' håfa kumeke'ilekña. Sumaonao ha' lokkue' i atfabeton CHamoru ya ha yåma atension-hu sa' put i ma fa'nåna'gue esta gi i sesteman eskuelan pupbleko.
Put mås, ayu gof takhilo' na hinekkå-ku na magåhet na lengguåhi i fino' CHamoru. Enfin eraki håfa hu hongge ni' kulan parehu yan noskuåntos taotao siha, ti påtte gi i fino' Españot i fino' CHamoru sa' put i finedda' palåbra siha ginen ayu na lengguåhi. Hu eyak nuebu na finiho', Chamorrocization ni' ineksplikåyi as difunto Doktot Donald Topping gi i tinige'-ña lepblo Spoken Chamorro.
Kumeke'ilekña este na i inadåpta yan inayao palåbra siha ginen otro na lengguåhi. Ma fa'nå'gue yu' na i manaotao tåno' manma fuetsa para u faneyak pumalu lengguåhi taiguihi i fino' CHapanes gi i tiempon gera, yan lokkue' enfin, kontodu fino' Españot ni' dinira kåsi nomås di tres siklo na tiempo.
Pues måtto i fino' Engles Amerikånu ya, lokkue', nuebu na areklo, na u ma chomma' i tinaotao na u famfino' CHamoru putmås espesiåt gi lugåt pupbleko yan eskuela siha. Ma månda este ni' i Estådos Militåt Navy, ya este na aksion inekstendi yan chumenglong dekådu na tiempo siha ya ha afekta lameggai na hinirasion CHamoru.
Ya estague' tumutuhon estao pineddong ni' mumåtka i tiempo. Na'triste lokkue', i ma chomma' uson lengguåhi ni' tumåddong gi kurason yan titanos Mañamoru, espesiåtmente, mañaina ni' ma siente na dañuyan fumino' CHamoru sa' ti u maolek mo'na hinanao-ñiha i famagu'on-ñiha. Måtto di ha sohyo' este na siñente gi sanhalom mañaina ya ha afekta hinirasion siha na famagu'on sa' siempre ti ma fakcha'i i guinifen Amerikånu para lina'la' ni' kabåles kollat åpaka' gi uriyan guma', minaolek lina'la', yan ginesa yan minalago' nuebu yan takhilo' na estao ni' chumilong siempre. Este lokkue' tumutuhon tumunok-ña i hinasso put minantienen lengguåhi.
Bula, kontåtki todu, na taotao Guåhan humokka este na hinasso ya ti åpmam na ha palala'i i mayuriha na familia este na siñente. Estague' tumutuhon i finakpo' asunto. På'go, na'dañu estao-ña i lengguahi-ta ni' nina'i ginen mismo as Yu'os ya gaige gi iya kadenan Mari'ånas gi, sigun ginen rekot siha, nomåsdi kuåtro mit na såkkan siha.
Bula malingu-ta put este. Yanggen hu atan tåtte i lina'lå'-hu ni' hu na'chetton siñenten minamåhlao put håyi yu' sa' put i eksperensiå-hu ni' ti maolek ya ha dirihi despues i aksion-hu siha, isao yu'. Ti hu tungo' lamaolek ya hu diseha na siña ha' mohon hu pañot ha' enlugåt di hu ketulaikan-maisa yu' put para bai hu maolek gi i lengguåhi ni' ti iyo-ku put fin. Mistet, hu fokos yu' kulan dipendiente yu' sigun put lina'lå'-hu na dinirecho.
Hu hasso na hu eyak i tiningo' manå'paka', put kuentos, na hu hongge este sigun ginen tinaitai-hu put sichu'asion Amerikånon Natibu osino Manmo'nan Tinaotao Estådos Unidos. Mumaolek yu' ya kulan prubecho-ku pues menos på'go i isao hu kåkatga. På'go sa' åmko' yu', hu dirihi yu' mo'na para i fino'-hu put rason na bai hu fangontrebuyi gi i inadahi-ña. Satisfecho yu' na hu giha i lina'lå'-hu gi este na direksion.
Hu chalåni todu gi i nina'siñå-hu. Hu li'e' inengkebukao sinhostisia gi i lengguahi-hu ya hu pañot lokkue' i insutto put i kinalamten inadahi-ña yan gine'te-ña piot ginen i mismo CHamoru siha. Hu sungon ma faisen-hu put håyi yu' noskuåntos biåhi piot yanggen sesso di ma sangåni' yu' na sentåya' CHamoru esta på'go na tiempo, fino' yan tinaotao parehu. Hu kåtga yan hu pañot i piniti-hu ginen pumalu siha, piot ginen kumetsiånte yan inetnon sibit gi iya Guåhan, ni' manma pega tapbleru gi i sagan humotnat ya ma månda na para fino' Engles ha' u ma na'setbe entre manemplehao.
Tinakka' dekådu siha para bai hu fångge' fino' CHamoru gi lucha gi iya PDN ya ha senhongang yu' si David Crisostomo annai ha fåna' yu' ya ha faisen yu' bai hu tutuhon. Ti siguru yu' kao ha tungo' si David, na iya PDN, gi tåtte na tiempo gi otro na påpblisha, sumaonao iya PDN mamega tapbleru lokkue' ya ha månda i nina'setben fino' Engles. Sumaonao yu' gi ayu na prinotesta kontra siha ya put fin ma håtsa i minanda. Annai guaha un editot siudåt ni' hagan CNMI ya maskeseha nå'an åpaka' apeyidu-ña lao annok na guaha hagå-ña CHamoru ya ha dulalak yu' huyong ginen ufisinå-ña ya ha botleha yu' ni' sinangånña, "mumanengheng Sasalåguan yanggen u annok i fino' CHamoru gi i pappet di'årion PDN…" ya atan ha' på'go na guaha alos uttemo, humålom yu' håfa mohon?
En fin, ha guaife gotpe i titanos-hu ya hu habao i chansa maskeseha guaha presiu ni' debidi bai hu apåsi. Yanggen mångge' yu' debidi u saonao i pinilå'-ña gi fino' Engles ya ma sangåni yu' na para u annok i fino' Engles gi iyon-ñiha uepsait ya i fino' CHamoru gi i pappet di'åriu. Ti hu kuestiona este na opottunidåt ni' mandådakdak guihi na mumento ya ti malago' yu' na bai hu chånda.
Guaha ta'lo.
Imel Peter R. Onedera giya peteronedera@gmail.com
Monday, February 20, 2012
Native American Languages On the Brink
Native American Languages Siletz Dee-Ni, Ashininaabemowin Facing 'Extinction'
By: Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior WriterPublished: 02/17/2012 06:56 PM EST on LiveScience
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Many of the world's minority languages, some spoken by only a handful of speakers, are on the brink of extinction, and community activists and scientists are teaming to try to keep them alive.
One example is the Native American language Siletz Dee-ni, which was once spoken widely by native people in Oregon, but which now may be spoken fluently by only one man: Alfred "Bud" Lane.
"We're a small tribe on the central Oregon coast," Lane said via telephone here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "Like most small groups of people, our pool of speakers has been reduced over a period of time, until the 1980s when very few speakers were left. Linguists labeled it 'moribund.'" [Q&A: Dead Languages Reveal a Lost World]
But Lane and his community decided to fight back.
Talking dictionaries
"Our people and council decided that was not going to happen," Lane said. "We devised a plan to go forward and begin teaching our dialect on the reservation."
Now schoolchildren in theSiletz Valley School learn Siletz Dee-ni two days a week. Lane said they're picking it up faster than he ever hoped.
Still, the coast isn't clear. Whether Siletz Dee-ni can become spoken well enough, and by a large enough group of people to continue being used in daily life remains to be seen.
"Language extinction is not an inevitability, although it is a very strong trend that is going on right now," said K. David Harrison, a linguist at Swarthmore College who worked with Lane to assemble an online talking dictionary of more than 14,000 words in the Siletz Dee-ni language.
The dictionary, sponsored by National Geographic's Enduring Voices project and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, is just one of many linguists are compiling to record the world's dwindling collection of endangered languages before it's too late.
What we stand to lose
As native peoples assimilate more and more into the dominant cultures around them, and as younger generations grow up speaking dominant languages like English in school and with their peers, fewer and fewer people are becoming fluent in native tongues. In the past, government repression of native languages and ethnic shame has also seriously hindered the survival of these languages, researchers on a panel here said.
But if the world loses these languages, it loses more than just another way of saying the same thing, experts argue.
There is a "vast knowledge base, knowledge of plants, animals, how to live sustainably, that is contained uniquely in those languages," Harrison said. "We are all enriched when small language communities choose to share their knowledge."
Studying the languages also teaches linguists new language patterns, and helps preserve other elements of native culture such as foods and traditions.
Teetering on the brink
But what does it take for a threatened language to stay alive?
Margaret Noori, a professor at the University of Michigan and a speaker of Ashininaabemowin, the native language of the Ojibwe people indigenous to the Great Lakes area, not only speaks the native language, she also sings and writes poetry in Ashininaabemowin. [Recording: Ashininaabemowin Song]
"For it to be considered alive, we need to be creating in it," Noori told LiveScience. "Otherwise it's like studying Latin."
Noori teaches Ashininaabemowin language classes at the University of Michigan, and runs a website, www.ojibwe.net, to collect recordings of Ashininaabemowin speakers. She also harnesses social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to spread the word about the language.
Still, despite the hard efforts of many people, the continued survival of Ashininaabemowin is not assured.
"If I'm honest, statistically, I'd say it doesn't look very good," Noori said. She estimates there are fewer than 15,000 speakers of the language left, and possibly as few as 5,000. Eighty percent of Anishinaabemowin speakers are older than 65.
Despite the odds, though, she and other native language advocates don't plan to give up.
"We have a whole new generation of people coming up that sing our songs, learn our traditions," Lane said. "We were teetering on the brink, and I think we've finally turned the corner and reversed that now."
You can follow LiveScience senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. For more science news, follow LiveScience on twitter @livescience.
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