Language First: The Importance of Language

By: Cohen W Baca

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.

In the article. “Sharing One Skin,” by Jeanette Armstrong talks about her tribe and the different selves there are in the Okanagan tribe. He also talks about how the Okanagan language is important to the people.

I connect to the article because we both know that our language is important to our tribes. And that we are both natives and that we think tradition is important to all of us. My whole family taught me the Towa language because they knew how important the language was to my pueblo.

Suina, Joseph “And I went to school” memories of a pueblo childhood,”. New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter 1985, Vol. V, No.2.

This article was about a kid who was from Cochiti and lived with his grandmother. They both lived in a one-room house and they had a bed made of sheep wool and a blanket, and it would turn into a couch.

My connection with his story is when my great-grandma used to tell me stories of when she was a little girl. She would tell me about how life was when she was small, and her school life. She told me she went to school when nuns were still teachers at the lime. But she only went to school till she was in 6th grade because she had to take care of her mother who got sick and had to take care of her. She said that it was a horrible experience because she would get hit by the nuns for speaking her language.

Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News: Know the West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact- the-way-we-see-landscape.

Memories and stories are connected to our land as described by, B. Toastie in the article, “How place names impact the way we see landscape,”. This story talks about the names and places of the landscape. And the effects and the psychological. And the connection It has in the landscapes.

My connection to the article is that the landscapes are like the ones in Jemez. And the different stories it tells us and what happened a long time ago. It also reminds me of the stories my grandpa told me when I was small.

History

The Article Indians of North American Conflict and Survival by Fank Porter the Third talks about the interaction between the Anglos and the natives. There were myths about where Indians came from, and many thought they were in the Lost Tribe of Israel. Europeans made contact with Indians and began the conflict that has lasted till today. An example of discomfort and survival is the Trail of Tears.

This article was about native languages and how there used to be more languages. But now there are fewer languages due to European contact. Tribes are trying to revive their languages, so they won't be lost and forgotten. In the 19th century, people started recording native languages to try to save them. Now tribes are working to make sure their children speak the language.

Current State of the Issue

The article “We Don't Want to Lose the Language” was about how Jemez partnered with the New Mexicos government and built a new early childhood program to converter the new Walatowa head start to full-on language immersion.

The video “ Language Revelation Efforts” discusses the Indigenous Languages Institute and how they're trying to revitalize languages around the United States. They use different ways to help languages not to get endangered like calendar making and short book making in their languages.

Global Connections

The article “ More than Words” was about the different effects they have when the white people took over the land. And how they were beaten and abused for speaking their mother tongue. But after all that, they talked about how they kept their language alive after it was near extinction. And the mande a school for there toddler, teens, and adults.

The law to preserve Cherokee Renewed I an Atical I research was about how the Cherokee Nation from Oklahoma and North Carolina are building up the language immersion programs. Bill was signed by chair Hoskin for the ACT protecting indigenous language, which was passed in 2019. In Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation renewed a law for preserving the Cherokee language.

Article learning ojibu language - there's an app for that was about the different dialects of Jubilee has but it only talks about one. which was milli Lucas dialect and how close it was to losing the language. Because there are currently 2000 speakers in Ojibwe immunity. The day uses the Rosetta Stone system to save the language with voice recorders from elders, videos, and pictures.

Action Plan #1

Action Plan #2

Page updated

Report abuse