Hello earthw7 and everyone else who is concerned,
my name is Martin Krueger. I am the person you dedicated a place in this forum. A good friend of mine told me about this thread and that I am expected to respond.
First of all I have to say that I don’t like internet forums at all. I hate them because MOST of these forums are places where people get hurt or lose their reputation just because they do not agree with other people. Also they are places of trouble and fighting. I have been hurt in those forums many times and I hurt other people trying to defend myself.
Therefore I like to tell it right in advance that I will only write to this forum once and I will try to be as polite as possible not to hurt anybody’s feelings. In the same way I hope that any response to my posting will be written with the same kind of respect.
You are right when you criticize the quote from Lakota-musician Richard Iyotte which I put on the first page of my website, sort of out of context, this way it might encourage wannabes and eso-freaks to go on with their wrong-doings. I already thought about removing it from the website and your comment which I can understand from your position encouraged me to actually do it.
So much on your comment about that quote; now some answers to your questions concerning my work as a teacher of the Lakota language, which you refer to as YOUR language.
Well, you are the first Lakota person I’ve met who referred to the Lakota language as “MY language??? all the other people I heard talking about the language preferred the term “OUR language???. Forgive me, but isn’t the phrase “my language??? a concept taken from the “white man’s world??? that implies we OWN everything? The question is, can a language, being an instrument of communication between people really be owned by an individual or even a group of people?
Can a man possess the earth or the sky? So how can we possess a language? I don’t consider German as MY language even if I grew up with it. It is just a means of communication with my fellow German people and I really do not have any problems with Non-Germans teaching German.
Just check the student catalogs of many universities in the US where Non - Germans teach German to American people.
In Germany the children are taught English, French, Spanish and Russian, mostly by Non-native speakers and no one has any objections.
And how many American professors teach other foreign languages and nobody cares. Just SOME Lakota people not ALL have problems when NON-Lakota people teach their language. Why is this? Are Lakota-people something special?
I do not want to argue on this subject, but could you give me a good reason why I shouldn’t teach very basic Lakota to people who want to visit the reservations?
Let me tell you a little about my motivation and the work I am doing here in Germany, so you might get a little idea who “this German guy??? Martin Krueger really is.
I have always been interested in the way how people communicate and studying languages is one of my major interests since early childhood. Besides English, Spanish, Russian and Romanian I also studied the Lakota language (which I still do). I am far from being an expert and I always mention it in my classes as well as in my publications. I am offering classes for beginners. Let me say, I am teaching “Tourist Lakota???. I teach people how to say “Hello???, “How are you?
“My name is this or that???, “What’s your name???, to make it short: the basics and not more.
And most important, based on my personal experiences I teach people how to behave appropriately when they get to the reservations. I tell them about Lakota etiquette, for example not to take pictures of or during ceremonies, not to touch any sacred items and MOST OF ALL, NEVER NEVER NEVER to correct Lakota when they talk about their own culture, even if they (my students) are fairly sure to have accurate knowledge. I am sorry to hear that some of my students or people who used my Lakota Tourist Guide still are misbehaving on the rez. I always tell people about the different dialects, (Dakota, Lakota and Nakota) I tell them about regional dialects that people from Pine Ridge may speak different from people from Rosebud or CRST. I ALWAYS tell them that there is not ONE Lakota language but many different dialects and slang. Nevertheless, there are always people who won’t listen, who do not pay much attention in class or just want to hear what they want to hear.
I had students in my class, disrespecting me, by telling me I was teaching wrong Lakota because some guy from Pine Ridge told them another word for “policeman??? or “the month of April???.
You as a Lakota will certainly agree with me, that there are several words for policeman and April depending on the region you live in. And there are many varieties between the different reservations. We also do have many different dialects in Germany, but some hundred years ago the German authorities decided that there will be only ONE German language “the Hochdeutsch??? what they will use as an official language. This language is taught in school and actually German people grow up with two languages, the “Hochdeutsch??? and their regional dialect. This makes them able to communicate with other Germans speaking a different dialect. I have, for example, a hard time to understand a person from Bavaria when he/she speaks his/her dialect. Sometimes I don’t understand this person at all. Anyway, we can switch to the Hochdeutsch and are able to communicate without problems.
As far as I know the Lakota people never created such an artificial language as the Hochdeutsch. They still use their different dialects taught by their grandfathers many years ago. Some Germans who come to your reservations with my book may not recognize the fact that Lakota people are individuals and that they don’t need to create such a language as the “Hochdeutsch???. The common language to all Native Americans is English nowadays.
It makes me feel sad to learn that people are misunderstanding the message of my books and my classes. This is not what I intended. My original intention was to encourage Lakota people to use their own language instead of English when dealing with foreigners.
I am familiar with Lakota history especially with what happened to your people in the boarding schools. When I visited the US and found out that the young Lakota children and teenagers spoke less Lakota than I did, I wanted to something about the language loss. I am aware about the problems of language loss and I have experienced how other countries dealt with that problem. History has shown that many languages with a small amount of speakers already disappeared from the linguistic pool of the world. Others, including the Lakota language are endangered. Studying the history of languages I realized that all languages which were just spoken in their immediate area were sooner or later undergoing the process of distinction. The boarding schools were a major but not the only reason for the fatal loss of indigenous languages. Another reason is definitely that many Native people do not want to share their language with non-native people. But, a language which does not become INTERNATIONAL, which is only spoken in remote areas of the world, is going to die. Scientist estimate that only a few number of the world’s languages will survive the next 20 years. English became an international language which is spoken by millions and millions of people. Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, German and a few other world languages are going to survive the language loss. What about Native American languages? There are supposed to have been more than 600 languages on the US territory when Columbus arrived in America. Less than 150 of these languages are still spoken. The languages with a high amount of speakers are Navaho, Ojibwa, and Cree. Others like Pawnee, Mandan, Hidatsa are already dead or only have less than 5 fluent speakers. The amount of fluent Lakota speakers is estimated somewhere between 3000 – 8000 speakers. Therefore it is categorized as an endangered language. When I talked to Lakota kids on the rez about the problems of language loss they didn’t really care. Our culture is going to die anyway, so why should I learn my language. It’s dead; we gotta live in this white man’s world, is what many of them said. The only words and phrases which seemed to have survived were “winkte??? meant as an insult or a joke towards each other and “hau kola??? or “pilamaya???.
The idea instructing Lakota children already crossed my mind but you know the Lakota way of approach. “Don’t go there unless you are invited???. Nobody seriously invited me to teach Lakota children. Some people mentioned that idea to me (including you) but there was no serious talk about that subject.
Besides, as a German I would feel kind of funny to teach Lakota children THEIR own language; and what about the children? Will they accept a white person from overseas as a teacher of their own culture? What about jealousy and mobbing? You know that Non-Natives have a hard time on the rez when they live there permanently.
Excuse me, but I am kind of too sensitive to deal with that jealousy. Also I am a handicapped person who is not able to travel long distances anymore.
Yes, I am teaching basic Lakota here in Germany, but nobody needs to worry about it. I don’t get rich giving my classes. In fact, sometimes I am living on welfare because my income is far below average. I know what it means when you cannot pay your phone or electricity bill and when you have to eat junk food because there is no money for fresh vegetables and fruits. I also suffer from diabetes; can hardly move without a cane and already got problems with my hearing and memory.
I don’t want to complain about my situation since it’s partly my fault as I am overweight. I do not want any compassion. I just want to let you know that I am not a threat to you or your people. I am not a self-proclaimed Shaman, and I do not conduct any ceremonies for money. All I do is teaching Germans how to order a Coke or ask for directions when they come to Lakota country. And I really do not have many students. So please, don’t pick on me and don’t compare me with those who do harm to your people by giving themselves Indian names and calling themselves medicine people.
My name is Martin Krueger and this name sounds more than German, ennit?
I’d like to add that this will be the first and the last message on this forum as I am not an exhibitionist. I feel kind of embarrassed to expose myself or my feelings in front of thousands of other people, I don’t even know. This is the reason I don’t like internet forums at all. Sorry, but I don’t see much difference between a discussion in such a forum and running naked through the Broadway in New York.
If someone feels a need for follow up questions I would appreciate if you sent me a PM.
Respectfully
Martin Krueger
