Dear Ska,
Thanks for the message/reply. I do apologize if my question offended you. That was not my intent and I certainly did not mean to.
I was asking "how" because, as I said I do not have sound on my computer and was just wondering how you could tell. As to Blackfeet/Blackfoot I was following a former post. Being from the area and having worked in Browning, Babb, Star Village, East Glacier I do know the difference. I guess if I were to be more accurate I would say Pikuni as that is what it says in the tribal offices and is what Chairman Old Person said we should be using.
I also do not know what "traditional" means to anyone else, especially in this day and age. Other than it gives people in our meetings something to point fingers about. It seems to come up in every tribal meeting, usually in a way that is meant to put someone else down. I consider myself traditional in that I can still speak my first language, more or less, although I admit I am really losing a lot of it, and I still participate in ceremonies. Although these days it seems that most of them are held because of funerals. But tradition can get really complicated, or I suppose I should say for me it gets complicated. I don’t want to put my experience or words into anyone else’s experience. When I went to school you were not allowed to speak anything but English, ever! When my kids went to school they weren’t either and were laughed at for "talking funny" and so refused to speak anything but English and although I am very sorry now, I didn't try to push them into it. So I am one of those very, very guilty people that put another nail in my language's coffin. My kids may understand a little bit, but do not (won’t) speak it and that is my fault. I admit it. That is also why I do volunteer work in the language program when I am home, unfortunately, when I am home it is usually in the summer, so other than the culture camp there isn't much opportunity, and like I said, I find that I can not remember many, many terms and often find my self translating from English. So I absolutely can not point at others that do not speak their language. As my auntie is fond of pointing out, “When you start pointing at someone else you had better remember that three of your fingers are pointing back at you.” And she also says that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
I also know that it is one thing for me to talk about tradition and how I feel that a person can not be really traditional without the language. But that is easy for me to say, I know my language and I am not a kid today, facing what kids today face. In most ways their lives are much more difficult than mine was at their ages. Saying that they must be fluent to be considered traditional or to participate in some ceremonies leaves them in a very difficult position. I hope that things are not as bad where you are, I would like to think that some body has it all figured out, but around here it is a big problem. I have worked for over 25 years in various Indian Education programs, both on and off reservation, primary level through university level, and from my work I have found that very few young people here speak their traditional languages fluently any more. (I personally don’t consider being able to count to ten and know your colors as speaking a language.) According to a study I just read last week that was funded by the Oklahoma American Indian languages revitalization project, in 1900 there were 47 different American Indian languages (more if you count dialects) spoken in Oklahoma. Fourteen of those have gone extinct in just the past twenty five years. As of 2006 10 of the remaining had less than 10 speakers, (8 had less than 5) and all of those speaker were very elderly. Of the 252,000 American Indian people who lived in Oklahoma according to the 2006 census, 21,238 people said they spoke their traditional languages. Of these 19,000 were either Cherokee, Choctaw or Creek. (The Cherokee have an absolutely fantastic program and that is at part of the reason they list over 9,000 speakers - so I guess they should be my role model, but they also have the money to spend to do it up right) The other 20 tribes make up the other 2,235 speakers. the problem here is that the vast majority of these were also over 55 years old.. According to various language studies these numbers are not at all unusual. Darrell Kipp (Director of the Pikuni Institute) told us a few years ago at a meeting at the Nizipuhwahsin Pikuni emersion School, that language specialists say that by 2005 there will only be 12 American Indian languages spoken in the entire United States. I think Canada is doing better, but I am not sure.
Don't get me wrong, I do think there is a chance to turn this around. But it is not easy and many, many parents just don't have the energy or something to pursue it. Often they are too busy just trying to survive. In 2001 there was a wonderful language program at the Loneman School taught by Leonard Little Finger, but it closed after 3 years due to lack of enrolment. It was just too hard for parents to get their kids there before school and home after if they stayed for extra curricular programs. He is trying very hard to start a new emersion school, but funds are so limited, it is not easy for him. Last summer I was asked to assist at a culture camp at Rocky Boys for 50 kids between the ages of 9 and 14. Not only were all their expenses paid, but there were going to be elders present every day, there were daily language classes planned, traditional games, crafts and skills,etc. and the kids would get a per dium and school credits for attending. The camp ended up being cancelled as there was only one child who signed up and she was the daughter of one of the camp counsellors. So like I said, it is not easy and I do not know what struggles they are facing at home so I can't judge.
The question of making CDs of ceremonial songs is another problem that is difficult to resolve. I know one of the principals I worked with said that they had used tapes and CDs made by various singers in the classes so that the kids can at least hear traditional songs. For many it was the only time they heard them. At home they listened to MTV or rap CDS. Due to distances and funding it is often impossible for singers to travel the to schools to sing and many of the kids are being raised by grandparents who can’t take the kids elsewhere to participate.
These questions of what to do are debated everyday in the schools where I have worked. At the 2007 National Indian Education conference these difficult questions were brought up time and time again, with teachers saying that they felt that there were damned if they try to do anything “cultural” and damned if they don’t, and in the end the kids are the ones who lose. So to end this long ramble. I certainly don’t have an answer I just know how hard most of the people I know or work with are trying and how complicated these issues are. I guess what we need is what the Pikuni call áisokináá (a healing).
