“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.”
- Rita Mae Brown

March 2019

We hope you enjoy this update from the NLCC Training and Technical Assistance Center. Please direct any questions or feedback to Cree Whelshula at cree@sisterskyinc.com.

Tidbits

“Traditional languages have vast vocabularies for naming species and describing their ecology which are little known to Western science. This is an endangered area of knowledge, and the loss of it would disadvantage all Australians. The same deep cultural knowledge that is contained in language has been essential for Indigenous Australians to demonstrate their connection to country when they are making Native Title claims.”

Resource cited:

Commonwealth Parliament, and Parliament House. House of Representatives Committees. Home – Parliament of Australia, CorporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; Address=Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600; Contact=+61 2 6277 7111, 2 Apr. 2014, www.aph.gov.au

What’s New?

Here at NLCC we are working hard to update our web portal with content-rich resources and information pertaining to Native Language revitalization efforts. Information includes language learning benefits, language acquisition, community engagement, programmatic support, and more. Continue to visit the site for updated resources and information.

https://ananlcc.org/resources

Upcoming Events

Indigenous Language Institute (ILI)

Topic: PRACTICING IMMERSION: HOW DO WE DO IT? WORKSHOP

When: March 18-20, 2019

Register

American Indian Language Development Institute

Topic: Language is Life Conference

When: April 12-13, 2019

Register

Language Hope

The Best Song Ever Heard

Contribution by Candace Branson, Project Manager, Sun̓aq Language Program

Cama’i! I am Candace Branson, an Alutiiq Language learner and teacher. I am the second of four children. My parents are Steve and Martha Branson. I am the first speaker of Alutiiq in our family since my great-grandmother. Fluent in her Alutiiq language, she was left at the Woody Island Orphanage around age five, where she was made to speak English and leave the language of her ancestors behind. One of the last times I saw her, I was in high school when I realized I wanted to learn Alutiiq. I asked her if she knew any, she said “Oh I used to, but I only remember the bad words now, and I can’t teach you those.”

I remember being in high school and hearing about a Master/Apprentice Program at the Alutiiq Museum, where master speakers were paired with learners, people who would one day become my colleagues, and some of my dearest friends. I got a lesson book from the museum and studied on my own before going away to college. When I came back from college in 2010, I was excited to return to the island and learn all I could about my ancestors’ culture.

I started working for the Kodiak Area Native Association, and was sent to the Dig Afognak Harvest Camp. The camp was a culturally immersive experience, where I got to participate in plant collecting with Gayla Pedersen, listen to stories from Elders, watch a young man skin a harbor seal on the beach, under the direction of his grandfather. The most memorable part for me though was sitting with Teri Schneider and Gayla, when they exchanged a few sentences in Alutiiq over lunch! I couldn’t believe my ears. “Where did you learn that?” I begged! They giggled at my desperate question and told me to go to Language Club! “It’s on Wednesdays at noon.”

When I got back to town that next week I went—the conference room had a handful of people, practicing the language, running lessons, and taking notes. There were Elders and learners, and they seemed happy to have a new face in the room. I went back consistently, as often as I could, on my lunch break from my first ever “real job.”

One day there were Elders in town from Akhiok who came to Language Club. They talked with such grace, sharing stories in the language. It was like the best song I had ever heard. The tune was familiar, it filled my heart. I understood nothing, but I adored every second of it.

After a while, Alisha Drabek invited me to study at her house. She had made some lessons and wanted to try them out on someone. Her invitation and mentorship was key for me. Working with her gave me another hour and a half of exposure and practice every week! She ran lessons with me, sometimes at the kitchen table where she explained how verb endings worked or when to use a certain postbase, and other times we sat on the living room floor and used her son’s toys to practice the language. When she started to teach the Kodiak High School class, I had another four hours a week of practice and instruction. I was learning so much!

At the same time, I still couldn’t put sentences together well, and I was TERRIFIED to speak in front of most learners and all Elders. “What if I made a mistake?” “What if I can never make that noise?”

I remember practicing Alutiiq sounds in my bed at night, trying to sound like April when I made that amazing “llr” sound. I knew the Elders had been working for a long time to bring the language back to life and I didn’t want to embarrass anyone. I am sure that most of those feelings come from not wanting to look or sound like an idiot to this group of amazing people. It soon became obvious that if I was going to keep learning, I would also have to start teaching, as crazy as that sounded, since I had only just started learning!

By 2012, I had been learning for two years and was still struggling to get very far with what I had learned. I couldn’t really talk about the things I wanted to talk about, tell stories, or even ask the right questions of an Elder on the phone to see if I could come visit them.

That spring, we had a trainer come to town; his name is Evan Gardner. He brought a method, called Where Are Your Keys? that catapulted my fluency. The idea is that you use tangible objects and realistic scenarios to get Elders to talk about the things you want to learn. Then you use a pattern of question and answer to tease out the specific form and function of the little piece of grammar extrapolated from the conversation. This process was and still is electrifying and fulfilling! The language I learned with this new method was sticking in my brain, and I could use it! Instead of studying, I had to practice it with another person! This meant that each new piece that I learned from an Elder or other learner, had to be practiced with other people. Lucky for me, there was a little bubble of learners who had sprung up in Kodiak. We started meeting in the evenings in the Native Village of Afognak library and we went to Elders’ houses. We played language games for fun, building a community of language nerds—people who LOVE puns and are willing to translate silly things.

The real trick to this new method was that I had to be willing to make mistakes and just say things that I thought might make sense. I started speaking, and some of what I said worked! Many of my sentences did not, but the learners and Elders were understanding and loved that I was making an effort. They often knew what I was searching to say because I had set up the scenario, and they could tell me the right way to say it without speaking English. When I got it, I would try to teach it to someone else.

In what felt like all of the sudden, I could talk about what I wanted to talk about, tell stories, and even ask the right questions to an Elder on the phone to see if I could come visit them. I finally moved from being a novice to an intermediate speaker. The fear, fear of failure, or what people would think of me if I messed it all up, had held me back from becoming a speaker. When I was able to let all of that go, my relationships with Elders and learners improved and I was able to practice without all the extra pressure.

I hope the next group of language learners fly through the novice phase. I hope they can let go of the pressure to perform perfectly, and just start practicing as much as possible. I keep in mind, the time my mentors and teachers put into developing my fluency, and know that I owe every hour to the fluency of the next cohort of speakers.

Reclaiming Indigenous Discipline

Contribution by Cree Whelshula, NLCC TTA Director

My grandparents all experienced abuse growing up in residential boarding schools in Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota. They were taken from their parents as early as the age of four. As native people, we know of their experience and trauma. We grieve for their childhood, and for those children who did not make it past childhood. We are also handed down those experiences through epigenetics and brain re-wiring.

Severe child neglect and/or abuse often result in what is called reactive attachment disorder (RAD). “When people experience traumatic events, the stress hormone cortisol gets released in the brain. This biochemical reaction to chronic and extreme stress changes the formation of the brain” (Noonan). So, what does this mean for the generations who follow the boarding schools generations: the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren?

Toxic stress in childhood from abandonment or chronic violence has pervasive effects on the capacity to pay attention, to learn, to see where other people are coming from, and it really creates havoc with the whole social environment. And it leads to criminality, and drug addiction, and chronic illness, and people going to prison, and repetition of the trauma on the next generation. (Noonan)

My grandparents grew up with that violence and neglect. This resulted in my parents never being told as children they were loved, their own emotional needs being neglected, physical punishment, and continuing the trauma onto the next generation. Thankfully, by the time I was born my family started to break the cycle. This is not just one family’s story. This is a narrative that exists across indigenous nations all across North America. The neglect and violence leads to symptoms and manifestations of RAD being normalized and, in some cases, interwoven into cultural beliefs and practice. The normalization of violence is reflected in sayings you might hear on the reservation such as, “Indian loving” which refers to domestic violence. As well as in adults joking, “you know you’re native if you know what these are…” and depicted below are images of household items that were used for physical punishment on children such as a belt, spoon, and/or willow stick.

What does RAD have to do with teaching indigenous languages? The urgency of needing our languages passed on often puts language teachers into the classroom with very little training in how to work with children. Native American adults have more than likely experienced neglect and abuse as children and never received therapy or interventions. Therefore, most Native American teachers need to be trained in child development, psychology, and classroom management, and also need support in working through their own traumas while learning how to work with children. Often times, the abuse and neglect is so ingrained within communities, that the teachers or teacher trainees are unaware that their experiences constitute abuse. This can be a scary situation in that teachers are at risk for inadvertently traumatizing another generation of indigenous children.

So how did our ancestors parent? There is no one answer for all tribes, but I can share what knowledge I have about my own. One is to instill a sense of pride in children. An Elder’s job within the community would be to encourage children by giving them excessive praise when doing the right thing or taking care of Elders. For example, if a child brought an Elder a cup of water, it was the Elder’s job to drink it and comment on how it was the sweetest and best cup of water they ever tasted. This would encourage the child to continue to be respectful and do things for others. A child was taught generosity by being shown. The Okanogan language does not have a word for please. Elders explain that please is a form of begging. When a child wants something adults usually make them say “please,” but in traditional ways we would give children what they needed or wanted (within reason) freely. The belief is, a child who experiences generosity will be generous. There are also legends with morals that demonstrate what is or is not a good person. Discipline was handled more as teaching children how to behave, instead of punishing them when they don’t. There was an understanding that children were special because they just came from the spirit world and were to be treated in high regard. There were also documents from early explorers noting that we did not hit our children, in which they also noted that as evidence towards our “incivility.”

How did I implement some of these practices into my class? First I changed my class into a child-initiated classroom. I had created learning centers for areas that I wanted them to learn and I also tried to incorporate as much of their interests as I could. As indigenous people we knew everyone was born with inclinations of skills, abilities, and interests. Elders and other adults from a young age would foster these interests. The learning centers almost eliminated classroom behavior as it empowered children to make decisions (within limits and structure). Some examples of the activities were having specimen sets in the science center with magnifying glass. They could explore moss, pinecones, feathers, etc. Animal matching game cards were also available and when they would play we would talk about life cycles, food chains, species, and categorize them by being four-legged, flight, underwater, etc. In the literacy center, I had printed several copies of the orthography in yellow ink and laminated them and placed them with dry erase markers. They could trace over the letters and erase it to use it multiple times. Another fascinating result of this is that even when children got complete freedom during “free time,” they continued to choose learning activities. I practiced specific positive praise. I gave children roles that would empower them to feel important and valued. The items I provided in this paragraph are only a few things I did to build a child-initiated classroom.

This information applies to adults as well as for children. I have witnessed shaming of adult learners for the way they pronounce things or how they talk. We must keep in mind that most important thing to remember is that language revitalization is a ceremony of healing. Our languages were taken from us in a very violent way, and our reclamation of that needs to be positive and healing. The first step is acknowledging the healing that needs to occur within ourselves as a result of colonization and boarding schools.

Resources Cited:

Noonan, Nichole. “Why Kids Don't ‘Outgrow’ Developmental Trauma Disorder (and What Happens When They Grow up without Help).” Institute for Attachment and Child Development, 8 Feb. 2017, www.instituteforattachment.org/why-kids-dont-outgrow-reactive-attachment-disorder-and-what-happens-when-they-grow-up-without-help

Language Acquisition

The Unconscious Nature of Language Acquisition

Contribution by Cree Whelshula, NLCC TTA Director

Language acquisition is how we all become speakers of our first language. It is an unconscious process that we do not notice. This process is so unconscious, you may not realize all you have learned until years later, if at all. Acquisition also occurs in a separate area of your brain than when we learn language through books and study.

At the age of 12-13, my mother brought me to the Colville Confederated Tribes Language Program. At the time, there was about four to five Fluent Elders who were employed part-time. By that time, I already had been learning the language in school and from my parents, who were second language learners/teachers. I was young and did not work there, so I was never forced to participate in any activities. I did participate, but sometimes I just observed if I didn’t feel comfortable with what they were doing (I was pretty shy). I didn’t realize at the time how lucky I was. The Elders there would speak to one another in the language, and would speak to us. I remember being asked to put something in the freezer and stumbling through what the Elder was asking me to do.

Much of what I consciously remember learning at the language program was vocabulary. Years later, I realized that I had picked up grammar unconsciously during my time at the CCT Language Program. There are certain syntax and grammatical components to the language that I felt were just kind of common sense. When students would start to ask me questions about these, I realized that they were actually not common at all. I had a student ask me where does “very” go in a sentence; as in “I am very hungry.” The answer is taʔlí kn ʔilxʷt, which literally means “very I am hungry.” I had never even thought about that before. I just used it and somehow used it in the correct place although it has a different syntax than English. Another indication that I realized my grasp on grammar happened as I was going through linguistic papers or classes that went over grammar. I remember thinking “Ooooh! That’s why that’s like that.” For example, I knew how to say things like lut aksc̓qʷaqʷ (don’t cry) and lut akstqam (don’t touch that). What I realized later, was that if it is a “don’t command” without an object, the form is lut aks-verb. If it is a “don’t command” with an object, the form is lut aks-verb-m. I had picked up, at the language program, to end the verb in m if there is an object in the sentence. It was fascinating to me that I was able to intuitively add the ‘m’ at the end of the verb without knowing the specific grammatical rule. That is how language acquisition works.

The point of this article is that even if you feel like you are not learning as much as you would like, you are probably picking up way more than you think; especially if you are around the language and hearing it spoken. Listening to audio of fluent Elders, even if you do not understand what they are saying, is a great tip to becoming a proficient speaker. Listening helps build your second language intuition as well as patterns in our languages. Later down the road, you can start to distinguish whether sentences sound right or not. Find opportunities to be around Fluent or Advanced Speakers of your language. If you are a Mentor, speak to your Apprentices even if they do not understand. You may not see the seedling yet, but you have planted the seed.

Evaluation Proclamations

Convening Surveys Results

Contribution by Maria Griffin, NLCC TTA Center Director

According to the surveys and from what I heard, the convening was a success! Thank you to everyone for participating whether it be in the planning process or attending the event, we want to acknowledge everyone’s efforts. We want to share items from the surveys that were collected. Consider this a demonstration of data sharing that you learned about at the convening.

Our evaluation team (Gary Bess Associates) developed the convening surveys, reviewed, and analyzed the results. The daily evaluation survey consisted of three statements and two open-ended questions. The final day survey added questions that pertained to the overall convening experience with three statements and four questions.

Overview

The daily surveys included three statements that the attendees were asked to rate on a 5-part scale ranging from Strongly Agree to Do Not Agree at All. The statements rated are as follows.

• The presentations/activities provided me with useful information.
• I learned something new from the presentations/activities.
• The presentations/activities have practical applications for our NLCC project.

The Table 1 Data Averages shows the average score for each day (first row), and the daily average for each question. As you can see the scores trend upward indicating improvement in participant satisfaction with the presentations and activities. The range was for a high score of 5 (Strongly Agree) to a low score of 1 (Do Not Agree at All).

In addition to the statement that are reported as averages, open-ended questions were included and the answers to the questions will be provided for each day that follows.

• Is there anything that you heard or learned today that you plan to implement into your NLCC project?
• Is there anything that you would like to add about the first/second/third day of the convening?

Each evening, the evaluation team analyzed the completed surveys and provided a report of the previous day’s comments. Using qualitative analysis (another demonstrated technique from the convening), the following themes were identified from the comments made by the recipients.

• Experiential activities were well-received
  • Qualitative exercise
  • Dice game (conjugation)
  • Color psychology
  • Digital storytelling
• Sharing of cultural activities from Yurok
  • Opening and closing songs
  • Traditional salmon dinner
  • Site visit and video
• Peer-to-Peer Sharing
  • Candace’s presentation
  • Partnership presentations
  • Teacher candidate presentation

The overall convening experience questions were given on Day 3. The questions asked and all of the comments received are provided.

• What did you like best about the convening?
  • Able to know that we all face obstacles as programs and that we can be successful.
  • Cree’s presentation on how many hours it takes to be at a certain level of language [proficiency].
  • Interaction with participants facing some of the same challenges and some of the same joys we do.
  • Cree was awesome!
  • Sharing.
• What did you like least about the convening?
  • Nothing. We built a great rapport.
• Do you have suggestions for future convenings?
  • More networking.
  • When we convene, I’d like to see more cultural [elements].
• Is there anything else you would like to add?
  • Great job!
  • I really enjoyed my time here. The Yurok people are a beautiful people and wonderful host.
  • Overall, I feel the convening was motivational and I learned a lot.
  • Safe travels!

Although I wasn’t there to experience the event, I did hear a lot of good things about your gathering. I’m happy to see that you enjoyed your time together and we look forward to planning the next gathering in the fall on Kodiak Island to visit the Sun’aq Tribe.

Newsletter Info:

NLCC newsletter is a collaborative effort among the NLCC TTA Center staff and subcontractors, the NLCC Cohort, and the ANA. For year 3 of the grant, the newsletter is distributed on the 1st Thursday of the Month. Prior to the distribution, we ask the recipieints to provide highlights and to share information regarding their programs as we continue the implementation of this communication and resource tool. To learn more about NLCC and the NLCC TTA Center go to our website: www.ananlcc.org.

If you have any resources, events, or highlights you would like to share, please submit your information to Cree Whelshula at cree@sisterskyinc.com.

Thank you for being part of this networking collaboration!

lemlmtš (Spokane Salish – Thank you)
Qe'ci'yew'yew' (Nimiipuu – Thank you)