Thanks for joining us on 9 News Plus.
I'm Chris bianki.
November is Native American Heritage Month,
and we wanted to gain a better
understanding for Native American culture.
Specifically, we want to understand about
the important role that maintaining
Native American languages plays
in keeping tribal culture intact.
So we spoke with the Native American
language expert to find out how they
plan to revitalize dying Native
American languages and why doing so.
Is so important.
It is obviously new national
Native American Heritage Month
and I wanted to kind of chat more
in detail with you about that.
And more specifically,
what does national Native
American Heritage Month mean
to you specifically, Alex?
Well, for me personally,
I I celebrate my culture and
heritage throughout the year,
every day of my life.
So for me, it's more just a it's an
opportunity to kind of raise awareness and
educate the American public on some of the,
you know, the history, the issues,
the culture, the fact that we still exist.
I think is is one of the big things
that people seem to misunderstand
or be misinformed about.
We still exist that we're modern people,
we're a living culture.
We're still here.
And then also just the history you know,
native history throughout different regions.
So many people don't know even
what tribes land that they're on.
And so you know,
there's just so many areas of of
education that need to happen and and
this is just one month where we can
take kind of have some space to do that.
Of course there's always more that's needed
but grateful for this opportunity to.
To highlight our our people,
our culture,
our identities,
and to educate those who are willing
to listen and willing to learn.
What you said. You said something
really interesting to me there.
You said that there's a some of us
may not know necessarily what land
we're standing on or where we are.
Is there a good map or a good resource
for us to figure out exactly what land,
what tribes land, where we're,
where we're standing on?
I have seen maps, I can't think of the
publishers or where they be accessible,
but I've seen maps some of hung
up and on the walls in in certain
schools and certain libraries and
things and definitely like the fact
that I couldn't tell you where to
get those or where to access those.
That just that's one more example
of of more work that we need to do.
So that's, you know,
I'll try to do some research and
get back to you with a link.
Yeah, for sure. And don't worry
I was kind of asking something
popped up in my head as you were.
Tell me about that.
That's super interesting to me.
But more specifically,
I do want to ask you about the
fight to keep Native American
languages specifically alive.
I know that's something that
you specialize in, Alex.
Can you tell me about that challenge?
I know you, you're Lakota specifically,
but what about the challenge to
keep Native American languages
alive from a national,
from a broader perspective?
Yeah, certainly.
So many of the obstacles and the
factors that come into play into.
The decline of Lakota language being
spoken in our communities is actually
parallel to many of the experiences
in other indigenous communities,
not just in the US but also Canada,
also Mexico also, you know all the
way throughout South America and and
to you know worldwide indigenous
languages are are are at stake here.
And in fact I think it was I think
the UN declared the entire decade,
the decade of Indigenous languages
and so some of those.
Obstacles, you know,
are are a lack of representation in in media,
a lack of resources,
reading materials, a lack of TV shows.
You know, different just different
modern things that take up space in our,
in our daily lives are not in
the languages of our people.
And so,
you know you can just imagine the
English becomes the the standard right?
But also throughout history there's
been all sorts of other obstacles,
some more purposeful.
Than others.
So one one thing in common that we
have in the US amongst various tribes
as well as tribes in Canada is the
boarding schools and residential
schools and that was an entire school
system that removed native children
from their families beginning.
I think the first Indian boarding school
in the US was a was in Pennsylvania,
Carlisle,
Carlisle Indian School and this was in
the late 1800s and they would remove.
Children from their from their families,
from their homes, their communities.
And they would have them attend these
boarding schools where they would live there.
And they were kind of stripped
of their culture.
You know, their hair,
if they had long hair,
they would be cut,
their traditional dress would be removed
and they would be given uniforms
and they would be forced to speak English.
And many others have stories about the.
About not being allowed to speak
their languages at school.
And even if they had classmates
that spoke the same language,
they'd be discouraged or or even abused for
for speaking in front of their teachers.
And so they were taught English,
encouraged to speak English.
And so you can only imagine the effects
those had on on generations throughout
different various communities.
And so that happened to Lakota
communities as well as a lot of other
tribes throughout the US and Canada.
In addition to that,
you know,
there's been all kinds of other
divisive things that have divided our
people from being able to communicate,
whether it's reservations,
having borders because like I live
on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
You know, if you go north of here,
you could end up in Cheyenne River
or Standing Rock.
If you go E, you end up in Rosebud.
And those are other reservations and
they all speak the same language as us.
We're all Lakota.
Having those divisions instead
of having one big territory,
which according to the 1868 Treaty
was a big territory
where we would have our,
we would all be in within the same territory.
So just like little divisive things
like that kind of deteriorate the,
the language speaking community.
So all these things throughout
history and like I said,
you know in modern times especially
tough with media and these types
of things make it hard for
indigenous languages to kind
of thrive and survive within.
Present day Society,
American Society.
So. So what are you doing?
You know, you're part of the
Lakota language consortium.
Tell me about what you're doing
to try and keep them alive.
Yeah. So the nonprofit organization
Lakota Language Consortium and the deputy
director for we are constantly trying
to come up with more ways to to teach,
to create materials for language
teachers that are in schools,
to create materials for families that want
to revitalize the language or continue
speaking the language in their homes.
So some of the projects, one of the
biggest things I think is a dictionary.
And, and our dictionary is A
is a living document,
so we're always adding on to it.
You know, languages have to be alive,
you have to evolve in order to continue on.
And so we're about to publish
our third edition dictionary.
I'm working on a podcast visiting
with some of the elders that are
still around that speak our language
fluently so that their stories and we
can hear their language passed on.
We, we've done textbooks
for teachers and schools.
We've done, we dubbed the Lakota or we,
we dubbed the Berenstain
Bears in the Lakota language.
So that's what a cartoon series that
people can access on YouTube and you can
hear Lakota language spoken through that.
So these are just a few examples,
but there's a lot of work to be done.
But that's what we're
just trying to encourage.
People to to speak, to learn,
to teach and to continue with keeping
our language alive and you know kind
of kind of increasing the access to
the language because you know there's
only a few speakers in each community
and oftentimes they don't get together.
And of course you know we have the language
is supposed to bring us together, right.
We have to be together to use it.
If one person knows the language,
they have no one to talk to and that's not,
that's, that does no one any good.
So.
Just trying to bring people
together over the language
for sure. And what sort of interest are
you getting from some of the younger
generations to learn Lakota and other?
Native American languages.
Well, that's also another struggle.
You know, sometimes I've,
we've had young people,
I've had students say, how,
how is this going to help me
or why do I need to know this?
But you know, we we show them how
ways that it can be you know,
applied in the modern world.
How can we be Lakota and speak
Lakota in today's world in in 2022.
And you know, by showing them that
I think that that opens their eyes,
it awakens a sense of pride in them
as a Lakota and shows them, I think,
I think one of the biggest things
is to show that it's learnable,
that it is possible to learn the
language even if you didn't grow up
speaking it. And we have a number of.
Rather successful second language
learners who are Lakota, I I,
I am a I didn't grow up speaking
the language.
I grew up singing songs in the
language and knowing a lot of
vocabulary words here and there.
But I wasn't conversational at all.
And so I took that on as an adult.
And I try to encourage others too as well.
And I have a lot of mentors and a few,
a handful of mentors that did as well.
And some of them you would never
even tell you would think that they
they're you know. Completely fluent.
Sorry if this may be a bit
of an abstract question.
Are there is there an interest in
non Lakota and non-native Americans
to learn some of these languages?
Yeah, we've seen,
we've seen some non Lakota people,
non-native people take an interest
in learning the language and I,
you know I welcome it.
I think language is to be shared.
Language is to be,
is to bring people together,
to bridge, to bridge the gaps in
in cultural differences and to
encourage cultural diversity.
So I welcome it of course you know I,
I you know,
first and foremost want to see the
language thrive and be alive and well.
Within our communities.
But I think that you know,
we we need allies to help with that too.
We have and we have non Lakota
people that live in our communities
teaching our communities
that work here and you know,
we need them on board.
How a threat would the Lakota?
How how few speakers are there
in some of these communities?
I know you specifically know
about the Lakota community,
but if younger people or other
people don't learn these languages,
how close are you potentially to
losing some of these languages and
the culture that comes with it?
Well, there are there are some tribes,
especially on the East Coast,
that haven't had a that
they have no speakers left.
And so the term, the term that they
that they use for their the status
of their language is sleeping.
And so there is, there are people
that are working within those
tribes to bring back their language,
to revitalize their language
that that is currently sleeping.
And so that they're relying on
hopefully they have recordings
that's probably the most,
the most valuable resource
for them if they have those.
And then if not you know they
had they might have texts,
they might have documents,
old treaties, different things.
That they can use to kind of piece
back together and create a Dictionary
of some sort and kind of work to
try to bring that language back.
Another another thing is that we have
kind of like you know with other
any other languages throughout the
world there are language families.
So there are languages that
are kind of related.
There might be a similar similar
language or the same language
but different dialects or you
know different things like that.
So you know with with proper
linguistic training they can visit
with with neighboring tribes that
have a similar language and kind of.
You know,
put piece back the puzzle back together,
but that's a extremely unfortunate
reality that they're facing.
But you know,
they have the resiliency to continue
doing that work and more power to them.
And I kind of,
I get inspiration from them
because we still have,
you know, a handful of speakers
throughout Lakota communities.
And so,
you know,
I it kind of makes me no more
more and more grateful for them.
And so that's what part of the
reason why we're trying to pursue
a podcast project and trying to
preserve and document as much
language as we can from them
while they're still here.
For sure. Any final thoughts about
the battle or the fight to keep some
of these languages alive and how
it impacts the Lakota as well as
other Native American communities?
Well I said it in you know we we we
recently just had a Denver language
weekend down there and I was I I got
to visit with somebody from NBC there
and I told him that Lakota within
Lakota culture and I think this
probably applies to to other cultures
as well and the language provides
insight that provides that you know
it's the essence of the identity and
the worldview and so you know we
need to we need to ensure that that
continues on we've we've fought.
You know, erasure for for centuries
and we're still here, but we need to,
you know, do all we can to keep
our language alive,
to to keep that that essence
of the culture alive as well.
No doubt about that.
And Alex Fire Thunder,
deputy director of the
Lakota Language Consortium,
thank you so much for joining us
and lending us such valuable and
fascinating insight to this and
and we certainly wish you the best
of luck moving forward on this.
Thank you.
I'll say it in in Lakota war, Peela Chichilo.
We'll peel I chichila. Is that right?
Thank you. I I say thank you
to each and everyone of you.
Oh, that's fascinating. Well, that's
whoopie Ali chichilo. Is that right?
Gets to each and every one of you
would be popular at Chichi Apollo.
Walpola achchi, Apollo. A chichi Apollo.
Watch that. Perfect must. That
musta nailed it. Well, thank you.
I appreciate it. Thank you again, Alex,
and fascinating and appreciate a few
minutes of your time here. Thank you.