- [Aiyanna] I love Yoncalla because it feels like home.
I feel a connection here
with my childhood
and with my family
and with my people, for sure.
I feel like that's a big part of my identity
is my Native culture.
So it's really important to me
to have that in my life
and to be able to fall back on that
in my daily life and to have that as a part of me.
My name is Aiyanna Brown, and this is my dog, Rosie.
(soft acoustic music)
I am Hanis Coos and Komemma Kalapuya.
The Coos side is from Coos Bay, Oregon
and Kalapuya is from right here
in the Willamette valley and Yoncalla.
We are Komemma Kalapuya,
which is the southern-most Yoncalla tribe.
So this is the homeland of our people.
We are reviving the Kalapuya language,
which was thought to be
a dead Native language in Oregon.
Me and my family are the only speakers in the entire world.
And we are basically studying our hearts out
to try to bring back our language,
which is a vital part of our culture.
I think a lot of people think nowadays
that Native people either aren't around anymore
or people think of the stereotypical Native
with long black hair living in a tipi.
I would just want the world to know
that Native people are still here.
We're probably not what you see on TV.
And our culture is something that is beautiful and sacred.
So I definitely think that sharing our culture
with the community
is definitely a big part in keeping our culture alive.
- There are very few storytellers anymore.
It's kind of almost a lost art.
One of my jobs, my duty,
is to pass along what I know to the younger generation,
just as my grandmas, my elders, my aunties did with me
to pass that along and trust me with it.
And over the past few years,
that's what I've been trying to do with the grandchildren.
So it's important that the next generation
learned just as I learned.
History is important so that you know
who you are and where you came from.
And that's why the storytelling is important
because the stories bring that history to the present.
And we still live that history
and firmly believe in the old beliefs
and even practice some of the ceremonies
that were important to us.
(drumming and singing)
- When we drum, it's a feel-good thing for us.
It's the time for us to get together
and have some really deep thoughts and feelings.
And it's a safe place to do that.
(drumming and singing)
- I had long ago, almost given up hope
of ever hearing the Kalapuya language spoken.
One of the things
that I really grew to want really bad
was to learn the language.
The language of my mother's people.
And I was almost hopeless for a while.
- So my grandmother met Paul,
who was a linguist locally here in Oregon
through mutual friends.
And he had been collecting the Kalapuya language
for a while now.
- When he first encountered the Kalapuya words,
he said it was the most beautiful language you'd ever heard.
- Basically he came to our family
and just asked us if we wanted our language back
and of course we said yes,
because we didn't really think that was possible.
We had been told it was a dead language.
- It's been an unbelievable journey.
Starting from just a few scattered words
that I knew within my family
to actually being able to look at a sentence,
or at a bunch of words in a book,
and know what those words mean.
That has been just incredible for me.
- So if I were to say, "(Kalapuya words)"
you would say?
- (Kalapuya words)
(Aiyanna agreeing)
- It's going to cost a little bit
to get these dictionaries printed.
So we started the fundraising process
and we're hoping that through this fundraising,
we can get the first copies of the dictionary printed.
We're hoping to give these copies out to universities
who study languages,
family members of the tribe.
Though, with all the fundraising we're doing,
we're trying to print more copies,
get more resources,
and get the books spread out
and to as many people as we can.
- [Nana] I'm very proud of Aiyanna
because she is taking responsibility
for being a carrier of culture.
- [Aiyanna] It's kind of sad,
but seeing my grandparents get older,
it's definitely awakened me
to realize this is really important,
and this is something that I want to cherish.
And I need to cherish,
so that eventually one day I can show my kids
and pass on all of these traditions.
(video call chimes)
- Hi, my love.
My name is Curly.
I am a video content producer over at BuzzFeed.
We wanted to bring you here today
to bring you a little surprise for all that you're doing.
So Zelle is sending you $3,000
to help you on your journey
and to help you reach your goals.
And thanks to Zelle,
the money will be in your bank account in minutes.
- Oh, thank you so much.
And I mean, thank you and BuzzFeed
and everyone here for coming out
and helping us share our story
and share our word.
It's definitely going to be an amazing thing
for us in our family and our culture,
to be able to spread our word like this.
- Of course.
Bye!
- Bye-bye. Thank you!
- Bye, my love.
(video call ends)
- [Aiyanna] So, I just found out
that Zelle is sending us $3,000
to help with our project.
- Wow.
- It's pretty cool.
- It's so great that people
are getting behind this project.
Good job, girlie.
- Thank you!
- Excellent.
- Love you. - Love you!
So you're now officially in charge.
Now the question though,
- Yeah?
- What is Zelle?
- See? I told you.
I told you she was going to ask.
With Zelle, it goes into my bank account within minutes.
(family laughing)