Wá:šiw ʔÍtlu: Native Youth Narratives on Heritage Language Revitalization
Caitlin "Katie" Keliia (Yerington Paiute, Washoe and Native Hawaiian)
UC Berkeley
In 1997, in a small tribal building, a group of Washoe elders and language activists opened the doors of the Washiw Wagayay Maŋal meaning, “The house where Washoe is spoken.” For six years, the program ran as an immersion school serving kindergarten through eighth grade children. After a brief hiatus the redesigned program expanded into Washoe's five distinct communities hosting weekly, all-age language classes from Woodfords, CA to Carson City, NV.
In the mid-nineties, it was conservatively estimated that Washoe had only twenty-five fluent speakers. Today, elder and native speaker Steven James estimates only six. In language revitalization efforts, time is of the essence. Linguist Marianne Mithun calls this the “significance of the moment.” In this moment, the Washoe have made a choice—they have decided to proactively preserve and rejuvenate their language. Today, Washoe community members, including former immersion school students are working to redefine the methods of the WWM. In the last year language activists have attended conferences on indigenous language immersion practices and recently the community was awarded a prestigious ANA grant. The grant has funded the Pat'alŋi Mek'I Washoe language immersion nest for Head Start aged Washoe youth—the first youth immersion effort in nearly a decade. It is an exciting time for the for the Washoe language. My paper investigates the Washiw Wagayay Maŋal language program; it’s recent re-integration of immersion practices and the effort of former immersion students. I examine language ideologies among Washoe youth and how they are influenced.
In the mid-nineties, it was conservatively estimated that Washoe had only twenty-five fluent speakers. Today, elder and native speaker Steven James estimates only six. In language revitalization efforts, time is of the essence. Linguist Marianne Mithun calls this the “significance of the moment.” In this moment, the Washoe have made a choice—they have decided to proactively preserve and rejuvenate their language. Today, Washoe community members, including former immersion school students are working to redefine the methods of the WWM. In the last year language activists have attended conferences on indigenous language immersion practices and recently the community was awarded a prestigious ANA grant. The grant has funded the Pat'alŋi Mek'I Washoe language immersion nest for Head Start aged Washoe youth—the first youth immersion effort in nearly a decade. It is an exciting time for the for the Washoe language. My paper investigates the Washiw Wagayay Maŋal language program; it’s recent re-integration of immersion practices and the effort of former immersion students. I examine language ideologies among Washoe youth and how they are influenced.
Visual Continuance, Resistance and Presence through Assimilation: Visual Sovereignty and the Native American Boarding School Experience from Ft. Marion to the Indian New Deal
Douglas Worley (Navajo)
UC Davis
“Visual Continuance, Resistance and Presence through Assimilation: Visual Sovereignty and the Native American Boarding School Experience, from Ft. Marion to the Indian New Deal,” applies visual sovereignty to the visual narratives, and the process and spaces employed in creating such narratives, produced by students within Native American boarding schools. Commencing with Ft. Marion ledger art; continuing through Native Industries Curriculum, introduced by Estelle Reel; engaging with the pedagogical practices of Winnebago, artist and teacher, Angel De Cora at Carlisle Indian School; and concluding with the Native Art Pedagogy of Dorthy Dunn at Sante Fe Indian School, visual sovereignty reveals continuance, resistance and presence of Native ways through Native produced artistic visual narratives and developing Native art pedagogies, during the assimilationist “curriculum of civilization.”
Re-Thinking Interculturalidad in the Mexican State: Intercultural Education and the P’urhépecha People
Maria G. Gutierrez
UC Davis
When discussing education programs that Mexico’s Secretary of Education has carried out in regards to the Indigenous populations, some points of inquiry require us to think and assess critically the role of education aimed at Indigenous communities. This paper takes a regional approach and examines the educational policies in the state of Michoacán and among P’urhépecha communities starting with the creation of the General Directorate of Indigenous Education in 1978 and subsequent state policies revolving around bicultural and intercultural education. The P’urhépecha region in the western state of Michoacán has historically been a target for the implementation of such reforms. In this paper, I will also take a critical look at the current application of the intercultural paradigm and will highlight the major failures as well as the positive impacts of this model. Thus, this analysis will contribute to the emergent debate about intercultural education in this region, an area that contrary to other regions of the country such as the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, tends to be underexplored. Drawing on the discussion of autonomy and self-determination, this paper urges for the need of a holistic, community-based, and intercultural approach to education coming from the grassroots, or from the epistemic thinking of the P’urhépecha people.