Page 1 Summer Instute 2012 The 15th Annual NILI Summer Instute will be held Monday, July 9, 2012 to Friday, July 20, 2012 at the University of Oregon campus. This year we are offering a third week for people who wish to have a more “hands-on” experience with materials and curriculum making. The third week will begin July 23, 2012 and end July 27, 2012. “Reclaiming Daily Conversaons” is the theme for the 2012 Summer Instute. Our thought behind this theme is to teach parcipants strategies on how to reclaim daily conversaons from English. For example, instead of greeng someone in English with “Hi,” one could say, “He’ba’lo’,” which is a Wiyot greeng. You could then ask aſter a person’s family by saying “ʔəsx̌id (ə) adsyayayəʔ” in Lushootseed or tell someone that it’s cold, “dret khul alta” in Chinuk Wawa. This may seem a small thing, but when we begin to use our ancestral languages in daily life, it becomes easier to make room in other areas of our lives for our languages. Other NILI courses will cover a range of topics including: Northwest Nave languages, linguiscs, teaching materials and technology development, and teaching methods. this issue Summer Instute 2012 P.1 Reclaiming Lushootseed Domains P.2 Language in the Home: Card Games P.2 Summer Instute 2011 Recap P.4 Hawaiian Language Revitalizaon Model P.5 NILI Collaborates with Tribes P.6 Thank you, NILI Donors! P.10 Upcoming Events P. 11 Stay in Touch There are lots of ways to stay in touch with NILI and the things we are doing. Check out our News page and “like” us on Facebook. NILI News Feed NILI Facebook Page Support NILI There are lots of way you can sup- port NILI. You can donate to our fund, host a training, donate items to be used for materials or curricu- lum, or write to the University of Oregon to let them know how NILI supports your community. Northwest Indian Language Instute Bi-Annual Newsleer Fall/Winter 2011 “Reclaiming Daily Conversaons”
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Page 1
Summer Institute 2012
The 15th Annual NILI Summer Institute will be held Monday, July 9, 2012 to
Friday, July 20, 2012 at the University of Oregon campus. This year we are
offering a third week for people who wish to have a more “hands-on” experience with materials and
curriculum making. The third week will begin July 23, 2012 and end July 27, 2012.
“Reclaiming Daily Conversations” is the theme for the 2012 Summer Institute. Our thought behind this theme
is to teach participants strategies on how to reclaim daily conversations from English. For example, instead of
greeting someone in English with “Hi,” one could say, “He’ba’lo’,” which is a Wiyot greeting. You could then
ask after a person’s family by saying “ʔəsxid s(ə) adsyayayəʔ” in Lushootseed or tell someone that it’s cold,
“dret khul alta” in Chinuk Wawa. This may seem a small thing, but when we begin to use our ancestral
languages in daily life, it becomes easier to make room in other areas of our lives for our languages.
Other NILI courses will cover a range of topics including: Northwest Native languages, linguistics, teaching
materials and technology development, and teaching methods.
this issue
Summer Institute 2012 P.1 Reclaiming Lushootseed Domains P.2
Language in the Home: Card Games P.2 Summer Institute 2011 Recap P.4
Hawaiian Language Revitalization Model P.5 NILI Collaborates with Tribes P.6
Thank you, NILI Donors! P.10 Upcoming Events P. 11
Stay in Touch There are lots of ways to stay in
touch with NILI and the things we
are doing. Check out our News
page and “like” us on Facebook.
NILI News Feed
NILI Facebook Page
Support NILI
There are lots of way you can sup-
port NILI. You can donate to our
fund, host a training, donate items
to be used for materials or curricu-
lum, or write to the University of
Oregon to let them know how NILI
supports your community.
Northwest Indian Language Institute Bi-Annual Newsletter
Reclaiming Lushootseed Domains By Zalmai ʔəswəli Zahir
Start playing card games in
your language! If you trans-
late a few basic phrases and
practice them each time you
play, the whole game can be
immersed in your language.
Here are some good starting
phrases to begin playing:
It’s my turn.
It’s his turn.
It’s her turn.
Whose turn is it?
Who starts?
I start.
He starts.
You start.
She starts.
Are you finished?
I’m finished.
He’s finished.
She’s finished.
I first heard the concept of reclaiming
language domains from Lindsay Marean
while attending the 2008 Northwest Indian
Language Institute (NILI) at the University of
Oregon. Marean was teaching a course in
teaching methods. Although I and other
language teachers have taught our students
to try to begin using language learned in the
classroom in everyday life, Marean was the
first to put it in terms of ‘reclaiming
domains back into the language’. Learning
language is not the only element in
language revival. We must also speak it. In
other words, if we are serious about
reviving endangered languages, then it’s
important we begin using the language in
everyday life.
Let’s breakdown the concept of language
domain. As I think about it, it seems a
language domain can be many things. Here
are some examples:
1. A domain can be a topic, such as a
greeting. I could decide to only say ʔəsxid
cəxʷ for how are you when greeting people.
If I commit to using this phrase every time,
then I’ve reclaimed this one greeting FOR
Lushootseed.
2. A domain can be a location. It can be my
kitchen, my car, or walking along the water.
When I’m in that location, I only speak
Lushootseed.
3. A domain can be an activity. Let’s say my
goal is to make my kitchen the location
where I only speak Lushootseed, but let’s
assume I don’t have enough fluency to do
everything. So I start with one activity, such (Continued on page 3)
Language in the Home: Playing Cards By Judith Fernandes
I already played.
He already played.
She already played.
Did you already play?
Draw a card.
Put down a card.
Take a card.
Deal the cards.
How many cards?
I win.
You win.
He wins.
She wins.
Do you have a “2, 3 ,4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, Jack, Queen, King, Ace”?
Yes
No
Page 3
as, putting away food in the
refrigerator to begin my goal of
total kitchen immersion.
ʔudəgʷəd cəd ti sqəbuʔ ʔal tə
səxʷƛuxʷilali I am putting the
milk into the refrigerator, and so
on. Once I’ve done this, then I
can add another activity, until all
my kitchen domains are
reclaimed FOR Lushootseed.
4. A domain can be a relationship
to a person or group of people.
For example, those with good
fluency may decide to only speak
Lushootseed to their child, or a
teacher may only speak
Lushootseed to their students.
Once again, this relationship
domain is reclaimed FOR
Lushootseed. These are just four
examples of what a language
domain might mean. You are
encouraged to consider others
and please feel free to share your
ideas.
When considering reclaiming a
language domain, you will also
need to consider to what extent
you will reclaim it. In particular,
who is your audience? Are you
going to say ʔəsxid cəxʷ how are
you to everyone, your
community or only those that
know Lushootseed? If you decide
to say it all of the time, are you
(Continued from page 2)
Student Highlight: Carson Viles
going to translate for those who don’t
understand you? Questions like these
and others are for you to think about.
Again, please feel free to share your
ideas. We all benefit.
Now consider the big picture.
Although ʔəsxid cəxʷ is only one small
phrase, what if one hundred people
decided to reclaim it FOR
Lushootseed? Then five hundred.
Then a thousand, and so on. One
definition of an endangered language
is one spoken by less than five
hundred people. If over five hundred
people said this one phrase every day,
all the time, then would this not be an
elegant seed to plant for Lushootseed
revitalization and preservation?
huyəxʷ cəd I am finished now.
Reclaiming Lushootseed Domains, continued Carson, a Siletz tribal member and University of Oregon student, worked at NILI this fall term on formatting an elder-wawa storybook project for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Carson is an Honors College student who is majoring in Environmental Studies. He is currently in his fifth year of studies and is a “senior in standing.” He is presently doing an internship with the Tribal Climate Change Project which is a collaborative project between the UO Environmental Studies Program and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station.
Out of respect for culture-bearing Native languages, Carson took two years of Ichishkíin taught by Yakama tribal members Roger Jacob, Greg Sutterlict, and elder Virginia Beavert.
He is also studying his ancestral language Dee-ni’, a coastal Athabaskan language with the help of Pyuwa Bommelyn. Carson believes language is an important and powerful part of culture and that language carries cultural information. He observes that it is a struggle to maintain culture without language. Modern day Indians are going through this struggle and he’d like to see less of this and more language spoken.
Carson says there is a lot of work to be done on his language as well as other Native languages in general. He feels it is important for the Native youth to be proactive in the language preservation effort.
Another facet of Carson is his desire to be active and fit. Basketball is his sport of choice. He says that it is extra important for the Indian community to be fit because they have a lot of hurdles to face. Fitness is a way to strengthen oneself for those hurdles. He says he really stays fit for fun but the struggles of the Indian community are in his mind.
A lesser known fact about Carson is his passion for preparing acorns. Every time there is a food celebration at the Longhouse and elsewhere, Carson can be counted on to bring acorn soup.
Summer Institute 2011 Recap Overview of NILI 2011, June 20-July 1
Another great Summer Institute was enjoyed by NILI Staff and tribal communities! Language teachers and learners from Muckleshoot, Smith River Rancheria, Quinault, Warm Springs, Yakama, Colville, Wiyot, and Siletz were represented this year. The participants started their day with a class offered by Dr. Michelle Jacob from the University of San Diego and a member of the Yakama Nation. Her class, Indigenous Language Revitalization Issues and Human Rights, culminated in an action project taking steps towards language revitalization. Projects made for the class were assembled into a booklet and include posters, resolutions, open-letters, language learning activities, and petitions. Participants next attended Linguistics classes, helping them take an analytical look at their language. Classes taught by NILI faculty included topics about grammar, vocabulary and phonology. The morning ended with intensive language courses in participants' languages. The language courses taught this year were: Sahaptin 1 (Virginia Beavert and Roger Jacob); Sahaptin 2 (Virginia Beavert and Gregory Sutterlict); Lushootseed (Zeke Zahir); and Tolowa Dee-ni’ (Loren Bommelyn). Based on this year’s theme of “Sharing Stories," afternoon classes were centered on teaching methods and teaching materials related to stories and teaching them. In the curriculum class, participants learned how to build language curriculum around a story, and went home with three new
stories they could teach in their languages. In the materials class in the late afternoon, teachers created materials around the teaching of a story, including digital and/or print versions of the stories, which they could also take home. Most participants stayed on the UO Campus for the two weeks of Summer Institute. We were able to gather for several group events, such as a dinner at the Longhouse, as well as a barbecue at the NILI house. This year, we welcomed Dr. Kimberly Espy, the incoming Vice President for Research and Innovation, and honored Dr. Rich Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, and Dr. Charles Martinez, Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity, both of whom retired this past summer. Dr. Linton formalized NILI’s status as an Institute at UO. He and Dr. Martinez have supported NILI participant scholarships for the past 6 years. Perhaps one of the most discussed issues this year was the desire for more support for Distance Education initiatives. Based on this discussion, NILI is exploring technological solutions and is piloting a distance class this Fall in Lushootseed. Further feedback included the desire to extend the Summer Institute. For summer 2012, there will be an optional 3rd week based on this feedback. Be sure to check out the 2012 Summer Institute website for more information.