Native Voices Endowment Recipients - 2012
Dr. Lanny Real Bird - Little Big Horn College, Montana
Conversational Crow Language Teaching Project
Currently, there are over 12,000 members of the Crow Tribe, and it is estimated that half the population has some marginal or active fluency in the Crow language (ISO 639- 3 code [cro]). A majority of the fluent Crow speakers are over the age of 35. The “Conversational Crow Language Teaching Project” is a community and cultural initiative to create and inspire a native language renaissance among the Crow, or Apsaalooke, people and their neighbors of their region of Montana. This mission is complemented by a focus of teaching primarily through conversational techniques to revitalize, reintroduce, reinforce and create an active resurgence of language teaching and learning, focusing primarily in the community, at home and in the schools. The project's goals are: 1) Designing and producing Conversational Crow Language apps for phones, notepads and other devices, 2) Developing over 20 everyday or scenario conversational scripts, which will be made available on CD and DVD, 3) Offering all designs and methods adaptable for the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara communities by giving templates and training.
Gordon Yellowman, Joyce Twins, Kenzie Grubitz, and Everett Moore - Language Program of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
Cheyenne and Arapaho Story Project
The goal of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Story Project is to strengthen the Tribes' languages, Cheyenne (ISO 639-3 code [chy]) and Arapaho (ISO 639-3 code [arp]), by strengthening their stories. With only 14 percent of tribal members fluent, and the age of fluent speakers well over the age of 65, the need for such a project is apparent. There are many unrecorded stories being told by Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal members that would be valuable to pass along to future generations; this pilot project will allow some of these important oral stories to be recorded while there is still time. The project will record Cheyenne and Arapaho stories in audio and video formats and select two of them for publication in a bilingual format (one in Cheyenne/ English and one in Arapaho/ English) through traditional printing as well as through a digital e-book format. Linguists will be able to access the audio and visual recordings of stories, as well as the published analyzed text. Most importantly the Story Project will reach language learners in a variety of formats, from printed books to e-books and from classroom instruction to television programming. Through these stories, the community will become more connected and engaged with the challenge of revitalizing the Cheyenne and Arapaho languages.
Jacob Manatowa-Bailey - Sauk Language Department, Oklahoma
Sauk Language Youth Internship Program
Sauk (ISO 639-3 code [sac]) is spoken by only a handful of Sac and Fox tribal members in central Oklahoma. The rate of language loss among the Sauk people in the past ten years has accelerated rapidly as many older speakers have passed away. The Sauk Language Department identified only three remaining conversationally fluent Sauk speakers, all over the age of 75. Following the Sauk Master Apprentice Program of the Sauk Language Department, which has proven to be a successful model in rapid second language acquisition, the next stage of Sauk language revitalization is the implementation of the Sauk Language Youth Internship Program. The program began with the introduction of a Sauk language class in the fall of 2012 at Shawnee High School, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Talented students will be invited to join the internship. During the eight-week summer school break, they will be introduced to language revitalization methodology. They will be working with the elder Sauk speakers and Advanced Apprentices in a team-based Master-Apprentice program. Youth learners can become tribally certified language instructors, making them eligible to teach in the public school systems according to the current Oklahoma State Board of Education standards.
Randi and Cedric Sunray - KIOWA KIDS, Oklahoma
Khoiye Tdoen Gyah: Language Proficiency for Healthy Communities
The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma has about 12,000 members, of whom roughly 100 are fluent speakers of the Kiowa language (ISO 639-3 code [kio]). Part of the Kiowa-Tanoan language family, it is now spoken primarily by elders. A major goal of KIOWA KIDS is to reintroduce the language to younger generations. The language program was able to produce a full immersion preschool pilot during the spring of 2012. The seven participant children quickly acquired the language, while learning fundamental educational and social skills. Assistance from the Endangered Language Fund will help the program move from home-made curriculum and materials, to publications worthy of inquiry and solicitation by a wide range of community and professional backgrounds. The program will publish a series of children's books to be used as teaching tools for all involved in the KIOWA KIDS immersion program. These will be developed in hard copy and digital formats. The book series will be published through a national bookseller. The availability of supplementary material, which can be taken into the home, is an additional component to the language revitalization strategy.
Angel Sobotta - Nez Perce Language Program, Idaho
Learning & teaching Ni¬mipuutimt through story, stage, video and website study
The Nez Perce (Niimíi) live in the Pacific Northwest and have roughly 3,500 members. Their language, which is currently critically endangered, is known as Niimiipuu (ISO 639-3 code [nez]). This project is part of Sobotta's interdisciplinary master's thesis research at the University of Idaho. The study aims to immerse teachers and students of Nimipuutimt (The People's language) through the study of the creation story, Heart of the Monster, and its production as a play. To prepare for the play, the teachers and students will have language sessions to review and study the Heart of the Monster script. Two fluent elder speakers will be present to help them with their pronunciation. A study lesson plan will be created to break down the morphology of some of the Nimipuutimt forms. The lesson plan will help the participants to prepare for the recording of their lines for the script, which is written in the Nimipuutimt. Narration and stage directions will also be given in the language. The play will have three performances in the language, in different Idaho communities (Lapwai, Lewiston and Moscow).
David Ripley - The Sahnish (Arikara) Language Resources Development Project, North Dakota
Printing of Arikara Language Textbooks
The Sahnish, or Arikara, are one of the Three Affiliated Tribes, located in North Dakota. Their language is Arikara (ISO 639-3 code [ari]), and although most Arikara language speakers have passed on, the community is really encouraged by the tribe's young adults who are becoming linguists and/or anthropologists. The project seeks to help provide school time for language study by printing all Arikara language books and audio tapes that were gathered during the 1970s through 2000. With the guidance of fluent Arikara elders, the project's linguist-developed language texts, curriculum, recorded stories and music throughout the 1970s and up to the turn of the century will be compiled. ELF funding will go towards printing textbooks for the White Shield community at high school and college levels. The second step is to make available all other developed resources collected about the Arikara history, culture, spirituality and leadership using today's technology, ultimately resulting in a multimedia Arikara encyclopedia.
Conversational Crow Language Teaching Project
Currently, there are over 12,000 members of the Crow Tribe, and it is estimated that half the population has some marginal or active fluency in the Crow language (ISO 639- 3 code [cro]). A majority of the fluent Crow speakers are over the age of 35. The “Conversational Crow Language Teaching Project” is a community and cultural initiative to create and inspire a native language renaissance among the Crow, or Apsaalooke, people and their neighbors of their region of Montana. This mission is complemented by a focus of teaching primarily through conversational techniques to revitalize, reintroduce, reinforce and create an active resurgence of language teaching and learning, focusing primarily in the community, at home and in the schools. The project's goals are: 1) Designing and producing Conversational Crow Language apps for phones, notepads and other devices, 2) Developing over 20 everyday or scenario conversational scripts, which will be made available on CD and DVD, 3) Offering all designs and methods adaptable for the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara communities by giving templates and training.
Gordon Yellowman, Joyce Twins, Kenzie Grubitz, and Everett Moore - Language Program of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
Cheyenne and Arapaho Story Project
The goal of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Story Project is to strengthen the Tribes' languages, Cheyenne (ISO 639-3 code [chy]) and Arapaho (ISO 639-3 code [arp]), by strengthening their stories. With only 14 percent of tribal members fluent, and the age of fluent speakers well over the age of 65, the need for such a project is apparent. There are many unrecorded stories being told by Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal members that would be valuable to pass along to future generations; this pilot project will allow some of these important oral stories to be recorded while there is still time. The project will record Cheyenne and Arapaho stories in audio and video formats and select two of them for publication in a bilingual format (one in Cheyenne/ English and one in Arapaho/ English) through traditional printing as well as through a digital e-book format. Linguists will be able to access the audio and visual recordings of stories, as well as the published analyzed text. Most importantly the Story Project will reach language learners in a variety of formats, from printed books to e-books and from classroom instruction to television programming. Through these stories, the community will become more connected and engaged with the challenge of revitalizing the Cheyenne and Arapaho languages.
Jacob Manatowa-Bailey - Sauk Language Department, Oklahoma
Sauk Language Youth Internship Program
Sauk (ISO 639-3 code [sac]) is spoken by only a handful of Sac and Fox tribal members in central Oklahoma. The rate of language loss among the Sauk people in the past ten years has accelerated rapidly as many older speakers have passed away. The Sauk Language Department identified only three remaining conversationally fluent Sauk speakers, all over the age of 75. Following the Sauk Master Apprentice Program of the Sauk Language Department, which has proven to be a successful model in rapid second language acquisition, the next stage of Sauk language revitalization is the implementation of the Sauk Language Youth Internship Program. The program began with the introduction of a Sauk language class in the fall of 2012 at Shawnee High School, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Talented students will be invited to join the internship. During the eight-week summer school break, they will be introduced to language revitalization methodology. They will be working with the elder Sauk speakers and Advanced Apprentices in a team-based Master-Apprentice program. Youth learners can become tribally certified language instructors, making them eligible to teach in the public school systems according to the current Oklahoma State Board of Education standards.
Randi and Cedric Sunray - KIOWA KIDS, Oklahoma
Khoiye Tdoen Gyah: Language Proficiency for Healthy Communities
The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma has about 12,000 members, of whom roughly 100 are fluent speakers of the Kiowa language (ISO 639-3 code [kio]). Part of the Kiowa-Tanoan language family, it is now spoken primarily by elders. A major goal of KIOWA KIDS is to reintroduce the language to younger generations. The language program was able to produce a full immersion preschool pilot during the spring of 2012. The seven participant children quickly acquired the language, while learning fundamental educational and social skills. Assistance from the Endangered Language Fund will help the program move from home-made curriculum and materials, to publications worthy of inquiry and solicitation by a wide range of community and professional backgrounds. The program will publish a series of children's books to be used as teaching tools for all involved in the KIOWA KIDS immersion program. These will be developed in hard copy and digital formats. The book series will be published through a national bookseller. The availability of supplementary material, which can be taken into the home, is an additional component to the language revitalization strategy.
Angel Sobotta - Nez Perce Language Program, Idaho
Learning & teaching Ni¬mipuutimt through story, stage, video and website study
The Nez Perce (Niimíi) live in the Pacific Northwest and have roughly 3,500 members. Their language, which is currently critically endangered, is known as Niimiipuu (ISO 639-3 code [nez]). This project is part of Sobotta's interdisciplinary master's thesis research at the University of Idaho. The study aims to immerse teachers and students of Nimipuutimt (The People's language) through the study of the creation story, Heart of the Monster, and its production as a play. To prepare for the play, the teachers and students will have language sessions to review and study the Heart of the Monster script. Two fluent elder speakers will be present to help them with their pronunciation. A study lesson plan will be created to break down the morphology of some of the Nimipuutimt forms. The lesson plan will help the participants to prepare for the recording of their lines for the script, which is written in the Nimipuutimt. Narration and stage directions will also be given in the language. The play will have three performances in the language, in different Idaho communities (Lapwai, Lewiston and Moscow).
David Ripley - The Sahnish (Arikara) Language Resources Development Project, North Dakota
Printing of Arikara Language Textbooks
The Sahnish, or Arikara, are one of the Three Affiliated Tribes, located in North Dakota. Their language is Arikara (ISO 639-3 code [ari]), and although most Arikara language speakers have passed on, the community is really encouraged by the tribe's young adults who are becoming linguists and/or anthropologists. The project seeks to help provide school time for language study by printing all Arikara language books and audio tapes that were gathered during the 1970s through 2000. With the guidance of fluent Arikara elders, the project's linguist-developed language texts, curriculum, recorded stories and music throughout the 1970s and up to the turn of the century will be compiled. ELF funding will go towards printing textbooks for the White Shield community at high school and college levels. The second step is to make available all other developed resources collected about the Arikara history, culture, spirituality and leadership using today's technology, ultimately resulting in a multimedia Arikara encyclopedia.
