FAQ

Which language(s) should be taught?

CERIL supports the teaching of any and all languages, but recommends that Lushootseed is an appropriate language to start with as the UW resides on the occupied land of the Duwamish, a Lushootseed speaking people.

The UW now offers a language, what is the purpose of CERIL?

Local indigenous languages face many challenges, including a low economic status (Giles, Bourhis, & Taylor 1977), limited resources, many negative attitudes and much misunderstanding stemming from the dominant non-Indigenous community.

Even after a course is being offered, there is much work to be done to support the course and increase awareness and demand among students, whether via promotion (e.g., posters) or research. CERIL has a single mission statement, which is to support discussion about and the advancement of Indigenous language education at the UW. Varying opinions on how to go about this are welcome, but the group is intended to facilitate collaboration and discussion to make efforts more effective. It will likely take considerable time for a program to develop and so patience and considerable effort will be required.

Why local Indigenous languages?

Our local languages are a vital cultural and political asset to their communities and associated sovereign nations as well as to the larger community of Washington State. Unfortunately, all languages Indigenous to North America are highly endangered or moribund (Lee & McLaughlin, 2001; Living Tongues, 2007). In addition to a variety of factors, U.S. Federal and state policy led to the eradication Indigenous languages and culture (de Leon, 1997; House, 2002; Krauss, 1998, 2000; Sims, 1998), including the forced removal of children from their home to boarding schools (Adams 1995; McCarty 1998). The UW as a public institution has an ethical and intellectual obligation to support these languages and cultures.

However, it should be noted that any program should respect the communities associated with each language as there is an unfortunate history of academia exploiting Indigenous community knowledge (Bentz 1997; Brown 2003; Harawira 1999).

Citations

Adams, D.W. 1995. Education for extinction: American Indians and the boarding school experience, 1875-1928, Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.

Bentz, M. (1997). Beyond ethics: Science, friendship, and privacy. In T. Biolsi, & L. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Indians and anthropologists: Vine deloria, jr., and the critique of anthropology (pp. 120-132) University of Arizona Press.

Brown, M.F. 2003. Who owns native culture? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

de Leon, Virginia (1997, March 21st). Reviving the Native language: Elder finds tribal culture best depicted in own words. Spokesman Review.

Giles, Howard, Bourhis, Richard Y., & Taylor, Donald M. (1977). Towards a theory of language in ethnic group relations. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language, ethnicity and intergroup relations (pp. 307-348). London: Academic Press.

Harawira, M., 1999. ‘Neo-imperialism and the (mis)appropriations of indigenousness’, Pacific World 54, no. 10.

House, Deborah (2002). Language shift among the Navajos: Identity politics and cultural continuity. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Hugo, R. 2010. Indigenous language education in Washington State: facts, attitudes and vitality, unpublished MA thesis, University of Washington.

Krauss, Michael (1998). The condition of Native North American languages: The need for realistic assessment and action. International Journal of the Sociology of Language(132), 9.

Krauss, Michael (2000). Statement by Michael E. Krauss, director emeritus, Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, July 20, 2000, at hearing on S.2688, the Native American Languages Act Amendments Act of 2000. from http://indian.senate.gov/2000hrgs/nala_0720/krauss.pdf.

Lee, Tiffany S., & McLaughlin, Daniel (2001). Reversing Navajo language shift, revisited. In Joshua A. Fishman (Ed.), Can threatened languages be saved?: reversing language shift, revisited: a 21st century perspective. Buffalo: Clevedon.

Living Tongues (2007). Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, from http://www.livingtongues.org/

McCarty, Teresa L. (1998). Schooling, resistance, and American Indian languages. International Journal of the Sociology of Language(132), 27-42.

McAuliffe, Delvin, Kauffman, Roach, Franklin, Rasmussen, et al. (2007). SB 5269 - 2007-08. from http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5269&year=2007

Representatives, McCoy, Roach, Simpson, Sullivan, McDermott, et al. (2005). HB 1495 - 2005-2006. from http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1495&year=2005

Sims, Christine P. (1998). Community-based efforts to preserve native languages: A descriptive study of the Karuk Tribe of northern California. International Journal of the Sociology of Language(132), 95-114.