----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Selma Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "futurework" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 6:09 PM Subject: Re: NYTimes.com Article: Indian Languages: Tending the Flame
I think it is essential to be clear about the difference between what a language conveys about a way of life and that way of life as it has been distorted over centuries of abuse. Selma > Selma Singer: > > > Ed, > > > > Did you ever consider the possibility that the very languages that are > > becoming obsolete contain ways perceiving the world that include a sense > of > > connectedness, the lack of which is the reason why kids often sniff glue > or > > alcohol or whatever ? > > Yes, of course. But too many of the communities I've seen are disconected > at both the adult and the kid level. The adults drink and the kids sniff > gas. Only the elders retain the connectedness --- and despair about it all. > Social workers, both Native and white, work hard to try to patch things up, > but they can't do it. It's too hard. One woman from northern Alberta told > me "We'll worry about culture and language after we get this place cleaned > up!" > > > Not that we can easily or simply transfer the values of lost cultures to > our > > own, but they can certainly make us aware of human experiences from which > we > > may have a lot to learn. > > Indeed. I've often wondered what it would have been like to be a mammoth > hunter. I've not wondered what it would be like to be a Native hunter and > trapper in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. There is plenty > of literature, and most of it is very painful. Hoping that your family > would not die of starvation and disease while you were away at the trading > post to beg for food and medicine could not have been very pleasant. > > Ed > > Ed Weick > 577 Melbourne Ave. > Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 > Canada > Phone (613) 728 4630 > Fax (613) 728 9382 > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "futurework" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 4:51 PM > > Subject: Re: NYTimes.com Article: Indian Languages: Tending the Flame > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ed, > > > > > > > > You sound like an economist. My former student and my daughter's > God > > > > mother Jane Lind is Aleut. She is a world class actress who has > > > performed > > > > all over the world including Peter Brooks "The Birds" and the Serban > > > "Greek > > > > Trilogy" in Athens and in the amphitheater at Epidoris. Theater > > > > Communications Journal called her one of America's treasures. She > has > > > > recieved most of the awards in the business. She has spent the last > > few > > > > years working with and rescuing the indigenous theater and art forms > as > > > well > > > > as the music and language in Alaska. There is a great wealth there > > and > > > it > > > > would be crime to let all of that experience and richness disappear. > > > Like > > > > I said it is a dark age akin to the burning of the library at > > Alexandria. > > > > (I'll probably catch hell for that comparison.) > > > > > > > > Ray Evans Harrell > > > > > > > > > > Ray and Selma, > > > > > > I don't mean to sound like an economist and, deep down inside, I do > mourn > > > the passing of languages and of culturally different lenses for seeing > > > reality. When I spent a lot of time in the Mackenzie Valley, the Yukon > > and > > > other northern places during the past four decades, I tried very hard to > > see > > > the world the way Native people of those places saw it. I couldn't of > > > course, at least not completely. What ever so many young Native people > > were > > > trying to do at the same time was see the world as I saw it. They had a > > > much easier time of it than I did because things were loaded in my > > direction > > > and the direction of my society. Their society, at least in its > > traditional > > > forms, was passing, mine was ascending. Many of them became politicians > > and > > > bureaucrats able to operate in my world far better than I could ever > have > > > hoped to operate in theirs. They are still able to operate in their > > world, > > > though it is no longer the world in which they work or depend on, so it > > may > > > be fading for them. > > > > > > That is the upside story. The downside is something else that I've seen > > > many, many times as well. It's young kids, laughing at a grandmother, > > > because she is giving them hell in a native language they no longer > > > understand. Or it's teens, trying to be oh so cool, oh so modern, just > > like > > > they've seen on TV. Or it's far, far worse than that: sniffing gas, > doing > > > drugs, and not really being able to see reality through any kind of lens > > at > > > all. > > > > > > Things pass. It's sad, and one can only hope that the outcome is not > > > destructive. Often it is. > > > > > > Ed > > > > > > Ed Weick > > > 577 Melbourne Ave. > > > Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 > > > Canada > > > Phone (613) 728 4630 > > > Fax (613) 728 9382 > > > > > > > > >
