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SMNTY Classics Redux: Native Indigenous Women's Fight to Save Their Languages · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: And Samantha.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: And welcome to Stuff Never Told You, a production of iHeartRadio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And today, we are coming at you a bit late.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: If you haven't heard, Samantha and I have been traveling,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: and we have this massive schedule that Samantha put together
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: to cover the whole thing, but apparently we forgot one.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: I miscalculated a few things, apparently.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I think there was a plan we were going to
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: record on Monday at one point, but we did not.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: That's not what happened.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's what it was.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: So this is coming at you later than intended. And
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: it was Indigenous Peoples Day.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Yes, it was.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Yes, it was. So I thought we could bring back
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the episode we did on Indigenous women's fight to save language,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: their languages. which is an incredibly important fight, remains an
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: important fight, and is something that I personally find, I
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: just think it's so significant, but also cool, like the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: fight to do that. And the way language kind of
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: maps how you think about things is really fascinating to me.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: So please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is Annie.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: And Samantha.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: And welcome to Stuff I've Never Told You, a production
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: And for our holiday treat, I guess, episode, because we're
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: going to be gone as this is released, technically. Technically. Yeah.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: I guess it was the day before, but you know, whatever. Anyway,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: we wanted to give thanks to the women and folks
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: from the indigenous communities who have been working hard not
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: only to preserve the land as it was before the
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: ugliness of colonization and trying to teach the people around
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: them the dangers. of continuing down said ugly path, but
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: also preserving their own culture that these same, I guess,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: colonizers have tried to eradicate and make extinct. And though
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: there are so many things that we can talk about
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: under this topic, and probably we'll come back to, honestly, today,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: we thought we would just focus on those who've been
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: working hard to preserve their native language and indigenous language. Also,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: let's go ahead and put this caveat. Since this is
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: not our indigenous language slash our native tongue, which, by
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: the way, I'm struggling on my own, both Korean and English. So,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: you know, sorry. Yeah, we may butcher some of these words.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: And I hate that so much because I would love
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: to be fluent in everything and just perfect at it,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: but I am not. So with that, we tried our
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: due diligence in looking up all of the pronunciations and
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Sometimes I swear to God I was being gaslit that
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: we should already know these words. And it probably is true.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: We should to a certain extent. But anyway, so please
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: be patient with our very bad pronunciation. Again, as per usual,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: if you know these languages and want to share with
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: us how to say it correctly, we would gladly, gladly
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: hear those. Because as you know, when it comes to
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: like Google Translation, not the greatest. Not the greatest. But yes,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: be forewarned. It's not great. And if you are a
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: person of the Native community or Indigenous community, this might
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: be too much for you. I understand. So content warning,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: because we do talk a little bit about the ugly
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: history of it all. For the rest of you, listen.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: And us, of course, because we need to learn these things. So, yeah,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: we're going to jump into the history of how colonizers
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: tried to stop the use of the indigenous languages. So
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: when it comes to this history, the first peoples of
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: all the lands, probably, we know it's bloody and horrifying history.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Though children's stories and colonial takes downplay the amount of
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: atrocities that occurred then and even now, the indigenous community
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: fight to preserve their culture. Yes, I think if we
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: talk about the old tale of Thanksgiving and all the
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: pilgrims coming to share with their food, we know the
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: true story. It wasn't all that great. We know. So
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: just as a reminder, but it isn't that hard to
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: understand that those in power are still trying to suppress
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: the original cultures that existed in most places. In fact,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: in some cases and places like the United States have
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: spent money trying to erase indigenous languages. Here's some information
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: from High Country News written by Rebecca Nagel in 2019. Quote,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: at the height of the Indian boarding school era, Between
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: 1877 and 1918, the United States allocated $ 2. 81 billion, adjusted
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: for inflation, to support the nation's boarding school infrastructures, an
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: educational system designed to assimilate indigenous people into white culture
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: and destroy native languages. Since 2005, however, the federal government
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: has only appropriated approximately $ 180 million for indigenous language revitalization.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: So in the article, they do write about the fact
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: that the government has allotted some funds in order to
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: restore and preserve the languages. It isn't anything compared to
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: the amount spent to try to eradicate it. And of course,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: this is on top of the fact that they first
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: tried to kill off and, like, pretty much do a genocide, yes,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: but that didn't work. So they're like, you know what,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: we'll just make you assimilate and hopefully you'll at least
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: forget the culture. But also we should mention the amount
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: of money spent within the school systems to try to
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: assimilate Native people to the culture of their oppressors. So
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: this is what they were doing. In fact, many of
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: the schools that were originally intended and operated by the
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Native communities were taken over by white oppressors, colonizers. Here's
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: some more information from Nagel's article. During the same time period,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: the early 1900s, Cherokee children were also sent to Chilaco
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: in an Indian boarding school on the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: The model, pioneered by General Richard Henry Pratt, a veteran
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: of the Indian Wars and founder of the notorious Carlisle
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: Indian School, was designed to assimilate Native Americans into white
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: society and strip future generations of their culture. During the
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: 19th and early 20th century, an estimated one-third of all
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: Native children were forced to attend Indian boarding schools, according
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: to a report prepared for the United Nations Permanent Forum
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: on Indigenous Issues. When the U.S. created Indian boarding schools,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: the goal was to save money. Then-Secretary of Interior Henry
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Teller estimated that assimilating Indians would cost only a fraction
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: of the ongoing military conflict with tribes. The children at
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Indian boarding schools, which were chronically underfunded, often lacked basic
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: food and medical care. To help fund the schools, children
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: were rented to local townspeople for unpaid labor. Still, the
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: US government allocated exponentially more money to Indian boarding schools
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: than it has spent since then on reversing their effects.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: And this practice was happening all over the North American territories.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Areas in Canada have experienced the same things with similar results.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Here's a quote from the Harvard International Review. For centuries,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Canadian government policies have jeopardized Indigenous languages. While there are
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: more than 70 Indigenous languages currently spoken in Canada... they
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: are largely endangered as the majority of them maintain fewer
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: than 1,000 fluent speakers. From 1831 until 1996, the implementation
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: of residential schools prevented Indigenous peoples from parenting, educating, and
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: passing on their native language to their children. Government officials
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: removed Indigenous children from their parents on the pretense that
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: the children would benefit from assimilating into white Canadian culture
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: through placement in these residential schools. When it became evident
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: to parents that residential schools were not providing their children
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: with better lives and were instead causing trauma, illness, and
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: even death, they were told that this was simply the
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: price that Aboriginal people had to pay as part of
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: the process of becoming civilized.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: So that writer of that article, Catalina Toth, also wrote
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: an alarming statistic within the article. She wrote, every two weeks,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: an indigenous language dies. Some of the languages that have
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: already disappeared were Inuit languages spoken in the far reaches
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: of the Arctic. Others had evolved in the leafy greenery
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: of coastal Australia. While they differ in setting, culture, and phonetics,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: one aspect that most dead indigenous languages share is that
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: they perished as a result of colonization and the subsequent
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: rise of international languages. Yeah, and we spoke about this earlier.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Oppression and colonization has tried to erase the different languages
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: that existed before the quote-unquote discovery of these new lands. Today,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: many of these languages are disappearing and less likely to
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: be heard. So from the podcast All Things Considered, they say, quote,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: language researchers just released the latest version of the Ethnologue,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: which aims to catalog the state of all of the
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: world's languages, all 7,164 of them. Many of these languages
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: are endangered. Some have so few native speakers that you
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: can count them on one hand. In the U.S., for instance,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: 193 of the 197 living languages are endangered. So, and
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: from the National Indian Council on Aging, or NICOA.org, Xavier
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Dominguez writes, there are between 6,000 to 7,000 oral languages
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: spoken worldwide. According to the United Nations, approximately 600 of
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: them have disappeared in the last century. They're disappearing at
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: a rate of one language every two weeks. No less
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: than 40% of languages spoken in 2016 were in danger
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: of disappearing, and many of them indigenous. Presently, we're in
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: danger of losing 2,680 languages. The UN predicts that 50
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: to 90 percent of the indigenous languages will disappear by
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: the end of this century, being replaced with English, Mandarin
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: or Spanish. Any language spoken by less than 10,000 people
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: is in danger. And they go on saying about 97
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: percent of the world's population speak only 4 percent of
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: its languages. while only 3% of the world speaks 96%
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: of all languages. Most of these languages are spoken by
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Indigenous people. There are 370 to 500 million Indigenous people
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: in the world, 5,000 different Indigenous cultures, and 90 countries
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: with Indigenous communities. Such a disproportionate amount of people who
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: speak these languages to what is disappearing today. And it's
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: really heartbreaking. And these numbers are alarming. But when it
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: comes to preserving or fighting for their community, we know
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: it's typically those from the indigenous communities that are working
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: the hardest and getting it done, especially the women. There
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: have been a few people we have featured on the
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: show that have done this amazing work, including Gadget Junie Fox.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: You can go and check out her interview, which was amazing,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: who is not only working to preserve her people's culture
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: and a way of life, but making sure to pass
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: it down to her family as well. So she featured
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: her daughter in some of these amazing ceremonies. Y'all gotta
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: go listen.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: All over the world, the women of the indigenous community
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: have been the very vein of continuing to keep their
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: legacy alive. They have understood the depth and importance of
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: language and the need to preserve it. As Ruth H.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Robertson of the Dakota Nation wrote in her article titled
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Language of Spirit for Atmos.Earth, quote, language holds the identity
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: of a people. Within a language, you discover how its
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: speakers view the world. Within the Dakota language, you will
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: see how we understand landscapes, embrace the relatedness of all
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: things and view sex and gender. Origin stories are hidden
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: within place names. Our very historical record is revealed. Our
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: language evolved from the lives we lived in our lands
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: for millennia. But what may be most overlooked is the
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: importance of language to the spirituality of a people. Among
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: the Santee, medicine people have their own language. This sacred
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: ceremonial tongue passed down through the ages by ancestors and
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: dreams granted medicine people the ability to speak to the
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: deities of old, perform magic, see visions, and create miracles.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: When the colonizer attempted to take our language from us,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: they were robbing us of more than our culture, history,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: and unique identity. They were taking away our ability to
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: commune with our ancestors and pray to our gods. They
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: were not just stealing our voices and our abilities to
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: connect with our grandmothers and grandfathers. They were cutting our
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: soul ties. Right.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: And y'all should go back and find this article that
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: we just mentioned because she writes so beautifully about what
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: she sees as the depth of language. And I think
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: when we all talk about it in a certain manner,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: like I, as I'm trying to learn Korean again and
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: really feeling like part of my identity has been stripped
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: of me because I forgot it's no one's fault, but,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: you know, assimilation. In general, like the depth of understanding
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: yourself a little bit through your own language and how
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: powerful that is. So, you know, and she is one
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: of many who have struggled not only to preserve a
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: language that colonizers have tried to erase, but and has
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: seen firsthand the painful trauma that comes with this type
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: of oppression. She mentions in her article the travesty of
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: boarding schools, which we kind of mentioned before, that abused
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: indigenous children in order to force them to assimilate to
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: those who violently stole their land. So such a bigger
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: conversation about what this is. I know our listeners already
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: understand and know this, but the depth of deprivation it
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: is to strip someone of their native language and why
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: they're doing it. It is power. And here's some other
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: women that we want to talk about that I feel
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: like we should celebrate. And maybe follow and watch what
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: they're doing. Obviously, this is a very small list. Small list.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: Because this originated from me wanting to talk about specific
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: women to, oh, damn, this needs to be a whole episode. Slash,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: this is still not, this could be a whole series,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: but I'm not going to do that, Annie. I'm not
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: going to do that. I already know. I didn't do that. Anyway,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: so we do want to talk about a few of
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: the women that have been spotlighted and talked about and
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: we want to talk more about as they do this
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: amazing work. And one of the most famous women who
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: made sure that To put a spotlight on this issue
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: was Marie Wilcox, and you can go look her up,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: and she's done some amazing work. Wilcox was featured in
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: several films and articles in her pursuit of preserving her
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: people's language. Wilcox was the last to speak fluent Wukchumni,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: but she made sure she wouldn't be the last when
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: she goes, and she did die a couple of years ago.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: For over 10 years before her death, she created a
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: dictionary for the language, and she made it to teach
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: her people and her family Wukchumni. Not only did she
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: create a written document for it to be preserved, but
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: during her lifetime, she taught a lot of classes throughout
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: her community, making sure that it would keep going. In 2014,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: she was documented by the New York Times while she
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: was doing her important work. In it, she says, It's sad.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: It just seems weird that I am the last one.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: And I don't know. It's just it'll just be gone
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: one of these days. Maybe. I don't know. It might
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: go on and on. And I believe thanks to her,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: it will go on and on. Now, her story is
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: pretty incredible. And you can find her documentary online. This
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: is there for you. And then, of course, a lot
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: of YouTube clips that you can watch during her interviews.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: And she's really passionate and heartbroken that she could be
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: the last one. to speak this beautiful language. But as
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: of now, the dictionary has been copyrighted, but it hasn't
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: been published yet. And I'm not really sure. I didn't
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: go look deeper into as to why it hasn't been,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: but I'm glad at the very least it was written
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: because she did pass away, I believe, a few years ago.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: And the fact that she was able to do this
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: during her lifetime really means so much. And her legacy
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: obviously continues to live on. So if you get a chance,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: you should go watch her documentary. which I'm glad it exists.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: These are the moments where I'm like, yeah, damn, technology
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: is good. Media is good. We need these things preserved.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: I hope that we can keep these things preserved. So
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: also in 2020, the CBC celebrated several Indigenous women for
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: their work in preserving their native language. We're only going
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: to highlight a couple, and you can actually look them up.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: They did some amazing stuff. There's a lot of people.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: So first, we're going to talk about Belinda Daniels. Daniels
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: is the founder of Naheowak Language Experience, which offers Cree
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: language camps and monthly language workshops. In the article, she says, quote,
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: I really believe that the spirit of the Cree language
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: chose me to do this work. And I do this
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: work to create awareness that there are indigenous peoples living
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: here still speaking their language. Daniels is also an educator
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: and she actually did her Ph.D. on language reclamation. So
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: she told CBC, quote, when we reclaim our language, we
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: reclaim who we are and we reinstate that we belong here.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: So language is practicing sovereignty. Language rights are inherent. And
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: I think one of the things that I didn't mention
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: earlier is the fact that a lot of these languages
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: and a lot of these nations and communities are not
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: actually being recognized by the government, which is partially why
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: they're not being preserved. So a big conversation about it
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: being legitimate, it has to do with those numbers about
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: like it has to be, I think, more than 100,000
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: people speaking or something along those lines to be officially
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: a language, which is really hard when you have, you know,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: decimated entire populations of people or, you know, completely drowned
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: out their language so they can't speak it. So, so
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: many things to that. So that's also a bigger part
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: of the conversation that we're not having on this episode specifically.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Something to have in the back of your mind when
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: it comes to indigenous issues, point blank. Like, how are
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: they recognized? Are they even recognized? And why aren't they
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: being recognized? Also featured was Dr. Mary Ann Iguaji-Corpier of
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: the Wikwamikwamang First Nation. She's been teaching... the Anishinaabemowin, for
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: over 30 years. She has been one of the editors
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: in the Anishinaabemowin, Ottawa, and Isra Ojibwe dictionary. This dictionary
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: is something she's been working on since the late 90s,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: and it makes me sad to say that that's about
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: 30 years. adding new words as she's done the research
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: throughout her time. And she's been traveling to like five
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: different communities to continue to add these words. And her
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: work has been featured in different indigenous panels and presentations.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: So she's doing a lot. She's been teaching these languages
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: as well as making sure that they are preserved. And
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: I think that's been a theme. You'll see that as
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: a theme throughout what they are trying to have it written.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: And we've talked about this in like firsts, how important
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: that really is. So these women have been doing that work.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: The Anishinaabemowin community, which is around the northern areas, and
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: they do stretch into the Canadian areas as well. well,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: have come together to preserve their endangered language as well.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Older residents of the community have come together to take classes,
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: record their words and meanings, and have found a better
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: understanding of themselves and their culture. One Michigan publisher, Bridge Michigan,
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: interviewed several people in the community, including Brendan Hisung, who
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: talked about her experiences in remembering her great-grandparents, who were
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: the last fluently speaking people of their language. She told
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: the Bridge, quote,' This is something that is important to
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: me to be able to share with my grandkids, is
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: our language, and I feel like we've been robbed of it.'
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: And she continues,' It' s a slow process, but it's worth it.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: It's helping me find out who I am and where
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: I'm supposed to be in this world.' And it's such
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: a beautiful story about how they've all connected together as
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: a community and realizing that it's getting lost and making
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: sure that they are not only teaching each other, but
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: they're teaching their kids. So I thought it was very beautiful.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: And then there are so many like her trying to
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: preserve their culture. In Hawaii, they have experienced this way
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: too often. On the island of Oahu, the olelo, or language,
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: was nearly extinct and is still not considered safe, but
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: it has become more accessible through the teachings of Native schools.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Here's a bit of history from a National Geographic article
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: written by Alion in 2023. Quote, By the end of
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the 19th century, literacy in Hawaii, in olelo, spelled Hawaii,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: reached an astonishing high of over 90%. This was largely
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: thanks to the public education system founded in 1840 by
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: King Komeahemea III, the third king of Hawaii, 58 years
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: before the American invasion and annexation. It was one of
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the highest literacy rates in the world at the time
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: and still an impressive figure. In 2020, data from the
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: United States Department of Education showed that 54% of adults
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: aged 16 to 74 lack literacy proficiency. And it continues, quote,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: when the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, a law was
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: enacted to make English the language of instruction in all schools.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Though olelo was not outlawed, kids were disciplined for speaking
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: it in schools. Those kids were conditioned to believe it
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: was shameful. Long after they needed to, many adults spoke
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: olelo only in private and refused to teach their kids. Right.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: And much like the history throughout all of colonization, indigenous
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: people were being abused and forced to assimilate to the oppressors. But,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: you know, the native people were able to actually push back.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Here's a bit more from that same article. After almost
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: 100 years of suppression, Hawaiian youth led a renaissance of dance,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: music and language in the 1970s. In 1978, Olelo was
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: declared the state's official language, along with English. and a
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: law undoing the olelo ban in schools were passed. Recordings
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: were made of the very few native speakers left, and
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: the nupepa, or newspapers, served an important role in restoring
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: lost knowledge. As in fact, there's a whole musical dedicated
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: to the nupepa and how significant it was to changing
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: and preserving the languages. And they have created immersion schools,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: which offer native language classes and promote the use of Valelo.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: But of course, the effects of racism and suppression still lingers.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, just look at the current status of politics today.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: It is encouraging to see the many who have continued
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: to bring awareness and teach others about the origins. And
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: we're going to actually talk a little more about who
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: they were influenced by, which is the Maori in New Zealand.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: And they were the ones that really, really pushed this
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: specific type of learning and in a way that they
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: could preserve. And they did preserve the Maori language, which
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: is amazing. But yes, so like it's incredible because this
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: immersion school was a language reset. Like, it's kind of like, yes.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: So it's not, I don't think, I think it's preserved
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: it really well, but it's still not out of the
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: danger zone, essentially. But it's working. And then we have
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: the women of Guyana trying to save their native language
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: as well. So Althea Harding was featured in mongobay.com for
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: her work in trying to preserve the Caribbean language. In fact,
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: in the 2021 article, they noted that only 10 people
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: could actually speak the language fluently. The primary school teacher, Harding,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: returned to her village and realized the dire need to
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: preserve her language for that culture. She, like many of
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: the others, has planned to create the Carib Language Dictionary,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: and she was able to receive a grant to be
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: a part of the Conservation International Indigenous Women's Fellowship Program.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: And she told mongopay.com, I was elated because as a
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: part of my project proposal, I included plans for a
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Carib revitalization project. The language is dying here, and I
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: want to ensure our children can speak fluently in the
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: language before it's too late. And then the article continues.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Her women's empowerment project commenced in mid-2021 with more than
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: two dozen women, mainly mothers, participating. The women are the
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: bedrock of the family, and I know with their influence,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: the language can be saved, she said. Harding described the
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: women of Covina as ambitious and progressive individuals, go-getters, who
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: don't just sit around. Our women are strong, independent, and determined,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: so I know they will ensure that the language is
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: handed down to the youth of this village, she added.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: So I really love that. I didn't see an update
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: about what was happening because it's been several years. I
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: know one of the big conversations she had was about
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: the fact that a lot of it had to be
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: done remotely, right? Since it was, you know, all the
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: bad stuff was happening at that point. And as we
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: were talking about the Maori before, many look towards the
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: works of the Maori people who have worked tirelessly to
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: preserve their culture and their language. In another National Geographic
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: article titled, The Maori Saved Their Language from Extinction and
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: Here's How. They talk about the revolution it took for
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: them to rebel against the repressive government that tried to
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: decimate the native culture. And if you look up at
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: any of the videos of this time, they are like
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: rock star video. There's like a music video towering there.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: You get really pumped. I'm like, yeah, go at them.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Come on. So if you have time, go look this up.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: So their movement began in the 1970s is an inspiration
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: to many around the world and Here's some information from
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: that article. Quote, These activists call themselves Ngātomato, or Young Warriors.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Along with other regional groups, they organize against the New
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: Zealand government's marginalization and forced assimilation of Māori communities, starting
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: with policies designed to stem the use of te reo Māori.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: And the article continues, Dame Iritani Tawirani was a founder
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: and instrumental leader of the movement's first major success, Kahangareo.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Opened in 1982, the Kahangareo model was one of commitment.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Parents and toddlers were expected to speak only Te Reo,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: both in the classroom and at home, and the curriculum
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: focused solely on Maori history and culture. Elders and other
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: proficient language speakers led the class. Translated in English to language-ness,
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: the Kahanga Reo was the first program of its kind
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: to use total language and cultural immersion. For Maori communities,
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: the schools were a revelation. According to the Taoriri Reini,
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: the program started with five schools and within three years
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: expanded to more than 300 locations. The rapid spread of
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Kahanga Reo marked an unprecedented success of cultural reclamation. For
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: Taweri Rainey, it showed the widespread, pent-up desire Maori families
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: felt to educate their children according to their own non-colonial standards.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: The families on the ground are fundamentally the basis for
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: learning the language, she says. The difference maker, she said,
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: was that the kanga reo, particularly in the early years,
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: were entirely community-led. Families raised the money to rent or
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: buy classroom spaces and volunteers planned and taught classes.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: And the language nest as a system were really very,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: very successful. The classes and written documents were also very
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: important pieces of this preservation puzzle. And I think it's
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: really inspiring to note that it worked. We actually have
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: an example of how they were able to preserve this.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: I think some of the biggest problem is the decimation
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: and the spreading of the indigenous people, the way that
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: we talked about the Trail of Tears and how they
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: were all kind of just spread all over. That really, unfortunately,
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: divided its abilities to be able to do these immersive classes,
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: although we're still seeing examples of it in pockets in
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: different Native communities, which is amazing to watch and see.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: And with that, I think part of what we're looking
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: at with the age of media and technology is helping
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: to grow and help spread messages globally, which is great.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: And many have started using them to their advantage.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Yes. In fact, a trio of Apache women have already
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: started working with tech to record the language. From fizz.org, quote,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: in one such endeavor, three Native American women rack their
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: brains as they gather around a computer trying to remember
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: and record dozens of Apache language words related to everyday
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: activities such as cooking and eating. They are creating an
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: online English Apache dictionary, just one of several projects working
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: to preserve endangered individuals. The article continues, Teacher Jocelyn Johnson
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: and two of her colleagues validate the definition of the
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: word Apache word kapas, which means potato in English, quote,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: The applications in the written language are good for a non-speaker.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: At least they'll have a museum of it where they
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: can go for reference, said Johnson, a 68-year-old who teaches
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Apache vocabulary and grammar.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: So this type of technology could be revolutionary, but of course,
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: as we've talked about many times when it comes to tech,
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: we have to proceed with caution. The software they mentioned
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: in the article is the Rapid Word Collection, or the RWC,
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: which uses an algorithm to, quote, search Apache text and
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: audio databases for so-called forgotten words. The words are then defined,
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: translated into English, and their pronunciations recorded so the dictionary's
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: users will know how to say them properly. So all
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: great ideas. The program was developed by an NGO called TLC,
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: or the Language Conservancy. to protect indigenous languages and created
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: to help make dictionaries at a rapid speed. So being
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: able to do it quickly where they don't have to
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: individually do this. However, again, we say you have to
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: be cautious. One native language specialist stated they were concerned that, quote,
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: such projects impose a Western way of writing onto an
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: indigenous way of speaking. I guess that's what we're doing.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: The vast majority of human languages are solely oral with
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: no writing systems. And then there's a Lakota indigenous leader
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: who even denounced the organization, saying they were trying to
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: copyright the teaching materials and using the elders' work. So
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: definitely something to pay attention to. Again, the NGO was like, hey, no,
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: we're not doing that. We're just trying to help preserve
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: our language. But as we know, when it comes to
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: good concepts or good intentions, capitalism does its own thing
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: and ruins a lot of stuff and loves to steal things.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: Anyway, especially from indigenous cultures. So as much as we
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: want to celebrate things like this, let's just like being
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: hopeful that yes, it does help preserve and that's the
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: end of it. But we have to make sure that
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: we are holding NGOs and tech groups accountable. Moving on,
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: it's not just tech that's advancing the preservation of languages,
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: but also things like songs and books, movies and social media. Fox,
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: who we mentioned earlier and interviewed previously. has made sure
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: to use her skill as a filmmaker and director to
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: preserve her Native community in sacred traditions. As in fact,
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: they kind of locked down one tradition, I remember her
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: talking about it, that they hadn't used in a long time.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: They were able to record it and go through it
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: with her daughter and have this magical moment and something
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: that they forgot about, essentially. And they're like bringing back.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: And we love that conversation. Same thing we talked about
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: her newer project, which we haven't caught up with our
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: sons and we need to. I think we need to
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: follow up. Talking about foods and specific types of foods
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: and things that are no longer grown and how they're
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: trying to bring them back, which is really, really important. Right,
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: Annie of Savor?
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Yes, I was excited about that when she mentioned it
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: in that interview, and I'm still thinking about it.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: Obviously me too, so we need to go back to that.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: And then there's films like Long Line of Ladies, which
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: tells the coming of age story of one young woman
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: who takes part in a ceremony, which was once... not
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: outlawed necessarily, but very looked down on, like literally violence
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: was used against those who would try to do these ceremonies.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: And they bring this back. And in this movie, they
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: help preserve and show a cultural tradition that could have
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: been permanently lost. So we need to add this movie
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: to our list. But yeah, films like that. And there's
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: so many others that I'm not mentioning that really help
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: preserve the language because they do actually speak the language.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: There was one that actually retold Thanksgiving from more of
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: a native perspective with actual native language spoken during that time.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: So beautifully done. Then we have songs that have been
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: handed over and sung over the years to preserve legends
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: and tales of cultural significances. But also recently, the younger
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: generations have come out boldly using their native languages as
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: part of their music and sound. Like a Mayan musician,
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Sarah Karuchich, and here's a quote from Smithsonian's Folklife Festival
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: blog where they celebrated this, in her music, Cachiquel Maya
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: musician Sarah Carucci revises these statements. She makes it clear
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: that the Maya are, not were, a strong and resilient people.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: As one of the first singers to expose international audiences
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: to her native language of Cachiquel, Carucci is a strong
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: cultural ambassador for her heritage. She composes songs in both
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: Cachiquel and Spanish, putting these languages to mixes of folk, rock,
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: and traditional Maya tunes. These sounds, combined with the topics
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: that are at the same time personal and universal, form
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: music that highlights the complexity of the modern indigenous identity.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: Which is beautiful. Which I hope we get to see
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: more of this. I have actually had several indigenous rock
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: musicians and soft rock and folk musicians pop up on
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: my TikTok, which I loved. I think that's one of
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: my favorite parts when you hear international music, something that's
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: different from your norm, and they actually bring in traditional
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: sounds and languages. It's gorgeous. And I will say for myself, who's, again,
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: trying to learn Korean, using K-pop, using K-dramas really do
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: help in understanding what is being said and preserving and
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: revitalizing for me, like personally, a language that I haven't
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: spoken in over 35 years. So, so many things to
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: this level, and it's gorgeous to see. And again, it's
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: being led by mainly women. Like, you see so many
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: women being at the forefront in this type of preservation,
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: in this type of cultural awareness. Like, it's a beautiful thing,
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: but also very tiresome, I'm sure, for them. And obviously,
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: there's so much more to this conversation, so many people
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: we need to talk about, and I'm sure we'll be
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: bringing some more out. The part we play in helping
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: to preserve the indigenous cultures and how not to be
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: in the way or be oppressive. You know, that's a
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: really big part of the conversation. Again, like I said,
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: I feel like this could be a series of different things.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: And we want to bring more indigenous creators to the
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: forefront in this conversation as well. So, oh, there's a lot, Annie. Yeah.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there is. And it's such important work. And I'm
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: glad it's being done. I'm sad that it has to
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: be done like this, but I am glad that it
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: is being done. But if there's anybody you want us
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: to shout out or any resources you have, listeners, please
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: let us know. You can email us at stephaniemomstuff at iheartmedia.com.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter at momstuffpodcast or on
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: TikTok and Instagram at stuffonevertoldyou. We're also on YouTube. We
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: have a TeePublic store. And we have a book you
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: to our super producer, Christina, our executive producer, Maya, and
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: our contributor, Joey.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: And thanks to you for listening. Stuff I Never Told
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: You is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
• 37:22
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• 37:24
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