Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education
The act of creation in the Mayan Popol Vuh, as in the Judeo-Christian Bible, begins with language. Words are spoken and the world is created. So intricately is language tied in with spirituality in the Popol Vuh that the gods created humankind so that humans could, through language, pray to the gods...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt6vr0q60z 2024-09-15T18:39:08+00:00 Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education Russell, Caskey 2002-09-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6vr0q60z https://escholarship.org/content/qt6vr0q60z/qt6vr0q60z.pdf doi:10.17953 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt6vr0q60z https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6vr0q60z https://escholarship.org/content/qt6vr0q60z/qt6vr0q60z.pdf doi:10.17953 CC-BY-NC American Indian Culture and Research Journal , vol 26, iss 4 Indian language destruction Tlingit article 2002 ftcdlib 2024-06-28T06:28:18Z The act of creation in the Mayan Popol Vuh, as in the Judeo-Christian Bible, begins with language. Words are spoken and the world is created. So intricately is language tied in with spirituality in the Popol Vuh that the gods created humankind so that humans could, through language, pray to the gods and “keep their days.” A culture’s religious practices evolve along with its language, and the language absorbs the nuances of that particular religion. A culture’s language is filled with the inextricable subtleties of its particular worldview. In a sense, it is hard to discern where religion begins and language ends. In regard to Tlingit culture of southeast Alaska, Nora and Richard Dauenhauer have noted in their introduction to Haa Kusteeyi (Our Culture): Tlingit Life Stories a type of “spiritual malaise” within Tlingit communities. Perhaps this spiritual malaise is directly related to the impending death of the Tlingit language and the worldview sustained by the language. One of the most destructive and long-lasting effects of colonization is the purposeful devaluation and destruction of Indian languages and, by extension, of traditional Indian beliefs. By focusing specifically on the situation of the Tlingit language and examining past attitudes toward the language, it can be demonstrated how the now nearly moribund Tlingit language fell to such a state. Since language is the carrier of culture, the implications of impending language death on Tlingit culture and the prospect of English filling the resulting void, are matters of grave concern. Language sustains a culture’s religion, its ethics, and its particular world- view. Even a worldwide religion such as Christianity evolves as it embraces a new language; for example, the Christianity of first-century Aramaic Palestine or of fourth-century Roman Italy, differs greatly from the Christianity of English-speaking America in the twentieth century. Though modern-day American Christians may not want to admit that their beliefs differ greatly, or at all, from the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper tlingit Alaska University of California: eScholarship |
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University of California: eScholarship |
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Indian language destruction Tlingit |
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Indian language destruction Tlingit Russell, Caskey Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education |
topic_facet |
Indian language destruction Tlingit |
description |
The act of creation in the Mayan Popol Vuh, as in the Judeo-Christian Bible, begins with language. Words are spoken and the world is created. So intricately is language tied in with spirituality in the Popol Vuh that the gods created humankind so that humans could, through language, pray to the gods and “keep their days.” A culture’s religious practices evolve along with its language, and the language absorbs the nuances of that particular religion. A culture’s language is filled with the inextricable subtleties of its particular worldview. In a sense, it is hard to discern where religion begins and language ends. In regard to Tlingit culture of southeast Alaska, Nora and Richard Dauenhauer have noted in their introduction to Haa Kusteeyi (Our Culture): Tlingit Life Stories a type of “spiritual malaise” within Tlingit communities. Perhaps this spiritual malaise is directly related to the impending death of the Tlingit language and the worldview sustained by the language. One of the most destructive and long-lasting effects of colonization is the purposeful devaluation and destruction of Indian languages and, by extension, of traditional Indian beliefs. By focusing specifically on the situation of the Tlingit language and examining past attitudes toward the language, it can be demonstrated how the now nearly moribund Tlingit language fell to such a state. Since language is the carrier of culture, the implications of impending language death on Tlingit culture and the prospect of English filling the resulting void, are matters of grave concern. Language sustains a culture’s religion, its ethics, and its particular world- view. Even a worldwide religion such as Christianity evolves as it embraces a new language; for example, the Christianity of first-century Aramaic Palestine or of fourth-century Roman Italy, differs greatly from the Christianity of English-speaking America in the twentieth century. Though modern-day American Christians may not want to admit that their beliefs differ greatly, or at all, from the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Russell, Caskey |
author_facet |
Russell, Caskey |
author_sort |
Russell, Caskey |
title |
Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education |
title_short |
Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education |
title_full |
Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education |
title_fullStr |
Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education |
title_full_unstemmed |
Language, Violence, and Indian Mis-education |
title_sort |
language, violence, and indian mis-education |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6vr0q60z https://escholarship.org/content/qt6vr0q60z/qt6vr0q60z.pdf |
genre |
tlingit Alaska |
genre_facet |
tlingit Alaska |
op_source |
American Indian Culture and Research Journal , vol 26, iss 4 |
op_relation |
qt6vr0q60z https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6vr0q60z https://escholarship.org/content/qt6vr0q60z/qt6vr0q60z.pdf doi:10.17953 |
op_rights |
CC-BY-NC |
_version_ |
1810483545570803712 |