Do they try to colonizzs, try to genocide.

Do they try to colonizzs, try to genocide.

Yet we're still here with the tongue on broke, and I'm gonna cheese to cut you on. Welcome to the Tongue Unbroken. It's exciting today to have a wonderful guest. We work together on the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, and then she does incredible things up in northern Alaska. So we are joined today by Yayuk who's also known as Bernadette. Although I think your pronunciation of your second name would be much better than mine, But just so we can get to know you a little bit, can you just introduce yourself and just talk about maybe what you do when it comes to languages. The show is about language revitalization and decolonization, and I'd love for the folks to get to know you a little bit more.

Yet we're still here with the tongue on broke, and I'm gonna cheese to cut you on. Welcome to the Tongue Unbroken. It's exciting today to have a wonderful guest. We work together on the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, and then she does incredible things up in northern Alaska. So we are joined today by Yayuk who's also known as Bernadette. Although I think your pronunciation of your second name would be much better than mine, But just so we can get to know you a little bit, can you just introduce yourself and just talk about maybe what you do when it comes to languages. The show is about language revitalization and decolonization, and I'd love for the folks to get to know you a little bit more.

On a yayukuna inu Uruna Aglan ileyatout Hi. My name is yayuk in Pertun, and I do have an English name that has a very beautiful French pronunciation, Bernadette, and I was known as Bernadette Albana Stimpel in English. I do live in Nome, but my family is from King Island, ninety miles west of Nome, thirty miles off the mainland, Okay.

On a yayukuna inu Uruna Aglan ileyatout Hi. My name is yayuk in Pertun, and I do have an English name that has a very beautiful French pronunciation, Bernadette, and I was known as Bernadette Albana Stimpel in English. I do live in Nome, but my family is from King Island, ninety miles west of Nome, thirty miles off the mainland, Okay.

And yeah, so Nome is up in north west Alaska. And can you tell us a bit about the language that you work in.

And yeah, so Nome is up in north west Alaska. And can you tell us a bit about the language that you work in.

Well, where I live, we have varied languages and dialects, including the Russian side. We are close to the Russian side. We have relatives on the other side. I do speak in Upier, the King Island or UVMU dialect. I was a first language speaker growing up here and know them at the East End because Bia had shut the school down. How I was three and my exposure to English was at age five, so I know what it was like to be a second language learner in English. When I got into English as a second language in college, I wanted to learn all the principles and everything that goes with it because I knew what the children are going through that came from a foreign country, or our students from our villages, small villages coming to know and that's what I wanted to get into. As a child and not knowing English was very frustrating and not knowing how to talk to the teachers. So of course I had cousins though that helped me trying to memorize English words. At Recess, I also taught in a regular classroom. I started with a Bilingual by Culture program teaching language and culture. And before that, though, fortunately, I learned how to write my language as a third grader eight years old, I remember wanting to write what my grandmother said, but it was using English letters. Now, I remember I didn't speak English, but I when I figured out those letters have a sound, I try to might write my grandmother's language, but I got stuck in our own sounds that don't exist in English. So in college that's when I learned to write INPA. But I learned helping me dialect with Edna McClain, and I came home with that dialect. So then that's how I began teaching with language class with non public schools, elementary school. I never thought i'd be a teacher. I can speak the language, but I had to do Western form of learning how to teach, which didn't work when it came to language of realization and in speaking with other people. I know when a person actually starts to learn a language, maybe they forgot it, maybe they were spoken to but wasn't brave enough to make mistakes because they would be put down or laughed at or you know, and it's a very deterrent to learn further. But what it also does for older learners young people is that as they learn their language, they start to speak more and start understanding more than that colonization fades away with each new information, So it's kind of like an automatic way of working with that and started making clear understanding of our cultural ways, because we have a lot of people that have a lot of cultural knowledge but not so much language. When they start to learn the language, then they start to make sense even how we speak English to each other natives, the native person, it comes from the language. So a lot of times the young people say, oh, that's why we say this. Yeah, so that's to make more sense.

Well, where I live, we have varied languages and dialects, including the Russian side. We are close to the Russian side. We have relatives on the other side. I do speak in Upier, the King Island or UVMU dialect. I was a first language speaker growing up here and know them at the East End because Bia had shut the school down. How I was three and my exposure to English was at age five, so I know what it was like to be a second language learner in English. When I got into English as a second language in college, I wanted to learn all the principles and everything that goes with it because I knew what the children are going through that came from a foreign country, or our students from our villages, small villages coming to know and that's what I wanted to get into. As a child and not knowing English was very frustrating and not knowing how to talk to the teachers. So of course I had cousins though that helped me trying to memorize English words. At Recess, I also taught in a regular classroom. I started with a Bilingual by Culture program teaching language and culture. And before that, though, fortunately, I learned how to write my language as a third grader eight years old, I remember wanting to write what my grandmother said, but it was using English letters. Now, I remember I didn't speak English, but I when I figured out those letters have a sound, I try to might write my grandmother's language, but I got stuck in our own sounds that don't exist in English. So in college that's when I learned to write INPA. But I learned helping me dialect with Edna McClain, and I came home with that dialect. So then that's how I began teaching with language class with non public schools, elementary school. I never thought i'd be a teacher. I can speak the language, but I had to do Western form of learning how to teach, which didn't work when it came to language of realization and in speaking with other people. I know when a person actually starts to learn a language, maybe they forgot it, maybe they were spoken to but wasn't brave enough to make mistakes because they would be put down or laughed at or you know, and it's a very deterrent to learn further. But what it also does for older learners young people is that as they learn their language, they start to speak more and start understanding more than that colonization fades away with each new information, So it's kind of like an automatic way of working with that and started making clear understanding of our cultural ways, because we have a lot of people that have a lot of cultural knowledge but not so much language. When they start to learn the language, then they start to make sense even how we speak English to each other natives, the native person, it comes from the language. So a lot of times the young people say, oh, that's why we say this. Yeah, so that's to make more sense.

Yeah. It makes me think of wonderful moments in language teaching when people begin to be able to commune, like as you start to see they can formulate thoughts and then put it into the language. And then as they start to do that more and more, they're actually translating a little bit less and less, and they're starting to move towards this realm where they are truly speaking the language and I know a lot of your approach has to do with a mother language, like basically saying like the way that a parent would raise a child is going to be similar to the ways that we're going to teach people the language, which is maybe a different approach because some of them are adults, some of them could be older adults, and they're coming to the language and they're going to be very vulnerable. They're going to have moments perhaps of doubt, and they're going to have moments where they might start to think that they can't do that. And so being in these loving and nurturing environments I think are really important. From what I know of you and your work, that seems to be part of your approach as well.

Yeah. It makes me think of wonderful moments in language teaching when people begin to be able to commune, like as you start to see they can formulate thoughts and then put it into the language. And then as they start to do that more and more, they're actually translating a little bit less and less, and they're starting to move towards this realm where they are truly speaking the language and I know a lot of your approach has to do with a mother language, like basically saying like the way that a parent would raise a child is going to be similar to the ways that we're going to teach people the language, which is maybe a different approach because some of them are adults, some of them could be older adults, and they're coming to the language and they're going to be very vulnerable. They're going to have moments perhaps of doubt, and they're going to have moments where they might start to think that they can't do that. And so being in these loving and nurturing environments I think are really important. From what I know of you and your work, that seems to be part of your approach as well.

Right, Yes, before I really started exploring how Inupiat speak and teach their children in inupiad, you know, because I went to college, went to Yuliyah and learn how to become a teacher in western form and also taught the language at the community college using that approach. And so I started exploring how did indepid people teach, how did they talk to them? Because the grandma breakdown doesn't work for our students whatsoever. But in the last four years I have been mentoring and guiding my daughter who happens to be an emergent teacher at nor Elementary School for kindergarten, and I watched those students. I observe how they learn. I was just in that classroom yesterday. I usually go there to help teach writing and usually it's one sound in Indipia, and for yesterday it was sha as our sha and you know, having all the works that go with it. But I have watched our native students. They have a great capacity for memory. These are five and six year olds. They don't quite remember how the sound goes, but I'll just say the very beginning and they remembered, and it could be a four inch long word, but they'll get the whole thing. They just need that beginning sound. Yesterday I just called it. That's of learning. It's all memory because when you teach children, we expect them to memorize it, have it memorized because the way we talk to our kids. They also learned the expectations at the same time. Now that ability wouldn't be recognized or a regular classroom teacher in English wouldn't know. So there are these things that I observe in our children and realize, Okay, so this is how our kids learn, and that's how everyone can learn to do that. Because I have experienced where older students that took my class a long time ago and want to connect to their maybe they're a pastor, I want to connect to their native people that went to their church and had a tough tough time teaching the way the law teaching. Hey, Western people taught their classes. It just didn't work. So once I changed how I teach my students and how I know they'll learn best, it really works great. Mainly it's listening, listening to their language in full sentences, because like whenever our elders said, we don't talk like this, pencil, paper, tissue, water, we don't talk like that. So it has to be in its full language.

Right, Yes, before I really started exploring how Inupiat speak and teach their children in inupiad, you know, because I went to college, went to Yuliyah and learn how to become a teacher in western form and also taught the language at the community college using that approach. And so I started exploring how did indepid people teach, how did they talk to them? Because the grandma breakdown doesn't work for our students whatsoever. But in the last four years I have been mentoring and guiding my daughter who happens to be an emergent teacher at nor Elementary School for kindergarten, and I watched those students. I observe how they learn. I was just in that classroom yesterday. I usually go there to help teach writing and usually it's one sound in Indipia, and for yesterday it was sha as our sha and you know, having all the works that go with it. But I have watched our native students. They have a great capacity for memory. These are five and six year olds. They don't quite remember how the sound goes, but I'll just say the very beginning and they remembered, and it could be a four inch long word, but they'll get the whole thing. They just need that beginning sound. Yesterday I just called it. That's of learning. It's all memory because when you teach children, we expect them to memorize it, have it memorized because the way we talk to our kids. They also learned the expectations at the same time. Now that ability wouldn't be recognized or a regular classroom teacher in English wouldn't know. So there are these things that I observe in our children and realize, Okay, so this is how our kids learn, and that's how everyone can learn to do that. Because I have experienced where older students that took my class a long time ago and want to connect to their maybe they're a pastor, I want to connect to their native people that went to their church and had a tough tough time teaching the way the law teaching. Hey, Western people taught their classes. It just didn't work. So once I changed how I teach my students and how I know they'll learn best, it really works great. Mainly it's listening, listening to their language in full sentences, because like whenever our elders said, we don't talk like this, pencil, paper, tissue, water, we don't talk like that. So it has to be in its full language.

Yeah, and as you talked about this, So these immersion programs, so there's teaching adults and there's teaching children. And I don't know if it's similar for a nupiach, but among cling It we have some of the first children who are being raised in the language, so they're becoming speakers. They're bilingual speakers. They speak English and they speak cling It. And I know we both studied II as well, and so thinking of conversations that I've had with Larry Kimore, one of the things he talked about, as he said, don't focus on the money, don't focus on the curriculum, don't focus on all these different things that you think are the answers that you need. We focus on as creating a home where your language happens to be the main language.

Yeah, and as you talked about this, So these immersion programs, so there's teaching adults and there's teaching children. And I don't know if it's similar for a nupiach, but among cling It we have some of the first children who are being raised in the language, so they're becoming speakers. They're bilingual speakers. They speak English and they speak cling It. And I know we both studied II as well, and so thinking of conversations that I've had with Larry Kimore, one of the things he talked about, as he said, don't focus on the money, don't focus on the curriculum, don't focus on all these different things that you think are the answers that you need. We focus on as creating a home where your language happens to be the main language.

And then just.

And then just.

Create that home environment and then everyone will feel safe and everyone will eventually start talking. And he also likes to say, let the children be the yeast, because adults who might be frustrated, or adults who might not even be thinking about coming back to the language yet might see a child stand up and talk and that could really inspire them. It could be a medicine for them. So as you talk about this immersion program, are these the first children to be raised speaking in Upiak in a long time?

Create that home environment and then everyone will feel safe and everyone will eventually start talking. And he also likes to say, let the children be the yeast, because adults who might be frustrated, or adults who might not even be thinking about coming back to the language yet might see a child stand up and talk and that could really inspire them. It could be a medicine for them. So as you talk about this immersion program, are these the first children to be raised speaking in Upiak in a long time?

Yes, very long time. The elders we have now had never heard our children speak in UK and speak in a language. And a little story when my oldest daughter was working with some other young people from Greenland and Cana and they were in Kotabu for a language summit. She brought them here and brought them to tell her go meet you know, family and folks and my brother who lives there. I was introducing this four year old little girl from Greenland, and I knew she didn't speak English, just her language, and I know she could pick up some of my words. And I said to her on amna angurah. She understood the word gummik. We were around her in a circle and she looked at all of our shoes. My brother realized, oh my goodness, that little girl understood, and that was the first time he had ever seen a boy year old understand. But you know she's from Greenland. So these children are they are becoming like the first set of speakers. We're always amazed when do we see those children from that first year teaching. They still remember what they've learned. They still want to communicate at the store, a post office, or in a restaurant. They still remain so wow. Yeah.

Yes, very long time. The elders we have now had never heard our children speak in UK and speak in a language. And a little story when my oldest daughter was working with some other young people from Greenland and Cana and they were in Kotabu for a language summit. She brought them here and brought them to tell her go meet you know, family and folks and my brother who lives there. I was introducing this four year old little girl from Greenland, and I knew she didn't speak English, just her language, and I know she could pick up some of my words. And I said to her on amna angurah. She understood the word gummik. We were around her in a circle and she looked at all of our shoes. My brother realized, oh my goodness, that little girl understood, and that was the first time he had ever seen a boy year old understand. But you know she's from Greenland. So these children are they are becoming like the first set of speakers. We're always amazed when do we see those children from that first year teaching. They still remember what they've learned. They still want to communicate at the store, a post office, or in a restaurant. They still remain so wow. Yeah.

And we had some children when our language nests started here and sing it on the and our lands where some of the children, like you were talking earlier about grammar and what do you do with grammar. It's such a difficult thing when it comes to indigenous languages because they're complicated, there's a lot to them. They think very differently than European languages, they construct very differently than a lot of European languages, and so sometimes it's a bit of a seesaw. It's like, how much do especially when you're talking to people who already can speak English and maybe have already thought about how the language works, is you start sort of saying, Okay, you get to change these words around. This one goes here, this one goes there, You've got to say this type of thing that way. But sometimes with children, if you're just trying to create these immersive environments, you might not have to do that. But we had a young person who started just changing the language on his own the way he's supposed to. You could say help me, and then you could say let me help you cut dash, and he was combining them and saying it cut dash, which is sort of like let me help myself, which is not what he was trying to communicate. But as we stayed in the language, it was interesting because we didn't want to correct that child. We want to instead sort of like know what he was communicating and then watch him as he not only tried the language out, but started to work things out in his own mind, which we felt would naturalize because we've had to recreate these language use environments because they were gone, they were taken from us, and so as we did that, we had to be sometimes teachers, but sometimes just a speaker in a place, and so it was really fun. So one of the things I was thinking about earlier is you mentioned when you were young moving from King Island to Gnome, And I think one of the things we might not talk about enough in Alaska is how much displacement can affect people. So if this is your ancestral home and there's the school closes, sometimes people had to just leave. They had to just leave an entire community. And what we're talking about is an island, especially if you go back, and quite a bit. Like it's not like you just jump on an airplane and zoom on over to Nome, you know, And so like getting from King Island to Nome requires is quite a journey. I remember I saw a presentation by a I think it was the child of a school teacher who taught on King Island, and they said the people would they would watch the weather like especially the elders who would really watch the weather and then they would say, okay, we go now, and they would all get in the boats and go to Nome because it was you got across the ocean in boats. And so as people kind of reconnect with the language, do you think they're reconnecting with the place as well.

And we had some children when our language nests started here and sing it on the and our lands where some of the children, like you were talking earlier about grammar and what do you do with grammar. It's such a difficult thing when it comes to indigenous languages because they're complicated, there's a lot to them. They think very differently than European languages, they construct very differently than a lot of European languages, and so sometimes it's a bit of a seesaw. It's like, how much do especially when you're talking to people who already can speak English and maybe have already thought about how the language works, is you start sort of saying, Okay, you get to change these words around. This one goes here, this one goes there, You've got to say this type of thing that way. But sometimes with children, if you're just trying to create these immersive environments, you might not have to do that. But we had a young person who started just changing the language on his own the way he's supposed to. You could say help me, and then you could say let me help you cut dash, and he was combining them and saying it cut dash, which is sort of like let me help myself, which is not what he was trying to communicate. But as we stayed in the language, it was interesting because we didn't want to correct that child. We want to instead sort of like know what he was communicating and then watch him as he not only tried the language out, but started to work things out in his own mind, which we felt would naturalize because we've had to recreate these language use environments because they were gone, they were taken from us, and so as we did that, we had to be sometimes teachers, but sometimes just a speaker in a place, and so it was really fun. So one of the things I was thinking about earlier is you mentioned when you were young moving from King Island to Gnome, And I think one of the things we might not talk about enough in Alaska is how much displacement can affect people. So if this is your ancestral home and there's the school closes, sometimes people had to just leave. They had to just leave an entire community. And what we're talking about is an island, especially if you go back, and quite a bit. Like it's not like you just jump on an airplane and zoom on over to Nome, you know, And so like getting from King Island to Nome requires is quite a journey. I remember I saw a presentation by a I think it was the child of a school teacher who taught on King Island, and they said the people would they would watch the weather like especially the elders who would really watch the weather and then they would say, okay, we go now, and they would all get in the boats and go to Nome because it was you got across the ocean in boats. And so as people kind of reconnect with the language, do you think they're reconnecting with the place as well.

Well, you know, I was born and raised on the east end of Nome. My father had moved his family before I was born, and he knew he wouldn't see me be born, so he moved his family. And the way our family structure goes, we have partner cousins and teasing cousins. Well, his teasing cousin moved too. He moved his family to help my mother when he wasn't around anymore, because you know, they still really lived in that are males being the hunters and the providers for the family. And I've also noticed in the last few years my generation, we were the first generation to be raised away from King Island, but they did it like we still lived on King Island, our language and everything. But it wasn't until two thousand and five when I went there with a group of other people, elders, especially my older brothers and sisters. The language finally came home, that's where it came from. They also said words that are only said there, and so my generation we had to listen and then we ask what does that mean? Because there are words that only pertained to a place where it's there's al not flat land. So we were I was quite surprised by that and made sure I recorded all that. I wrote them down, and so you know, even though they just spoke to us in being raised here and know there were some words that weren't couldn't be said here on flat land.

Well, you know, I was born and raised on the east end of Nome. My father had moved his family before I was born, and he knew he wouldn't see me be born, so he moved his family. And the way our family structure goes, we have partner cousins and teasing cousins. Well, his teasing cousin moved too. He moved his family to help my mother when he wasn't around anymore, because you know, they still really lived in that are males being the hunters and the providers for the family. And I've also noticed in the last few years my generation, we were the first generation to be raised away from King Island, but they did it like we still lived on King Island, our language and everything. But it wasn't until two thousand and five when I went there with a group of other people, elders, especially my older brothers and sisters. The language finally came home, that's where it came from. They also said words that are only said there, and so my generation we had to listen and then we ask what does that mean? Because there are words that only pertained to a place where it's there's al not flat land. So we were I was quite surprised by that and made sure I recorded all that. I wrote them down, and so you know, even though they just spoke to us in being raised here and know there were some words that weren't couldn't be said here on flat land.

Wow, that's amazing. And one of the things I think about as well is you're an elder, you're a respected elder, you're a respected teacher. You've made incredible contributions throughout the entire state of Alaska in language reclamation movements, and you're always continuing to try and improve yourself and improve situations for all languages in Alaska. And I think if we go back maybe one generation from you, probably everybody spoke right. And then we look at your generation and it gets less, and we look at the generation after and it goes way down. So were there things that you had to do to hold on to your languge which while you were growing up and while you were yourself going to school.

Wow, that's amazing. And one of the things I think about as well is you're an elder, you're a respected elder, you're a respected teacher. You've made incredible contributions throughout the entire state of Alaska in language reclamation movements, and you're always continuing to try and improve yourself and improve situations for all languages in Alaska. And I think if we go back maybe one generation from you, probably everybody spoke right. And then we look at your generation and it gets less, and we look at the generation after and it goes way down. So were there things that you had to do to hold on to your languge which while you were growing up and while you were yourself going to school.

Yes, I was very fortunate my grandmother, my mother's mother, who raised me because my mom, you know, went away from medical care, had to be away from home. She was very strict. English was not allowed in her home. And my older brothers, when they start learning English in school, they came home to try to speak to me in English, but she would scold them and say, no, she'll learn when she goes to school. And that's exactly what happened. She was very, very insistent that English was not spoken in her home, so, you know, and she raised me in her seventies, and it was always the language of the home, the language of our community on the east end of Nome. In fact, there was like maybe almost twenty fifteen years where on the east end of Nome where Kingandan people settled, that was all in the Piank and then by when you walk to town and maybe half a mile away, it turns to English. And we always knew growing up or we can hear Innipiak and where we can learn English. Wow.

Yes, I was very fortunate my grandmother, my mother's mother, who raised me because my mom, you know, went away from medical care, had to be away from home. She was very strict. English was not allowed in her home. And my older brothers, when they start learning English in school, they came home to try to speak to me in English, but she would scold them and say, no, she'll learn when she goes to school. And that's exactly what happened. She was very, very insistent that English was not spoken in her home, so, you know, and she raised me in her seventies, and it was always the language of the home, the language of our community on the east end of Nome. In fact, there was like maybe almost twenty fifteen years where on the east end of Nome where Kingandan people settled, that was all in the Piank and then by when you walk to town and maybe half a mile away, it turns to English. And we always knew growing up or we can hear Innipiak and where we can learn English. Wow.

And I think a lot of people are probably trying to bring the language back into the home and so like, as folks say, because I think I read there's a scholar and a linguist and an activist named Barbara Meek, and she wrote a book called We Are Our Language And there was a section in that book where she basically said, twenty years ago, the language was in the home and never in the school. This is she was talking about Kaska, the Kaska language. Then she said, now the language is in the school and not in the home. So what do you think we need to do to bridge that to sort of bring our languages back into our homes again.

And I think a lot of people are probably trying to bring the language back into the home and so like, as folks say, because I think I read there's a scholar and a linguist and an activist named Barbara Meek, and she wrote a book called We Are Our Language And there was a section in that book where she basically said, twenty years ago, the language was in the home and never in the school. This is she was talking about Kaska, the Kaska language. Then she said, now the language is in the school and not in the home. So what do you think we need to do to bridge that to sort of bring our languages back into our homes again.

Well, I think as we're working with the young ones kindergarten, first second grade or even a language nest, trying to work towards for early head start and head start here with Quirk, we do need to have the parents and the guardians if they need to offer them some classes and or offer how you can understand this person the way my daughter does it. You know that whole generation is media ready. They're ready with technology. Especially at the beginning of the year, she will contact the parents of her students for their names, their traditional names and make sure somebody from Saint Larnce Island or somebody from Philippines or from tell her and want to say the name right, So she'll record the parent saying the name, and we have to practice how to say it correctly in her classroom. So we make great efforts to do that. And what happens then is the child goes home with the language they've learned and they teach their family how to do that. So they become our seeds of spreading the language that way. Yeah, so they become the teachers.

Well, I think as we're working with the young ones kindergarten, first second grade or even a language nest, trying to work towards for early head start and head start here with Quirk, we do need to have the parents and the guardians if they need to offer them some classes and or offer how you can understand this person the way my daughter does it. You know that whole generation is media ready. They're ready with technology. Especially at the beginning of the year, she will contact the parents of her students for their names, their traditional names and make sure somebody from Saint Larnce Island or somebody from Philippines or from tell her and want to say the name right, So she'll record the parent saying the name, and we have to practice how to say it correctly in her classroom. So we make great efforts to do that. And what happens then is the child goes home with the language they've learned and they teach their family how to do that. So they become our seeds of spreading the language that way. Yeah, so they become the teachers.

Yep, yep, they become the teacher. They become the seed, they become the yeast. And so as you folks are doing this work, I really hope that you're seeing those seeds growing into plants, growing into more and more and just like being parts of these changes that are going to result in healthy languages. Again, we're going to take a short break and we'll be right back. I'm so excited to be here with Yayoka talking about language reclamation movements and what's going on up on the northwestern parts of Alaska. We'll be right back.

Yep, yep, they become the teacher. They become the seed, they become the yeast. And so as you folks are doing this work, I really hope that you're seeing those seeds growing into plants, growing into more and more and just like being parts of these changes that are going to result in healthy languages. Again, we're going to take a short break and we'll be right back. I'm so excited to be here with Yayoka talking about language reclamation movements and what's going on up on the northwestern parts of Alaska. We'll be right back.

One or two or three times.

One or two or three times.

You try any.

You try any.

Rounds you run around without joy. Struggle yesterday, you struggle still today now, but you'll find a broader away my brother and sisters. Don't you know what about the way to wait back.

Rounds you run around without joy. Struggle yesterday, you struggle still today now, but you'll find a broader away my brother and sisters. Don't you know what about the way to wait back.

For those who came.

For those who came.

Believe in yourself, now believe in us. Somehow, Donna declasy.

Believe in yourself, now believe in us. Somehow, Donna declasy.

And we're back with Yay who teaches in Gnome and who is a teacher of the teachers, which is a really wonderful role. As you go along in your work, you're going to see people that you probably taught who are becoming teachers themselves, and then they'll teach others as these languages move towards intergenerational communication, which is really exciting to see generations of learners becoming generations of speakers becoming generations of teachers. So one of the things that I think about a lot as well is how people sometimes need healing to reconnect with their languages. And one of the most powerful things I've ever seen was there was you and a group of folks I think Waukie Charles and Annette Evan Smith and April Councilor and Dolores Churchill doing work with the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council. And I believe it was that the Alaska Federation of Natives, which is the largest gathering of Alaska natives. It happens every year in October, and you folks took an opportunity to apologize to folks for not being able to access their language, to not being able to learn it. And it felt like a real invitation to heal, not like you were taking responsibility for all the attempted genocide and all the other things that might have kept them away from their own languages, but just to open that door for healing. So I was hoping you could share that experience, how it came about, and what it felt like to be up there orchestrating this wonderful movement.

And we're back with Yay who teaches in Gnome and who is a teacher of the teachers, which is a really wonderful role. As you go along in your work, you're going to see people that you probably taught who are becoming teachers themselves, and then they'll teach others as these languages move towards intergenerational communication, which is really exciting to see generations of learners becoming generations of speakers becoming generations of teachers. So one of the things that I think about a lot as well is how people sometimes need healing to reconnect with their languages. And one of the most powerful things I've ever seen was there was you and a group of folks I think Waukie Charles and Annette Evan Smith and April Councilor and Dolores Churchill doing work with the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council. And I believe it was that the Alaska Federation of Natives, which is the largest gathering of Alaska natives. It happens every year in October, and you folks took an opportunity to apologize to folks for not being able to access their language, to not being able to learn it. And it felt like a real invitation to heal, not like you were taking responsibility for all the attempted genocide and all the other things that might have kept them away from their own languages, but just to open that door for healing. So I was hoping you could share that experience, how it came about, and what it felt like to be up there orchestrating this wonderful movement.

Well, you know, in state of Alaska, I had that Bilingual multicultural conference every year while I was a bilingual by cultural teacher and EESL teacher, Mike Travis. He would put that conference together with a committee of course, and every time that very first morning, everybody comes in, we all get quiet, seven hundred, eight hundred people at the ballroom, and the first thing he would do is ask people, if you're from Anchorage, stand up. Everybody would stand up. If you had to drive to get here, stand up, So he did that. Then he finally gets to the part of if you had to fly here, please stand up, and we all felt honored every time he did that, and I thought about, well, what about if we put this in a different context where people felt honored, where people felt acknowledged and recognized. So that was my first thought with that activity. So this was a way of honoring our elders because there's that portion where wait a minute, they're the ones that suffered, you know, my generation. I never said anything. I was too scared, but I know other people that have spoken the language in school and got scolded for it, and I didn't want that to happen to me. But I know there were elders and older speakers that were discouraged from speaking the language in the school and punished heavily for that, and then not wanting to have their own children experience that hurt. And so this was a way to honor them. This was a way to acknowledge their experience and to recognize their past experience of hurt. So I framed it so it would happen with Oh I remember now. I first did it with the King Island Native Community with their corporation meeting. I was really you know, because corporation meetings they tend to get kind of at each other throat sometimes, so I wanted to put it in a setting where people start working together. So with that, that's where I put if you're a young person and you have cultural knowledge, step up, and they did. And then the next step was, if you can understand the language, stand up, and they did. And by the time I got to if you can say some of the words and understand, stand up. By the time I got to the last one, and you speak fluently and you can understand fluently and you respond back, stand up. So that's when our elders went up. Lots of tears, of course, but then they felt really honored. They felt like, oh, yes, I'm an important person, because we never get that feeling anyplace else, right, not even from our own people. At times, we want people to feel good. We want people to feel like they're included, they're part of a group. So that's where that started. And then when I did that with AFN, then it was all the you know, native languages in our state, and I wanted the people to feel that they are honored, they are acknowledged and recognize because even for us, as in people raise of the eyebrow when you're passing in the halloway or a no. We don't have to say anything that's acknowledgment. That's like saying hi and hello. We don't have to be verbal. So that was a way to honor all of our people.

Well, you know, in state of Alaska, I had that Bilingual multicultural conference every year while I was a bilingual by cultural teacher and EESL teacher, Mike Travis. He would put that conference together with a committee of course, and every time that very first morning, everybody comes in, we all get quiet, seven hundred, eight hundred people at the ballroom, and the first thing he would do is ask people, if you're from Anchorage, stand up. Everybody would stand up. If you had to drive to get here, stand up, So he did that. Then he finally gets to the part of if you had to fly here, please stand up, and we all felt honored every time he did that, and I thought about, well, what about if we put this in a different context where people felt honored, where people felt acknowledged and recognized. So that was my first thought with that activity. So this was a way of honoring our elders because there's that portion where wait a minute, they're the ones that suffered, you know, my generation. I never said anything. I was too scared, but I know other people that have spoken the language in school and got scolded for it, and I didn't want that to happen to me. But I know there were elders and older speakers that were discouraged from speaking the language in the school and punished heavily for that, and then not wanting to have their own children experience that hurt. And so this was a way to honor them. This was a way to acknowledge their experience and to recognize their past experience of hurt. So I framed it so it would happen with Oh I remember now. I first did it with the King Island Native Community with their corporation meeting. I was really you know, because corporation meetings they tend to get kind of at each other throat sometimes, so I wanted to put it in a setting where people start working together. So with that, that's where I put if you're a young person and you have cultural knowledge, step up, and they did. And then the next step was, if you can understand the language, stand up, and they did. And by the time I got to if you can say some of the words and understand, stand up. By the time I got to the last one, and you speak fluently and you can understand fluently and you respond back, stand up. So that's when our elders went up. Lots of tears, of course, but then they felt really honored. They felt like, oh, yes, I'm an important person, because we never get that feeling anyplace else, right, not even from our own people. At times, we want people to feel good. We want people to feel like they're included, they're part of a group. So that's where that started. And then when I did that with AFN, then it was all the you know, native languages in our state, and I wanted the people to feel that they are honored, they are acknowledged and recognize because even for us, as in people raise of the eyebrow when you're passing in the halloway or a no. We don't have to say anything that's acknowledgment. That's like saying hi and hello. We don't have to be verbal. So that was a way to honor all of our people.

Yeah, and it was wonderful and I think people there were tears. There were It's an emotional journey. I think to sometimes even just step foot in a classroom where they're teaching a language that you're ancestrally connected to, you might not know anything about it, and it's very intimidating. It's scary. There's a fear of failure. I think a lot of languages in Alaska are extremely endangered. So I do worry that sometimes people feel like, well if I fail, then the whole language fails. And so to just be in this environment where we start by recognizing people who can do it, which I feel like we haven't done in our region enough, because when I went to work with the speakers who spoke the language, there were usually people who lived in kind of they didn't live in big houses, they lived in very small places. They lived in they had very humble lives. And I would always think about that. I would think, did we not value what they did for us to keep our language alive. And then publicly sometimes they would come in and people, you know, I would just think to myself, do folks know how much knowledge this person has and what they can give to us? So I think recognizing that is pushing our languages up in value, which you know, we have to do because they've been deliberately devalued through colonization and through racism. But then also in addition to that, to say, and if you don't, we want to connect you. We want to guide you and show you how to get there, because I want to focus on the individual for a second. I think a lot of folks who start to get really close to becoming speakers begin to think more and more that it's impossible because they're getting close. But then I think they start to think of it, it's so complicated, I can't do this and all this other stuff. And so what kind of strategies do you use to keep people encouraged and motivated and believing in themselves as they go on the journey.

Yeah, and it was wonderful and I think people there were tears. There were It's an emotional journey. I think to sometimes even just step foot in a classroom where they're teaching a language that you're ancestrally connected to, you might not know anything about it, and it's very intimidating. It's scary. There's a fear of failure. I think a lot of languages in Alaska are extremely endangered. So I do worry that sometimes people feel like, well if I fail, then the whole language fails. And so to just be in this environment where we start by recognizing people who can do it, which I feel like we haven't done in our region enough, because when I went to work with the speakers who spoke the language, there were usually people who lived in kind of they didn't live in big houses, they lived in very small places. They lived in they had very humble lives. And I would always think about that. I would think, did we not value what they did for us to keep our language alive. And then publicly sometimes they would come in and people, you know, I would just think to myself, do folks know how much knowledge this person has and what they can give to us? So I think recognizing that is pushing our languages up in value, which you know, we have to do because they've been deliberately devalued through colonization and through racism. But then also in addition to that, to say, and if you don't, we want to connect you. We want to guide you and show you how to get there, because I want to focus on the individual for a second. I think a lot of folks who start to get really close to becoming speakers begin to think more and more that it's impossible because they're getting close. But then I think they start to think of it, it's so complicated, I can't do this and all this other stuff. And so what kind of strategies do you use to keep people encouraged and motivated and believing in themselves as they go on the journey.

Well, I guess it would depend on the age, for one thing, because older learners do get embarrassed. And I could tell I was taught how to assess people. My grandmother taught me how to protect myself and also to watch for people that aren't going to be safe. Well, I won't be safe around them. So I can tell when some learners really just need that extra that extra help. And when I was in elementary school, if you know, in a regular the students that are slow and don't have anything to say, we're the ones worth put downs right and then compared to another smarter, faster student. So what I would do is I would go to that learner who is kind of struggling and just sit there and just teach from there and not ask any questions to that person. So I did the same with the adults, and it works, and teach from there and then they'll soon get it really quick, and then they'll become you know, when they have partners, they'll become the teacher. So you know, and that's from my grandmother, that's from having unip as a first language.

Well, I guess it would depend on the age, for one thing, because older learners do get embarrassed. And I could tell I was taught how to assess people. My grandmother taught me how to protect myself and also to watch for people that aren't going to be safe. Well, I won't be safe around them. So I can tell when some learners really just need that extra that extra help. And when I was in elementary school, if you know, in a regular the students that are slow and don't have anything to say, we're the ones worth put downs right and then compared to another smarter, faster student. So what I would do is I would go to that learner who is kind of struggling and just sit there and just teach from there and not ask any questions to that person. So I did the same with the adults, and it works, and teach from there and then they'll soon get it really quick, and then they'll become you know, when they have partners, they'll become the teacher. So you know, and that's from my grandmother, that's from having unip as a first language.

Yeah, And my experience as well as a teacher is sometimes the tears are going to come sometimes that there's going to be these emotional parts of it, and my general approach is not to be afraid of those moments, but to just recognize that as like, this is a healing and this is a reconnection, and sometimes you have to go through this painful part of it, which I think can be very scary for a lot of people to say, I tried to talk and I just cried my way through it. And then sometimes I'll talk to them I say, yeah, but I understood you, and you communicated this thing that maybe you've been waiting your whole life just to be able to do, and and it might not be you know, there's a meme that goes around every year and says it showls like a really big scary person. It says colonization telling us our languages are dying, and it shows someone just kind of dancing in their face and saying, me and my friends learning how to say I like potatoes, right. And so even if you're just learning a little small phrase, like, you're putting yourself on the path and you're keeping yourself on the path. And so for me, I try to look at those emotional moments, I try to talk about healing and reconnection and just say like you might be suffering right now, but the generations after you won't be suffering as much. Like even though it was sort of like increase and suffering, and now it goes decrease and suffering. But I think it has to happen through that reconnection.

Yeah, And my experience as well as a teacher is sometimes the tears are going to come sometimes that there's going to be these emotional parts of it, and my general approach is not to be afraid of those moments, but to just recognize that as like, this is a healing and this is a reconnection, and sometimes you have to go through this painful part of it, which I think can be very scary for a lot of people to say, I tried to talk and I just cried my way through it. And then sometimes I'll talk to them I say, yeah, but I understood you, and you communicated this thing that maybe you've been waiting your whole life just to be able to do, and and it might not be you know, there's a meme that goes around every year and says it showls like a really big scary person. It says colonization telling us our languages are dying, and it shows someone just kind of dancing in their face and saying, me and my friends learning how to say I like potatoes, right. And so even if you're just learning a little small phrase, like, you're putting yourself on the path and you're keeping yourself on the path. And so for me, I try to look at those emotional moments, I try to talk about healing and reconnection and just say like you might be suffering right now, but the generations after you won't be suffering as much. Like even though it was sort of like increase and suffering, and now it goes decrease and suffering. But I think it has to happen through that reconnection.

Right. So my niece who's been helping with teaching math at Maddi's classroom give me a classroom. When we first got started, she actually had to in her mind say it's okay, it's okay to teach math. Sorry, So she had to give herself permission in the language. And for me, I was focused on making sure my daughter was saying things correctly. I just we did it so that the kids didn't get it. If she said something wrong, I just repeat it though it's supposed to be said. But those really smart kids, well say to her by the end of the week, right, your mom was teaching how to say the words correctly, so they figure it out. But my niece, who was just a couple of years younger than me, had to give herself permission, and that was her healing. She had to give herself permission. It's okay, and that's all it takes. It's okay.

Right. So my niece who's been helping with teaching math at Maddi's classroom give me a classroom. When we first got started, she actually had to in her mind say it's okay, it's okay to teach math. Sorry, So she had to give herself permission in the language. And for me, I was focused on making sure my daughter was saying things correctly. I just we did it so that the kids didn't get it. If she said something wrong, I just repeat it though it's supposed to be said. But those really smart kids, well say to her by the end of the week, right, your mom was teaching how to say the words correctly, so they figure it out. But my niece, who was just a couple of years younger than me, had to give herself permission, and that was her healing. She had to give herself permission. It's okay, and that's all it takes. It's okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like I remember being at Navahi in Hawaii and watching the kids do this chant every morning, and as I learned what that chant was. They were asking permission to learn the language from their ancestors and to see, Like, we have generations that were treated so horribly, and we have story after story about people who were physically abused, emotionally abused, that were put into real harm. These are adults who are sometimes beating on children, stuffing things in their mouths, doing the most inhumane things simply because they're speaking their own language. And so with all of that suffering, like, it doesn't just evaporate, it stays. It's intergenerational. But then as we make those reconnections, some of that intergenerational trauma gets released because we look at it and we can see the ways our ancestors love us and hums through the language. As just like you said earlier, it's a pure form of decolonization, it's a pure form of medicine. It's an absolute reconnection with land, place, each other and ancestors and future generation.

Like I remember being at Navahi in Hawaii and watching the kids do this chant every morning, and as I learned what that chant was. They were asking permission to learn the language from their ancestors and to see, Like, we have generations that were treated so horribly, and we have story after story about people who were physically abused, emotionally abused, that were put into real harm. These are adults who are sometimes beating on children, stuffing things in their mouths, doing the most inhumane things simply because they're speaking their own language. And so with all of that suffering, like, it doesn't just evaporate, it stays. It's intergenerational. But then as we make those reconnections, some of that intergenerational trauma gets released because we look at it and we can see the ways our ancestors love us and hums through the language. As just like you said earlier, it's a pure form of decolonization, it's a pure form of medicine. It's an absolute reconnection with land, place, each other and ancestors and future generation.

Right. So even like for my brother who was a Vietnam VET in the Navy, I would send my daughter if it was men men words up for hunting and such, because they have their own you know, whatever they do out there in the hunting boat or even on the land. I don't know those words, so I would send her to him. I went to college, I went to I went and got educated how to write in blah blah blah, but I couldn't do their words. So he would be like, Eh, that's right, he doesn't know. So he was really proud of that, and that made him really proud that she can teach my daughter those words when I couldn't. So we do need to recognize, you know, people like that that don't realize, Yeah they can teach. They think they can't, but they can.

Right. So even like for my brother who was a Vietnam VET in the Navy, I would send my daughter if it was men men words up for hunting and such, because they have their own you know, whatever they do out there in the hunting boat or even on the land. I don't know those words, so I would send her to him. I went to college, I went to I went and got educated how to write in blah blah blah, but I couldn't do their words. So he would be like, Eh, that's right, he doesn't know. So he was really proud of that, and that made him really proud that she can teach my daughter those words when I couldn't. So we do need to recognize, you know, people like that that don't realize, Yeah they can teach. They think they can't, but they can.

Yeah. We had a moment when we were trying to push a bill through because you and I we also do advocacy work at the Capitol with legislators and trying to get them to do more for Alaska Native languages because governments and education and religions in North America did a lot to try and destroy Native American language. So my approach is usually like, okay, it's your guys's turned to bring it the other way now. And so we were working to make Alaska Native languages co official languages of Alaska. And we had someone who approached us, and he was a Vietnam veteran and an educator as and was Paul Berg. He was non Indigenous, and he would be very straightforward. He'd say, well, tell me what you want me to say, because I'm a white male, and they'll listen to me in ways that they won't listen to you and to others. And so he was a really good organizer and he's really good at strategy. And as we're trying to make this final push for you know, we were meeting all kinds of political opposition, and he said, well, what should I do? I said, I don't know, Paul, like, I'm kind of taking this. I'm talking at their heartstrings and I'm talking about keeping languages alive and these historical traumas, and I'm trying to sort of take that approach about what's just the right thing to do.

Yeah. We had a moment when we were trying to push a bill through because you and I we also do advocacy work at the Capitol with legislators and trying to get them to do more for Alaska Native languages because governments and education and religions in North America did a lot to try and destroy Native American language. So my approach is usually like, okay, it's your guys's turned to bring it the other way now. And so we were working to make Alaska Native languages co official languages of Alaska. And we had someone who approached us, and he was a Vietnam veteran and an educator as and was Paul Berg. He was non Indigenous, and he would be very straightforward. He'd say, well, tell me what you want me to say, because I'm a white male, and they'll listen to me in ways that they won't listen to you and to others. And so he was a really good organizer and he's really good at strategy. And as we're trying to make this final push for you know, we were meeting all kinds of political opposition, and he said, well, what should I do? I said, I don't know, Paul, like, I'm kind of taking this. I'm talking at their heartstrings and I'm talking about keeping languages alive and these historical traumas, and I'm trying to sort of take that approach about what's just the right thing to do.

Now.

Now.

We had an elder who was there who was talking about growing up in a boarding school and being restricted from speaking her language and being punished, and she was giving the emotional trauma of that, and I said, so, what do you think you should do? He's like, well, let me think about it. And he came back he says, I think I know what to do, and he gave this stirring testimony about being a Vietnam veteran himself and coming back and not being recognized because people protested the war, and he was saying, well, we didn't we didn't want to go, and we were drafted. And then how there was a small ceremony to recognize them, and how valuable it was to be seen and to be heard, and it it just it struck a chord with a lot of people. And so I really like what you're saying about. So many people need to work together and to push this thing, because what I think happens when you have language reclamation is you start to become more whole again, because colonization likes to divide everything into parts so it can kind of control them. But if you come back to the sense of wholeness, you can get words from people that you know would be so happy to contribute, and you could learn all this stuff and you could not say, I don't know how to say that, but that person over there does. And it becomes less competitive and more collaborative, which is always fun.

We had an elder who was there who was talking about growing up in a boarding school and being restricted from speaking her language and being punished, and she was giving the emotional trauma of that, and I said, so, what do you think you should do? He's like, well, let me think about it. And he came back he says, I think I know what to do, and he gave this stirring testimony about being a Vietnam veteran himself and coming back and not being recognized because people protested the war, and he was saying, well, we didn't we didn't want to go, and we were drafted. And then how there was a small ceremony to recognize them, and how valuable it was to be seen and to be heard, and it it just it struck a chord with a lot of people. And so I really like what you're saying about. So many people need to work together and to push this thing, because what I think happens when you have language reclamation is you start to become more whole again, because colonization likes to divide everything into parts so it can kind of control them. But if you come back to the sense of wholeness, you can get words from people that you know would be so happy to contribute, and you could learn all this stuff and you could not say, I don't know how to say that, but that person over there does. And it becomes less competitive and more collaborative, which is always fun.

Right. Yeah. And I know students, young students, they listen differently to somebody a little bit older than them, maybe a high school kid or you know a brand new teacher, very young, they will respond differently to that person than they would to be. So I will ask the younger generations, can you go talk to this blah blah, because they'll listen to you, And just saying that part to that person they'll listen to you is usually the key for them be like, oh, at first, nervous, wonderful.

Right. Yeah. And I know students, young students, they listen differently to somebody a little bit older than them, maybe a high school kid or you know a brand new teacher, very young, they will respond differently to that person than they would to be. So I will ask the younger generations, can you go talk to this blah blah, because they'll listen to you, And just saying that part to that person they'll listen to you is usually the key for them be like, oh, at first, nervous, wonderful.

We're gonna take another break, folks, We're going to come back and we're going to talk about the future of indigenous languages in Alaska in particular. But I think the conversation can apply to a lot of different places where indigenous languages are reconnecting with the people and coming back to a place of strength. So cheesh, we'll be right back.

We're gonna take another break, folks, We're going to come back and we're going to talk about the future of indigenous languages in Alaska in particular. But I think the conversation can apply to a lot of different places where indigenous languages are reconnecting with the people and coming back to a place of strength. So cheesh, we'll be right back.

Yah yah, God.

Yah yah, God.

God kinda.

God kinda.

Years away, we are back.

Years away, we are back.

So one of the things that I was thinking about was Alaska is home to twenty three known indigenous languages. I would say one or two of them are in a safe place. All the others are not in a safe place. The majority of them probably have fewer than one hundred speakers. Is quite a few that have probably fewer than ten speakers left, and so we're at a real crisis point in Alaska that maybe I personally get frustrated that it's not more of a central issue for a lot of people, politicians, some of our own leaders, some of our own educators. But as we sort of think, like, if we're successful in our work advocating, teaching, making change, what kinds of things need to continue to change in order for all of these languages to thrive.

So one of the things that I was thinking about was Alaska is home to twenty three known indigenous languages. I would say one or two of them are in a safe place. All the others are not in a safe place. The majority of them probably have fewer than one hundred speakers. Is quite a few that have probably fewer than ten speakers left, and so we're at a real crisis point in Alaska that maybe I personally get frustrated that it's not more of a central issue for a lot of people, politicians, some of our own leaders, some of our own educators. But as we sort of think, like, if we're successful in our work advocating, teaching, making change, what kinds of things need to continue to change in order for all of these languages to thrive.

That's a huge question. I think the first thing, though, is to still focus on the small children, because they're the ones growing up in the language, and the language is organic, it's what they've learned. And because I noticed in helping to translate them, for example, the math curriculum for first grade, some of the words we've had to talk to other people to be in agreement with what we're going to call this shape such and such, you know, because we don't have words for rombus and those kind of things. We had to create some words. And as my daughter was teaching the class and in those concepts that we had translated, I could tell the students own those words. There's word ownership, It belonged to them. That's how they've learned it. So they are the key, you know.

That's a huge question. I think the first thing, though, is to still focus on the small children, because they're the ones growing up in the language, and the language is organic, it's what they've learned. And because I noticed in helping to translate them, for example, the math curriculum for first grade, some of the words we've had to talk to other people to be in agreement with what we're going to call this shape such and such, you know, because we don't have words for rombus and those kind of things. We had to create some words. And as my daughter was teaching the class and in those concepts that we had translated, I could tell the students own those words. There's word ownership, It belonged to them. That's how they've learned it. So they are the key, you know.

Yeah, absolutely, one time I think I was teaching a group of preschoolers, and I hadn't had a whole lot of experience teaching really young kids. At this point. We've been doing family age link it and learning with adults. And I said, Okay, we're going to say this word. This word is pretty hard to say ash and they all just said it and I said, or it isn't. I guess it isn't right. And so there's also these sort of points where their mind is ready for language learning. And also there's a little bit less of the hesitation that sometimes you get with it adults, because they don't realize I don't think everything is kind of on the line whether or not they talk or not. And so for them, I think they can come at it without as much trauma. And that's not to say that it's too late for the adults or they can't do it. It's just saying we have to take a different approach with the kids as with the adults. But if we get these kids speaking, now the adults have someone to talk to. Now the adults say, oh, look I should learn this, so I could learn right along with them. And I think when we look at what happened in HAVII, I think the children help to lead people back, and it's such a wonderful idea to say, Okay, we know that there's trauma, we know that there's pain. We'll look at these children and they could bring us back to this place where there's not as much of that, and then you can talk and it's a lot more fun because if you make a mistake, it's not a big deal at all. It's just part of learning. And so, yeah, it's wonderful to have the children leading the way.

Yeah, absolutely, one time I think I was teaching a group of preschoolers, and I hadn't had a whole lot of experience teaching really young kids. At this point. We've been doing family age link it and learning with adults. And I said, Okay, we're going to say this word. This word is pretty hard to say ash and they all just said it and I said, or it isn't. I guess it isn't right. And so there's also these sort of points where their mind is ready for language learning. And also there's a little bit less of the hesitation that sometimes you get with it adults, because they don't realize I don't think everything is kind of on the line whether or not they talk or not. And so for them, I think they can come at it without as much trauma. And that's not to say that it's too late for the adults or they can't do it. It's just saying we have to take a different approach with the kids as with the adults. But if we get these kids speaking, now the adults have someone to talk to. Now the adults say, oh, look I should learn this, so I could learn right along with them. And I think when we look at what happened in HAVII, I think the children help to lead people back, and it's such a wonderful idea to say, Okay, we know that there's trauma, we know that there's pain. We'll look at these children and they could bring us back to this place where there's not as much of that, and then you can talk and it's a lot more fun because if you make a mistake, it's not a big deal at all. It's just part of learning. And so, yeah, it's wonderful to have the children leading the way.

Right, yes, and so on. That other coin on piece of that thought is teacher training how to teach a language, because when bilingual by Education first started in our state, pretty much bluent speakers are plucked off the street and asked to teach no trainee, no you know on how to teach language, because there's you can yeah, you can speak, but it's a completely different thing to know how to teach the language. And so I think that's another critical piece for our future, our young people that are learning the language at the same time and learning how to teach. That's why mentorship is so important for these young teachers, for the learners especially to make it a successful program.

Right, yes, and so on. That other coin on piece of that thought is teacher training how to teach a language, because when bilingual by Education first started in our state, pretty much bluent speakers are plucked off the street and asked to teach no trainee, no you know on how to teach language, because there's you can yeah, you can speak, but it's a completely different thing to know how to teach the language. And so I think that's another critical piece for our future, our young people that are learning the language at the same time and learning how to teach. That's why mentorship is so important for these young teachers, for the learners especially to make it a successful program.

Yeah, absolutely, And so one of the things on the practical side that groups of us are trying to do is say, let's make a master's degree in teaching indigenous languages, so you could become you get a master's degree in education, So let's make one indigenous language education, and then let's encourage people to try that and then to learn from each other. Because you and I speak and teach different languages, but that doesn't mean we can't learn so much from each other. I learned from all kinds of language teachers all the time because I listen to what they say and to their approach, and we run into very similar things. And part of that is putting adults into a situation where they're going to have to just try something and probably get it really wrong, like probably be way off. And we all need to understand these adults are not going to sound like high fluency people who grew up in the language. But if we give them the time and space and safety to encourage them to use it and to focus on what they're trying to say instead of what's right or wrong, then I think we open the door for their own language learning as well. So, yeah, so children leading the way teacher education, and I think also probably trying to push Alaska Native languages to be more towards the center of education. So I remember I said, you know, everybody who graduates high school should take one semester of an Alaska Native language. And somebody said, well, you can't make people learn stuff. I said, well, I didn't know that math was an option I was going to school, and I didn't know that history was an option. So I think there'll be a it'll be jarring for a little bit, but it'll naturalize over time.

Yeah, absolutely, And so one of the things on the practical side that groups of us are trying to do is say, let's make a master's degree in teaching indigenous languages, so you could become you get a master's degree in education, So let's make one indigenous language education, and then let's encourage people to try that and then to learn from each other. Because you and I speak and teach different languages, but that doesn't mean we can't learn so much from each other. I learned from all kinds of language teachers all the time because I listen to what they say and to their approach, and we run into very similar things. And part of that is putting adults into a situation where they're going to have to just try something and probably get it really wrong, like probably be way off. And we all need to understand these adults are not going to sound like high fluency people who grew up in the language. But if we give them the time and space and safety to encourage them to use it and to focus on what they're trying to say instead of what's right or wrong, then I think we open the door for their own language learning as well. So, yeah, so children leading the way teacher education, and I think also probably trying to push Alaska Native languages to be more towards the center of education. So I remember I said, you know, everybody who graduates high school should take one semester of an Alaska Native language. And somebody said, well, you can't make people learn stuff. I said, well, I didn't know that math was an option I was going to school, and I didn't know that history was an option. So I think there'll be a it'll be jarring for a little bit, but it'll naturalize over time.

Right right. So that goes to the third peg of this, which is developing language resources for the teachers for the kids to use, because we're doing all three all at the same time, all of the time. You know. Unfortunately, we do have someone that helps us to translate the math cric alem and also writing cartoon scripts. And also I had him translating our stories here at EhP for them to be printed in the language. They're already in English from the nineties. So I think that's another really important piece on how to make this work, to have their resources available readily available.

Right right. So that goes to the third peg of this, which is developing language resources for the teachers for the kids to use, because we're doing all three all at the same time, all of the time. You know. Unfortunately, we do have someone that helps us to translate the math cric alem and also writing cartoon scripts. And also I had him translating our stories here at EhP for them to be printed in the language. They're already in English from the nineties. So I think that's another really important piece on how to make this work, to have their resources available readily available.

Absolutely, as schools in Alaska operate differently because they're in different places, but they are often quite colonial in their structure and their approach and their curriculum and their delivery. And so one of the things that we've also been proposing through the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council and then I've been saying it individually, is trying to advocate for a statewide Alaska Native Language Schools Board basically or consortium, so that these language schools and programs are linked by the fact that they're doing something other than English, and by the fact that they're trying to teach through indigenous languages. So to use indigenous languages as a medium of education. We just had to create a poster to talk about the water cycle and evaporation and all this other stuff which we can talk about, but sometimes we've got to figure out how to get there, and we have to construct some things. Us talking with the legislator and I said, we weren't allowed to be part of conversations. Our language was actively prohibited. It was a egal mm hmm, and so we weren't allowed to be in these conversations about science and technology and other things that the world got to talk about. And so we might need to do some work, and I think we could really benefit by working together more and having annual conferences so that someone could say, did you guys translate geometry yet, how'd you handle this thing? How'd you handle that thing? And we can gain ideas from each other so that we don't have to reinvent it every time, but we do this in a collaborative way, right.

Absolutely, as schools in Alaska operate differently because they're in different places, but they are often quite colonial in their structure and their approach and their curriculum and their delivery. And so one of the things that we've also been proposing through the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council and then I've been saying it individually, is trying to advocate for a statewide Alaska Native Language Schools Board basically or consortium, so that these language schools and programs are linked by the fact that they're doing something other than English, and by the fact that they're trying to teach through indigenous languages. So to use indigenous languages as a medium of education. We just had to create a poster to talk about the water cycle and evaporation and all this other stuff which we can talk about, but sometimes we've got to figure out how to get there, and we have to construct some things. Us talking with the legislator and I said, we weren't allowed to be part of conversations. Our language was actively prohibited. It was a egal mm hmm, and so we weren't allowed to be in these conversations about science and technology and other things that the world got to talk about. And so we might need to do some work, and I think we could really benefit by working together more and having annual conferences so that someone could say, did you guys translate geometry yet, how'd you handle this thing? How'd you handle that thing? And we can gain ideas from each other so that we don't have to reinvent it every time, but we do this in a collaborative way, right.

Yeah, Our whole lifestyle is all about process. Science is about process and knowing that our numbering system is math in itself. Amazing what our people have had to invent, you know, and what they've had to create, our people in a language that comes with it.