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>> [NOISE]
Hello, everyone.

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Welcome. I'm Kathy Wagner

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in the English department

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and one of the
coordinators

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of environmental
research clusters.

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It's been a
wonderful couple of

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days with all the
participants in

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the Virginia extinction,

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contesting extinction
symposium.

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Thanks for coming
out today.

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We've had a wonderful tour

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[NOISE] from

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George iron strap in
Keras Drosophila,

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the center of the
written work exhibition

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that's over
there right now.

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If you haven't
seen it already,

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I really encourage
you to go check it

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out after this
presentation.

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Right now I'm
going to welcome

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Wesley Leonard,

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who we are very
delighted to have here.

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He teaches at
UC, Riverside.

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He is a member of

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the Miami tribe who
happened to grow

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in Oxford and is

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a really
fascinating scholar

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who works on issues
of extinction,

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concepts of extinction,

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contesting contexts of

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extinction, both
cultural, linguistic.

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Especially with regard to

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the Miami Tribe of

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Oklahoma. Thank
you very much.

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Please welcome

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Wesley Leonard

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[APPLAUSE]. [FOREIGN].

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>> Hello everybody. It's
good to see you all

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today. I'm Wesley Leonard.

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As Kathy was saying,

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I'm specifically a citizen

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of the Miami Tribe
of Oklahoma.

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I'm here to talk
about language,

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but I'm also here
to talk about

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broader issues

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that surround
language use or in

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some ways can inhibit

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language use if
not corrected.

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I think that most of you

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already know
the basic story

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of language in
my community,

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but in case you don't,
I'm going to give

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a very quick overview.

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It goes something
like this.

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Our community language
Miami Outalenge went

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out of use almost
completely

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in the mid-20th century,

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due to effects of

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colonialism and associated

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policies such as removals,

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land theft, and
boarding schools.

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Our languages then labeled

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extinct by linguists
and other scientists

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who until
recently have not

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acknowledge
that indigenous

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peoples not only can,

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but also do reclaim

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languages from
documentation.

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Contesting this
concept of extinction

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or the E word as
we sometimes say,

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Miami people
instead adopted

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the metaphor
of sleeping to

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describe our
language as it

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existed during this
period of dormancy.

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As discussed in the
first presentation

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of this symposium,

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which some of you were
at yesterday morning,

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the reclamation of

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Miami form
documentation has

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been occurring at
the community level

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since the 1990s.

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Today I'm proud to report

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that most
community members,

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again have access to

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Miami Toenge and many use

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it to varying degrees.

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A lot of what
I've prepared for

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this talk emerges from

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my engagement in

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my observations
of this process.

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But also a few points

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about my personal
background

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that I want to
be sure that

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everybody knows
since of course,

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this presentation, like

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all other presentations

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reflects a particular
experiential lens.

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I'm a linguist by
disciplinary training,

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but I've long
been a professor

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of Native
American studies.

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Such a lot of my
professional work

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mixes these approaches.

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Basically, I would
say that I take

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the lived experiences,
the indigenous ideas,

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and the decolonial aims

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of Native
American studies,

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and apply those to the
scientific study of

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language which need not

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exist in a
colonial fashion,

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but very often does.

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I currently have
the privilege

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of doing this work,

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as you heard, at

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the University
of California,

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Riverside where I'm
a faculty member and

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also a guest in the
lands of the Quea,

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Tang, Serrano, and
Lesano peoples.

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However, as you also know,

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a lot of my earlier
experiences,

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my foundational
experiences occurred

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right here in
Oxford where I both

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grew up and attended

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Myaamia mihsi-nipwantiikaan
Miami University,

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from which I graduated
in May of 1998.

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I am deeply honored

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to have been
invited to come

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back and to share my
ideas with all of you.

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It's also, I
must say, very

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nice to be here among

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my tribal
relatives and ENR,

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original homelands
of places

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that I happen to know
through a lot of

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lived personal experiences

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and a place with
which I know

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many other contemporary
Myaamia people

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also maintain strong
relationships.

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I wanted to mention

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that point because
it stands in

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such contrast
to a statement

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made by American author
William Dean House,

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comment is 1897 book
storage from Ohio,

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where he reported
on having witnessed

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my ancestors in

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the first Myaamia
removal in 1846.

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That removal, by the way,

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took place partly on river

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partly by canal,
partly on foot.

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But the area in
question then

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we're looking at is
around Hamilton,

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Ohio, a little bit east
of Hamilton, Ohio.

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The former Miami
in Erie Canal.

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Howells wrote
that he quote,

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"Saw the last of

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the Ohio Indians passing
through the town on

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three canal boats out of

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this land that was to know

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them no more forever."

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This land that
we're on today,

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that was to know us
the Miami people

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no more forever.

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Now it's true as

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this particular
statement does

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not use the term
extinction.

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But I certainly
think that it

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evokes a similarly,

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if you will, final idea

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with the term forever,

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which directly aligns with

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the United States
Indian Removal Act

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signed into law by
Andrew Jackson in 1830.

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I further observe that
physical removal of

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indigenous peoples from
original lands then

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discursively paves the way

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for imagining
indigenous peoples

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as historical
artifacts and

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talking about
us accordingly.

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Framing, if you will,
the original peoples as

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others in our own land
ironically enough.

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The people who
shall we say,

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used to live here and
under this logic,

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don't live here anymore.

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Of course, the problem,

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not so much the problem,

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but the reality is that we

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not only live here,

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we also thrive here and

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we will continue
to live here.

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Indeed, many of us are

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thriving in our community,

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The Myaamia community
is experiencing

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a renaissance of

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the cultural practices
in a founder

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line relationships that

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colonial forces
attempted to dismantle.

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People have often
come to refer to

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this as [inaudible] ,

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the mind is awaken or

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sometimes translated
as Miami awakening.

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It's the story of
the [inaudible] ,

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a guide in many of
my comments today.

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Participating in
my community's

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cultural efforts have
taught me a lot.

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These experiences
have provided

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me with the
tools to contest

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the finality in
house statement

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and in many other
similar statements.

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In recognition that this

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is a diverse audience,

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I'd now like to
provide an overview

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of the broad
and patterns of

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indigenous language
shift that

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Myaamia Omulunge
falls into.

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These patterns
are very often

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talked about with
the term extinct

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and also a set of
similar related concepts

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such as death and loss.

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Indigenous languages,

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in my experience are
very infrequently

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in the broader
global scale

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and certainly in
academia talked

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about using indigenous
conceptualizations

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of those languages.

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Instead, we find a partner

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of using a lot of numbers,

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such as they're about

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7,000 languages in
the world and indeed

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there are about 7,000 as

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demarcated and
named within

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the categories of
Western science.

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There's very
often a trope in

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this conversation
of mentioning that

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most people in the
world speak one

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of relatively
few languages.

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Indeed that's true.

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This particular graph says

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400 languages account for

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95 percent of the
world's population.

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The remaining languages
are spoken by

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only five percent
of people.

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That in itself is
relatively innocuous and

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it is an accurate
description

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00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:26,225
as far as I know.

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Missing however,

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is the larger discourse

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that this tends to
be used within,

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00:08:30,965 --> 00:08:33,170
which then states
that it's normal

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that the smaller languages

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are going to die out.

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That's just part
of modernity.

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Rather I would
argue as part

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00:08:39,830 --> 00:08:41,449
of settler colonialism,

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00:08:41,449 --> 00:08:43,445
of colonization and
of a whole host of

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other reasons that guide

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00:08:45,260 --> 00:08:47,545
contemporary patterns
that we find today.

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But when we say
something like

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language disappears,

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particularly as this frame

257
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is often talked about

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the issue of who

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00:08:54,660 --> 00:08:56,385
if you will disappear
the languages,

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why they are disappearing,

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00:08:58,040 --> 00:08:59,780
what the agents are gets

262
00:08:59,780 --> 00:09:01,760
left out of the discourse.

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00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,380
I've also argued
that what's really

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00:09:03,380 --> 00:09:04,790
neat is a verb
that clearly

265
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identifies the cause of

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00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:07,579
this alleged
disappearance,

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00:09:07,579 --> 00:09:09,665
if you will, or at
least of language shift

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00:09:09,665 --> 00:09:12,110
as the grammatical
subject.

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Because without
identifying that agent,

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00:09:14,870 --> 00:09:16,670
all we're really
doing then is

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this triage to document
these languages

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before they are gone
where the finality of

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00:09:23,810 --> 00:09:26,330
the so-called disappearance
is understood as

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00:09:26,330 --> 00:09:30,209
a natural outcome of
the world's evolution.

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00:09:34,820 --> 00:09:37,290
In fact, indigenous
communities

276
00:09:37,290 --> 00:09:39,285
shifts away from their
original languages,

277
00:09:39,285 --> 00:09:40,815
especially when
it occurs very

278
00:09:40,815 --> 00:09:43,050
quickly as has been
the case recently,

279
00:09:43,050 --> 00:09:45,810
almost always is enveloped

280
00:09:45,810 --> 00:09:48,000
within a whole host
of inequities,

281
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:49,710
which include outright in

282
00:09:49,710 --> 00:09:53,020
egregious violations
of human rights.

283
00:09:54,380 --> 00:09:57,030
I talked about this
particular slide with

284
00:09:57,030 --> 00:09:58,560
a critical lens because I

285
00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:01,395
think this is an approach
that's called for,

286
00:10:01,395 --> 00:10:03,900
partly because
I've seen how

287
00:10:03,900 --> 00:10:04,980
these unrelated ideas

288
00:10:04,980 --> 00:10:06,030
work against
the well-being

289
00:10:06,030 --> 00:10:07,230
of indigenous
individuals and

290
00:10:07,230 --> 00:10:09,000
communities and
also because

291
00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:10,260
many of these facts

292
00:10:10,260 --> 00:10:12,225
are at best
alternative facts.

293
00:10:12,225 --> 00:10:14,670
They are not really
true except through

294
00:10:14,670 --> 00:10:16,140
a particular
logical lens and

295
00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:17,325
the two weeks part is

296
00:10:17,325 --> 00:10:19,665
outright true even
through that lens.

297
00:10:19,665 --> 00:10:22,140
More important,
uncritically accepting

298
00:10:22,140 --> 00:10:26,080
them leads to
poorly-designed policy.

299
00:10:28,550 --> 00:10:31,170
The examples I just showed

300
00:10:31,170 --> 00:10:32,910
align with a deeper
practice of referring

301
00:10:32,910 --> 00:10:34,290
to languages that
are not currently

302
00:10:34,290 --> 00:10:36,270
known or spoken
as extinct even

303
00:10:36,270 --> 00:10:37,560
when there is
potential for future

304
00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:38,790
use because the
language is

305
00:10:38,790 --> 00:10:42,315
documented and claimed
by heritage community.

306
00:10:42,315 --> 00:10:44,640
In many of these
situations,

307
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:46,740
as with Miami community,

308
00:10:46,740 --> 00:10:49,740
this potential is
being realize and yet,

309
00:10:49,740 --> 00:10:51,270
our languages
are sometimes

310
00:10:51,270 --> 00:10:53,980
still referred to
by the E word.

311
00:10:55,220 --> 00:10:57,750
Even worse
perhaps, is when

312
00:10:57,750 --> 00:10:59,415
the whole
indigenous nations

313
00:10:59,415 --> 00:11:00,855
are called extinct

314
00:11:00,855 --> 00:11:03,330
even when members
of the group in

315
00:11:03,330 --> 00:11:06,060
question actively are
stating otherwise.

316
00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:08,710
This is not
particularly unusual.

317
00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,480
I learned among other
things last night when

318
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:13,800
I was revisiting
some details

319
00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:15,030
for this presentation,

320
00:11:15,030 --> 00:11:17,220
that the folks at
dictionary.com

321
00:11:17,220 --> 00:11:19,470
seem to have
missed the memo.

322
00:11:19,470 --> 00:11:24,450
Take a look at this.
I looked up Miami and

323
00:11:24,450 --> 00:11:25,470
interesting I was pleased

324
00:11:25,470 --> 00:11:26,400
that they noted that in

325
00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:27,420
English it can
be pronounced

326
00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:29,310
Miami and also Miami.

327
00:11:29,310 --> 00:11:30,840
Most commonly the town in

328
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:32,190
Oklahoma where
our tribe is

329
00:11:32,190 --> 00:11:33,960
headquartered is
pronounced Miami by

330
00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,435
locals and also
by outsiders.

331
00:11:36,435 --> 00:11:37,980
But I draw your
attention to

332
00:11:37,980 --> 00:11:40,095
the first definition
that's given there.

333
00:11:40,095 --> 00:11:41,040
"A member of

334
00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:42,720
a North American
Indian tribe of the

335
00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,375
Algonquin family,"
So far, okay.

336
00:11:45,375 --> 00:11:47,250
"Formerly located in

337
00:11:47,250 --> 00:11:48,930
Northern Indiana,
Southern Michigan,

338
00:11:48,930 --> 00:11:50,775
and possibly Illinois,

339
00:11:50,775 --> 00:11:55,180
now extinct as a tribe."

340
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,560
You'll see then
that I retrieved

341
00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:02,930
this on March 3rd, 2020.

342
00:12:02,930 --> 00:12:04,220
Specifically, it was about

343
00:12:04,220 --> 00:12:05,630
10:00 PM last night.

344
00:12:05,630 --> 00:12:08,615
[LAUGHTER] This says
something about

345
00:12:08,615 --> 00:12:09,920
my procrastination

346
00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:11,990
in preparing
presentations,

347
00:12:11,990 --> 00:12:13,805
but it also makes the
point that this is not

348
00:12:13,805 --> 00:12:16,800
old this [LAUGHTER]
is very, very recent.

349
00:12:17,350 --> 00:12:19,520
I follow many scholars

350
00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:20,720
who've observed
that controlling

351
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,480
how concepts are framed
and named serves

352
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:24,770
as a means to assert and

353
00:12:24,770 --> 00:12:27,160
maintain control
of others.

354
00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,670
When it comes to how
the indigenous peoples

355
00:12:29,670 --> 00:12:31,065
of these lands
are talked about,

356
00:12:31,065 --> 00:12:32,820
terms like extinction
can be used

357
00:12:32,820 --> 00:12:33,900
intentionally as

358
00:12:33,900 --> 00:12:36,240
tools of elation
and subjugation.

359
00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,745
I further note
importantly that

360
00:12:38,745 --> 00:12:41,250
even when no such
intention exists,

361
00:12:41,250 --> 00:12:42,885
this idea of extinction

362
00:12:42,885 --> 00:12:44,730
nevertheless
supports elation and

363
00:12:44,730 --> 00:12:47,520
subjugation by
discursively reinforcing

364
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,590
a broader colonial goal of

365
00:12:49,590 --> 00:12:51,840
relegating Native
Americans to history,

366
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:53,430
rather than
recognizing as it's

367
00:12:53,430 --> 00:12:57,430
contemporary peoples
who have histories.

368
00:12:57,740 --> 00:13:00,240
That process, that in turn

369
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,295
promotes the erasure
of our needs,

370
00:13:02,295 --> 00:13:03,630
our rights, and
our ways of

371
00:13:03,630 --> 00:13:05,760
knowing, among
other things.

372
00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,160
Stated more generally,
it's very easy to

373
00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:10,575
take advantage of people
if they don't exist.

374
00:13:10,575 --> 00:13:12,510
In one of the ways then

375
00:13:12,510 --> 00:13:14,220
to take advantage
of people is

376
00:13:14,220 --> 00:13:16,260
to use language to

377
00:13:16,260 --> 00:13:18,225
pretend as if
they don't exist.

378
00:13:18,225 --> 00:13:20,310
The problem is that some
people believe that,

379
00:13:20,310 --> 00:13:21,510
because they're looking at

380
00:13:21,510 --> 00:13:24,880
sources such as
dictionary.com.

381
00:13:24,890 --> 00:13:27,420
My goals for the
remainder of

382
00:13:27,420 --> 00:13:30,360
this presentation
really revolve

383
00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:32,415
around two
interrelated parts.

384
00:13:32,415 --> 00:13:33,990
First I want to
critique and

385
00:13:33,990 --> 00:13:35,700
deconstruct this,

386
00:13:35,700 --> 00:13:37,440
what I'm calling damaging

387
00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,360
discourse of extinction.

388
00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,640
Both the term extinction
itself as it's

389
00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:43,620
applied with respect to

390
00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:45,090
language and
cultural practices,

391
00:13:45,090 --> 00:13:47,114
but also the
broader logics

392
00:13:47,114 --> 00:13:49,905
that underlie it's
contemporary usage.

393
00:13:49,905 --> 00:13:53,040
My second and arguably
more important goal is

394
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:54,450
to provide alternatives

395
00:13:54,450 --> 00:13:56,025
to this damaging
discourse,

396
00:13:56,025 --> 00:13:58,320
specifically, ways
of thinking and

397
00:13:58,320 --> 00:13:59,310
acting that align with

398
00:13:59,310 --> 00:14:01,380
indigenous ways
of knowing.

399
00:14:01,380 --> 00:14:03,900
I recognize and I
hope you do as well,

400
00:14:03,900 --> 00:14:05,265
that's simply contesting

401
00:14:05,265 --> 00:14:06,390
problematic discourse,

402
00:14:06,390 --> 00:14:07,875
this is only the start.

403
00:14:07,875 --> 00:14:10,725
Ultimately, we need
to replace them.

404
00:14:10,725 --> 00:14:13,920
This process of replacing
them is what I'm

405
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,710
calling a praxis of
language reclamation.

406
00:14:16,710 --> 00:14:18,705
This is the subtitle
of my talk,

407
00:14:18,705 --> 00:14:21,870
toward a praxis of
language reclamation.

408
00:14:21,870 --> 00:14:24,120
I've realized through
my teaching that

409
00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,580
the term praxis
gets used a lot,

410
00:14:26,580 --> 00:14:27,090
particularly in

411
00:14:27,090 --> 00:14:28,799
the social sciences
and humanities,

412
00:14:28,799 --> 00:14:30,930
but sometimes gets
misunderstood

413
00:14:30,930 --> 00:14:32,400
or used in different ways.

414
00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,335
I want to clarify

415
00:14:34,335 --> 00:14:36,510
that I'm largely using it

416
00:14:36,510 --> 00:14:38,115
in it's very
generic sense,

417
00:14:38,115 --> 00:14:40,380
where it refers to
actual practices as

418
00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:43,050
differentiated from
theoretical ideas.

419
00:14:43,050 --> 00:14:45,210
Or more generally,
the process

420
00:14:45,210 --> 00:14:47,145
by which ideas
are enacted,

421
00:14:47,145 --> 00:14:50,655
embodied, realized,
and so on.

422
00:14:50,655 --> 00:14:52,890
Working within
the critical

423
00:14:52,890 --> 00:14:55,050
social sciences however,

424
00:14:55,050 --> 00:14:58,215
have been influenced by
that particular lens,

425
00:14:58,215 --> 00:14:59,460
and I also thus have

426
00:14:59,460 --> 00:15:01,485
the same critical lens

427
00:15:01,485 --> 00:15:03,600
where in practices
come to refer

428
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:05,520
to an ongoing process

429
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:07,380
of active reflection
that aims

430
00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:08,880
to bring conduct into

431
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,790
alignment with
desirable intentions.

432
00:15:11,790 --> 00:15:14,040
Or as critical education

433
00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,245
scholar Paulo
Freire put it,

434
00:15:16,245 --> 00:15:18,765
praxis is reflection
and action

435
00:15:18,765 --> 00:15:22,080
directed at the structures
to be transformed.

436
00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,120
Many of the structures
in question

437
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,025
here are colonial
structures,

438
00:15:26,025 --> 00:15:29,940
very damaging colonia
constructions.

439
00:15:29,940 --> 00:15:31,920
That's what I
mean by praxis.

440
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:33,885
But language
reclamation is

441
00:15:33,885 --> 00:15:36,720
the footpath that I
really want to focus on.

442
00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:38,895
It's come to my attention

443
00:15:38,895 --> 00:15:40,320
for many years
in linguistics,

444
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:41,430
that there's quite
a bit of work

445
00:15:41,430 --> 00:15:43,065
that's called language
revitalization,

446
00:15:43,065 --> 00:15:44,520
and much of that
work is quite good.

447
00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,860
Many members of
my community

448
00:15:46,860 --> 00:15:49,035
also use the term
revitalization.

449
00:15:49,035 --> 00:15:50,940
But it's also come
to my attention

450
00:15:50,940 --> 00:15:52,470
that too often so-called

451
00:15:52,470 --> 00:15:53,880
language revitalization

452
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:55,980
focuses on the
language itself,

453
00:15:55,980 --> 00:15:59,115
on specifically
linguistic issues.

454
00:15:59,115 --> 00:16:00,570
Language defined to

455
00:16:00,570 --> 00:16:01,650
a particular colonial ends

456
00:16:01,650 --> 00:16:03,750
in many cases
and then misses

457
00:16:03,750 --> 00:16:05,850
the broader issues that

458
00:16:05,850 --> 00:16:08,130
lead to language shift
in the first place.

459
00:16:08,130 --> 00:16:10,320
That broader response is

460
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,885
what I'm calling
language reclamation.

461
00:16:12,885 --> 00:16:14,670
Language reclamation
thus goes

462
00:16:14,670 --> 00:16:15,660
beyond identifying

463
00:16:15,660 --> 00:16:16,650
the colonial
structures and

464
00:16:16,650 --> 00:16:17,955
other factors
that underlie

465
00:16:17,955 --> 00:16:19,260
language shift to instead

466
00:16:19,260 --> 00:16:20,805
actively address

467
00:16:20,805 --> 00:16:23,350
and ideally to
dismantle them.

468
00:16:23,420 --> 00:16:26,565
This includes, but
is not limited to,

469
00:16:26,565 --> 00:16:28,350
claiming and inserting
the right to

470
00:16:28,350 --> 00:16:30,720
speak and to describe
a given language.

471
00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:32,385
That's part of
reclamation.

472
00:16:32,385 --> 00:16:35,250
Describing of course,
includes categorizing,

473
00:16:35,250 --> 00:16:36,360
such as how my community

474
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,775
contested extinct
and instead

475
00:16:38,775 --> 00:16:40,664
asserted our
linguistic sovereignty

476
00:16:40,664 --> 00:16:42,600
by adopting the
term sleeping to

477
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,015
describe me on the
[inaudible] during

478
00:16:45,015 --> 00:16:47,820
its period of silence.

479
00:16:47,820 --> 00:16:51,870
Reclamation entails
identifying and

480
00:16:51,870 --> 00:16:53,040
breaking down the beliefs,

481
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,870
many of which emerged
from the logics of

482
00:16:54,870 --> 00:16:56,880
settler colonialism
that work against

483
00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,550
community language
needs and goals.

484
00:16:59,550 --> 00:17:01,935
Being able and ready

485
00:17:01,935 --> 00:17:03,900
to respond to
naysayers who opined

486
00:17:03,900 --> 00:17:04,770
that our language efforts

487
00:17:04,770 --> 00:17:06,900
are unimportant
or uncritically

488
00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:08,040
predict that
they will not be

489
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,950
successful is part
of reclamation.

490
00:17:10,950 --> 00:17:13,230
Acknowledging
that we who are

491
00:17:13,230 --> 00:17:15,240
members of indigenous
communities sometimes

492
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,385
also hold ideologies
that impede

493
00:17:17,385 --> 00:17:20,745
community language
work and that we must

494
00:17:20,745 --> 00:17:22,185
identify and move beyond

495
00:17:22,185 --> 00:17:25,515
these obstacles is
part of reclamation.

496
00:17:25,515 --> 00:17:28,380
Reclamation is
comprehensive and

497
00:17:28,380 --> 00:17:29,610
calls for what
sometimes in

498
00:17:29,610 --> 00:17:30,885
linguistic science
is called an

499
00:17:30,885 --> 00:17:33,030
ecological approach
or language work,

500
00:17:33,030 --> 00:17:34,680
or an ecological
approach to

501
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:36,930
studying language and
engaging with language.

502
00:17:36,930 --> 00:17:38,460
Of course, from an
indigenous lines,

503
00:17:38,460 --> 00:17:39,240
I don't know how else

504
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:40,725
we could engage
with language,

505
00:17:40,725 --> 00:17:42,750
but the idea of
ecological approach

506
00:17:42,750 --> 00:17:44,730
means study how
language exists in

507
00:17:44,730 --> 00:17:46,950
various environments
and recognizing

508
00:17:46,950 --> 00:17:48,330
those full-fledged
environments

509
00:17:48,330 --> 00:17:49,995
for what they are.

510
00:17:49,995 --> 00:17:51,750
This includes, of course,

511
00:17:51,750 --> 00:17:53,609
cultural, political,
economic,

512
00:17:53,609 --> 00:17:55,560
and other issues
both historical and

513
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,380
contemporary that
underlie language shift.

514
00:17:58,380 --> 00:17:59,790
Reclamation entails

515
00:17:59,790 --> 00:18:01,785
responding to all of them.

516
00:18:01,785 --> 00:18:04,110
It's not putting a
band-aid on the situation,

517
00:18:04,110 --> 00:18:05,250
but rather is addressing

518
00:18:05,250 --> 00:18:07,570
the underlying cause.

519
00:18:08,060 --> 00:18:10,350
In a 2012 paper,

520
00:18:10,350 --> 00:18:11,550
I gave a shorter
definition,

521
00:18:11,550 --> 00:18:13,080
so I wanted to show
that with you as well.

522
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:14,920
I think it
captures the idea.

523
00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:16,880
Reclamation involves
around efforts

524
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:18,830
by a community to claim
its right to speak

525
00:18:18,830 --> 00:18:20,990
a language and to set
associated goals in

526
00:18:20,990 --> 00:18:24,475
response to community
needs and perspectives.

527
00:18:24,475 --> 00:18:27,330
This community needs
and perspectives part

528
00:18:27,330 --> 00:18:28,710
from the lens of
Native American

529
00:18:28,710 --> 00:18:29,760
studies, as I said,

530
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,010
is the program in
which I operate

531
00:18:32,010 --> 00:18:35,665
now should be,
well, common sense.

532
00:18:35,665 --> 00:18:37,430
Certainly not
something that

533
00:18:37,430 --> 00:18:38,600
needs to be specifically

534
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,280
named with a framework

535
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:42,215
such as language
reclamation.

536
00:18:42,215 --> 00:18:44,030
This note and I
imagine you've

537
00:18:44,030 --> 00:18:45,410
all encountered
this situation

538
00:18:45,410 --> 00:18:46,370
where somebody will point

539
00:18:46,370 --> 00:18:47,330
out that common sense

540
00:18:47,330 --> 00:18:50,005
in many cases isn't
particularly common.

541
00:18:50,005 --> 00:18:52,335
This is one of
those situations.

542
00:18:52,335 --> 00:18:53,730
I found that to
be particularly

543
00:18:53,730 --> 00:18:55,380
true when the
idea in question,

544
00:18:55,380 --> 00:18:56,985
the thing that
should be obvious

545
00:18:56,985 --> 00:18:58,800
violates the
power structures

546
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:00,765
within a given society.

547
00:19:00,765 --> 00:19:03,450
Of course indigenous
language work should

548
00:19:03,450 --> 00:19:04,830
respond to indigenous

549
00:19:04,830 --> 00:19:06,745
community needs
and perspectives.

550
00:19:06,745 --> 00:19:08,150
But in many cases, in

551
00:19:08,150 --> 00:19:10,305
my experience, it has not.

552
00:19:10,305 --> 00:19:11,875
Reclamation then

553
00:19:11,875 --> 00:19:13,330
as a concept
then is a way to

554
00:19:13,330 --> 00:19:14,950
point out that process

555
00:19:14,950 --> 00:19:17,480
and to try to change it.

556
00:19:18,980 --> 00:19:21,520
I note within
this statement,

557
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:23,935
there's also a theme
of self-determination,

558
00:19:23,935 --> 00:19:25,240
another major theme

559
00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:26,410
of Native
American studies,

560
00:19:26,410 --> 00:19:27,970
and certainly a concept

561
00:19:27,970 --> 00:19:29,980
that comes up in
indigenous communities,

562
00:19:29,980 --> 00:19:31,390
particularly
here in what's

563
00:19:31,390 --> 00:19:32,995
now the United States.

564
00:19:32,995 --> 00:19:35,035
Self-determination
is very much

565
00:19:35,035 --> 00:19:36,625
embedded in this concept.

566
00:19:36,625 --> 00:19:38,140
But I want to
clarify, of course,

567
00:19:38,140 --> 00:19:40,300
is that
self-determination in

568
00:19:40,300 --> 00:19:43,420
an indigenous way
or in a Miami away,

569
00:19:43,420 --> 00:19:45,760
self-determination
does not necessarily

570
00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,025
mean doing things just
by community members.

571
00:19:48,025 --> 00:19:49,675
It might entail that.

572
00:19:49,675 --> 00:19:52,015
But certainly in the
Miami experience,

573
00:19:52,015 --> 00:19:53,200
it more often entails

574
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:54,580
beneficial
partnerships with

575
00:19:54,580 --> 00:19:57,460
non Miami people to

576
00:19:57,460 --> 00:20:00,460
do the things that we
need and want to do.

577
00:20:00,460 --> 00:20:02,800
Important is that
those partnerships

578
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,015
be done in equitable ways.

579
00:20:05,015 --> 00:20:07,985
In fact, the notion
of interdependence;

580
00:20:07,985 --> 00:20:10,450
healthy interdependence
is very much

581
00:20:10,450 --> 00:20:12,820
an indigenous concept
that I think can come

582
00:20:12,820 --> 00:20:14,245
into indigenous notions

583
00:20:14,245 --> 00:20:16,430
of self-determination.

584
00:20:17,780 --> 00:20:19,920
In summary, then a praxis

585
00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,290
of language reclamation,

586
00:20:21,290 --> 00:20:22,720
is all of this
and it firmly

587
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,280
contests the
underlying issues,

588
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:25,360
the power structures, the

589
00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:26,620
beliefs that
discourse is and so

590
00:20:26,620 --> 00:20:30,155
on of language
"extinction."

591
00:20:30,155 --> 00:20:31,510
I'm putting
extinction there in

592
00:20:31,510 --> 00:20:33,190
quotation marks and

593
00:20:33,190 --> 00:20:35,820
instead fosters
alternatives.

594
00:20:35,820 --> 00:20:37,840
In the remainder of
this talk, I want to

595
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,000
highlight some of
the key themes and

596
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:41,365
associated practices

597
00:20:41,365 --> 00:20:42,370
that I think
are especially

598
00:20:42,370 --> 00:20:43,735
important to this idea

599
00:20:43,735 --> 00:20:45,755
of crafting alternatives.

600
00:20:45,755 --> 00:20:48,220
I note that many of
these have emerged again

601
00:20:48,220 --> 00:20:50,200
from my own experiences
and reclamation,

602
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:51,580
which includes experiences

603
00:20:51,580 --> 00:20:53,110
in Miami community,

604
00:20:53,110 --> 00:20:54,520
as well as quite a bit of

605
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,365
engagement mostly with

606
00:20:56,365 --> 00:20:58,210
smaller indigenous
communities in what's

607
00:20:58,210 --> 00:21:01,460
now California and Oregon.

608
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,130
I also draw from

609
00:21:04,130 --> 00:21:06,400
a number of other
scholar practitioners.

610
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,855
Finally, following
another tenet

611
00:21:08,855 --> 00:21:10,220
of Native
American studies,

612
00:21:10,220 --> 00:21:11,750
I emphasize that
everything that I

613
00:21:11,750 --> 00:21:13,790
say is not meant
to be absolute.

614
00:21:13,790 --> 00:21:15,800
The imposition
of a model is in

615
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,465
itself contradictory

616
00:21:17,465 --> 00:21:19,110
to the notion
of reclamation.

617
00:21:19,110 --> 00:21:21,890
Others offer these
as ideas and

618
00:21:21,890 --> 00:21:23,690
emphasize that
flexibility is

619
00:21:23,690 --> 00:21:25,880
always called for
because guess what?

620
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:27,800
Communities are
not all the

621
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,830
same and they might
have different values.

622
00:21:33,990 --> 00:21:37,285
Point one, out of many.

623
00:21:37,285 --> 00:21:39,340
Reclamation entails
identifying and

624
00:21:39,340 --> 00:21:40,810
contesting colonization

625
00:21:40,810 --> 00:21:42,265
and settler colonialism,

626
00:21:42,265 --> 00:21:43,570
which draw from and

627
00:21:43,570 --> 00:21:47,050
reinforce the discourse
of extinction.

628
00:21:47,050 --> 00:21:50,230
Colonization, in a
very broad sense,

629
00:21:50,230 --> 00:21:52,945
the behaviors, the
ideologies, institutions,

630
00:21:52,945 --> 00:21:54,100
economies, and so on

631
00:21:54,100 --> 00:21:55,659
that maintain
the subjugation

632
00:21:55,659 --> 00:21:56,770
of indigenous peoples or

633
00:21:56,770 --> 00:21:58,555
that start that process,

634
00:21:58,555 --> 00:22:01,765
settler colonialism
being its counterpart.

635
00:22:01,765 --> 00:22:03,835
Everything that
I just said,

636
00:22:03,835 --> 00:22:06,535
but done by newcomers
to a given place that's

637
00:22:06,535 --> 00:22:09,085
already occupied by
original peoples,

638
00:22:09,085 --> 00:22:10,330
as part of a practice of

639
00:22:10,330 --> 00:22:12,910
replacing those
original peoples with

640
00:22:12,910 --> 00:22:13,810
both the individuals

641
00:22:13,810 --> 00:22:15,100
themselves and
particularly with

642
00:22:15,100 --> 00:22:18,650
the ideas of the
colonizing population.

643
00:22:19,530 --> 00:22:22,495
There are a number of
specific themes of

644
00:22:22,495 --> 00:22:25,255
colonization
settler colonialism

645
00:22:25,255 --> 00:22:27,070
that become relevant here,

646
00:22:27,070 --> 00:22:28,210
and I've chosen to list a

647
00:22:28,210 --> 00:22:31,600
few as bullets
in the slide.

648
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,060
One is asserting
insufficiency in

649
00:22:34,060 --> 00:22:36,760
indigenous people's
cultures and languages.

650
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,530
This can occur in

651
00:22:38,530 --> 00:22:39,700
the form of a
comment that says,

652
00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:40,810
"Well, that
language can't be

653
00:22:40,810 --> 00:22:42,010
used for whatever."

654
00:22:42,010 --> 00:22:44,515
This, by the way,
is a basic fallacy,

655
00:22:44,515 --> 00:22:46,990
something that's
outright untrue,

656
00:22:46,990 --> 00:22:49,510
or insufficiency

657
00:22:49,510 --> 00:22:50,935
in language
reclamation efforts,

658
00:22:50,935 --> 00:22:52,495
"They'll never really
learn their language."

659
00:22:52,495 --> 00:22:55,255
Something like that.
This is quite common.

660
00:22:55,255 --> 00:22:57,970
Genocide and removal.

661
00:22:57,970 --> 00:22:59,800
Relatively obvious

662
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,214
and very relatively
egregious.

663
00:23:02,214 --> 00:23:04,270
The imposition of and

664
00:23:04,270 --> 00:23:06,580
the naturalization
of newcomers needs,

665
00:23:06,580 --> 00:23:09,100
wants, and ways of
engaging with the world.

666
00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:10,570
This includes ways of

667
00:23:10,570 --> 00:23:12,010
assessing
language and what

668
00:23:12,010 --> 00:23:13,030
counts as a language,

669
00:23:13,030 --> 00:23:15,055
or what counts as
valuable language use,

670
00:23:15,055 --> 00:23:16,960
what a language is
for, and so on.

671
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,550
I'll say a little bit
more about this later.

672
00:23:21,180 --> 00:23:25,615
Extinction, of course,
in similar discourses.

673
00:23:25,615 --> 00:23:28,945
Long with a notion
then of empty lands.

674
00:23:28,945 --> 00:23:31,000
Empty lands are easier
to colonize than

675
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,205
lands that have nations
already in them.

676
00:23:33,205 --> 00:23:34,810
If we can't ignore
the existence

677
00:23:34,810 --> 00:23:36,775
of those nations,
then maybe we,

678
00:23:36,775 --> 00:23:39,460
the colonial colonizers,

679
00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:42,685
can get what we want
or so the logic goes.

680
00:23:42,685 --> 00:23:45,415
I wanted to draw
particular attention

681
00:23:45,415 --> 00:23:47,530
to a couple of
named concepts

682
00:23:47,530 --> 00:23:48,730
that were described in

683
00:23:48,730 --> 00:23:50,140
a 2017 paper by

684
00:23:50,140 --> 00:23:52,195
Chickasaw linguists,
Jenny Davis.

685
00:23:52,195 --> 00:23:54,910
These are linguistic
extraction and

686
00:23:54,910 --> 00:23:57,069
the erasure of
colonial agency

687
00:23:57,069 --> 00:23:59,840
in indigenous
language shift.

688
00:23:59,940 --> 00:24:02,110
I could try to
summarize this,

689
00:24:02,110 --> 00:24:03,670
but Jenny Davis said
it so well that

690
00:24:03,670 --> 00:24:05,425
I'm just going to
quote her at length.

691
00:24:05,425 --> 00:24:08,465
Again, this is from
her 2017 paper

692
00:24:08,465 --> 00:24:11,130
known as or
called resisting

693
00:24:11,130 --> 00:24:13,605
rhetorics of language
endangerment:

694
00:24:13,605 --> 00:24:15,225
Reclamation through

695
00:24:15,225 --> 00:24:17,850
indigenous language
survivance.

696
00:24:17,850 --> 00:24:19,695
This is what
she has to say

697
00:24:19,695 --> 00:24:21,635
about linguistic
extraction.

698
00:24:21,635 --> 00:24:23,725
She notes that
linguistic extraction

699
00:24:23,725 --> 00:24:25,000
is defining, analyzing,

700
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,470
and representing
languages and

701
00:24:26,470 --> 00:24:27,520
the people connected to

702
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:28,690
them separately from the

703
00:24:28,690 --> 00:24:30,385
complex sociohistorical,

704
00:24:30,385 --> 00:24:31,960
political, and
deeply personal

705
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,060
contexts in which
they actually occur.

706
00:24:34,060 --> 00:24:36,490
Linguistic extraction
then renders

707
00:24:36,490 --> 00:24:38,710
languages into
extractable objects

708
00:24:38,710 --> 00:24:39,715
that can be collected,

709
00:24:39,715 --> 00:24:42,160
preserved, utilized,
and even admired.

710
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,170
Critically, linguistic
extraction is

711
00:24:44,170 --> 00:24:45,400
not solely the
collection of

712
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,440
endangered indigenous
languages in ways that

713
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:48,355
often render them

714
00:24:48,355 --> 00:24:50,214
inaccessible to
their communities,

715
00:24:50,214 --> 00:24:51,790
but also the
presentation of

716
00:24:51,790 --> 00:24:55,060
languages as objects
or data without

717
00:24:55,060 --> 00:24:58,000
their complex and
varied human contexts.

718
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,610
This little and
metaphorical extraction

719
00:25:00,610 --> 00:25:02,410
from context is itself

720
00:25:02,410 --> 00:25:03,955
a colonial enterprise and

721
00:25:03,955 --> 00:25:07,750
often a cornerstone
of Western science.

722
00:25:07,750 --> 00:25:10,030
One that removes
people from homelands,

723
00:25:10,030 --> 00:25:11,530
loots objects
from graves in

724
00:25:11,530 --> 00:25:13,360
the name of science
and education,

725
00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:15,340
and disassociates
products from

726
00:25:15,340 --> 00:25:17,290
those who are labored
to produce them.

727
00:25:17,290 --> 00:25:19,630
In other words,
it celebrates

728
00:25:19,630 --> 00:25:22,645
the empire in empirical.

729
00:25:22,645 --> 00:25:24,640
I love that last line.

730
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,160
[NOISE] Davis
further observes

731
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:28,690
that this linguistic
extraction then

732
00:25:28,690 --> 00:25:30,610
goes hand in hand with

733
00:25:30,610 --> 00:25:33,130
the other rhetorical
strategy that I named,

734
00:25:33,130 --> 00:25:34,540
what she calls the erasure

735
00:25:34,540 --> 00:25:36,220
of colonial agency.

736
00:25:36,220 --> 00:25:37,810
This is a practice
that draws

737
00:25:37,810 --> 00:25:39,790
attention away from
or even completely

738
00:25:39,790 --> 00:25:41,320
ignores the causes of

739
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,735
language endangerment
and dormancy.

740
00:25:43,735 --> 00:25:45,610
Sometimes it
goes so far as

741
00:25:45,610 --> 00:25:47,290
misattributing
recent patterns

742
00:25:47,290 --> 00:25:48,445
of indigenous
language shift

743
00:25:48,445 --> 00:25:50,710
onto the indigenous
language communities

744
00:25:50,710 --> 00:25:53,845
themselves through
statements, for example,

745
00:25:53,845 --> 00:25:55,540
to the effect
of, well, they

746
00:25:55,540 --> 00:25:56,650
chose not to speak

747
00:25:56,650 --> 00:25:58,045
their language to
their children,

748
00:25:58,045 --> 00:25:58,930
instead of saying,

749
00:25:58,930 --> 00:26:02,214
why would they make
such a choice,

750
00:26:02,214 --> 00:26:04,450
and what is the context
in which they have

751
00:26:04,450 --> 00:26:07,040
the prerogative
to make choices?

752
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,285
The whole languages
disappear.

753
00:26:09,285 --> 00:26:11,070
That use of the
unaccusative verb,

754
00:26:11,070 --> 00:26:12,630
is very much aligned with

755
00:26:12,630 --> 00:26:16,030
this erasure of
colonial agency.

756
00:26:20,150 --> 00:26:23,565
Reclamation to
continue the topic,

757
00:26:23,565 --> 00:26:27,100
entails describing
languages thoughtfully.

758
00:26:27,710 --> 00:26:29,940
As I've already
discussed to

759
00:26:29,940 --> 00:26:32,440
the E word,
they're extinct,

760
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,150
gets applied to
languages that

761
00:26:34,150 --> 00:26:35,950
lack living first
language speakers,

762
00:26:35,950 --> 00:26:37,060
sometimes even the
languages that

763
00:26:37,060 --> 00:26:38,860
do have first
language speakers.

764
00:26:38,860 --> 00:26:40,720
But certainly, the
languages that have

765
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:42,905
never been
irretrievably lost,

766
00:26:42,905 --> 00:26:45,870
and in that an increasing
number of cases are

767
00:26:45,870 --> 00:26:47,490
widely being learned from

768
00:26:47,490 --> 00:26:49,080
documentation and
more importantly,

769
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:50,520
are actually spoken by

770
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,930
the members of
their communities.

771
00:26:53,330 --> 00:26:55,470
The whole E word

772
00:26:55,470 --> 00:26:56,925
as applied to
these contexts,

773
00:26:56,925 --> 00:26:59,085
I believe really
must stop.

774
00:26:59,085 --> 00:27:01,635
It is damaging,
it is offensive,

775
00:27:01,635 --> 00:27:03,420
is also inaccurate,

776
00:27:03,420 --> 00:27:06,100
and that's as good
of a reason as any.

777
00:27:06,390 --> 00:27:08,980
Beyond this E word,

778
00:27:08,980 --> 00:27:10,675
which is especially
extreme,

779
00:27:10,675 --> 00:27:12,940
I also want to
recommend avoiding what

780
00:27:12,940 --> 00:27:14,020
in general terms might

781
00:27:14,020 --> 00:27:15,100
be called, shall we say,

782
00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:17,800
past tense
descriptions when

783
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:19,090
referring to indigenous

784
00:27:19,090 --> 00:27:20,350
peoples and languages.

785
00:27:20,350 --> 00:27:22,675
Except of course,
in situations where

786
00:27:22,675 --> 00:27:24,729
one's intent is
specifically

787
00:27:24,729 --> 00:27:26,305
to talk about the past,

788
00:27:26,305 --> 00:27:27,850
in which case it's fine.

789
00:27:27,850 --> 00:27:30,625
We Miami's, talk
about our history,

790
00:27:30,625 --> 00:27:33,385
but we don't put
ourselves into history,

791
00:27:33,385 --> 00:27:36,055
and that's the part
that's different,

792
00:27:36,055 --> 00:27:38,590
or that's the
part that's key.

793
00:27:38,590 --> 00:27:40,330
This reminds me of a story

794
00:27:40,330 --> 00:27:41,800
that I want to
share with you.

795
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,710
Took place in Indiana
at the Seven Pillars,

796
00:27:44,710 --> 00:27:46,450
which is a place of

797
00:27:46,450 --> 00:27:49,345
historical and contemporary
Miami relevance

798
00:27:49,345 --> 00:27:51,715
near Peru, Indiana.

799
00:27:51,715 --> 00:27:53,980
Because of damming
and because

800
00:27:53,980 --> 00:27:55,735
of other ecological
destruction,

801
00:27:55,735 --> 00:27:57,235
as we heard
about yesterday,

802
00:27:57,235 --> 00:27:59,230
various parts
along this river,

803
00:27:59,230 --> 00:28:01,254
various areas are no
longer accessible,

804
00:28:01,254 --> 00:28:02,455
at least most of the time,

805
00:28:02,455 --> 00:28:04,090
to Miami people or for

806
00:28:04,090 --> 00:28:05,980
that matter to
others as well.

807
00:28:05,980 --> 00:28:07,990
But this particular
site is.

808
00:28:07,990 --> 00:28:10,660
It's important cultural
to Miami people,

809
00:28:10,660 --> 00:28:13,060
and everybody you see
here and you see me,

810
00:28:13,060 --> 00:28:16,210
three from the right.

811
00:28:16,210 --> 00:28:19,630
Everybody here is
a Miami person.

812
00:28:19,630 --> 00:28:21,985
The context is that
we were about to have

813
00:28:21,985 --> 00:28:23,230
a language and
cultural camp

814
00:28:23,230 --> 00:28:24,340
in Northern Indiana,

815
00:28:24,340 --> 00:28:24,850
and this was

816
00:28:24,850 --> 00:28:26,590
a camp counselor
training which was

817
00:28:26,590 --> 00:28:29,995
taking place in this
particular Miami site.

818
00:28:29,995 --> 00:28:32,200
Well, I ventured
away from the group

819
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:33,400
a little bit and I

820
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,595
saw two people swimming
out in the river.

821
00:28:36,595 --> 00:28:39,790
It was a younger male
and an older male,

822
00:28:39,790 --> 00:28:41,275
and I understood
them as being

823
00:28:41,275 --> 00:28:43,600
a younger brother and
a much older brother.

824
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:45,040
The older brother
might've been

825
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:46,300
a young father or perhaps

826
00:28:46,300 --> 00:28:47,410
an uncle type figure,

827
00:28:47,410 --> 00:28:49,495
but within the context
of their interactions,

828
00:28:49,495 --> 00:28:51,520
that was how they
came across.

829
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,200
The older one
then turned to

830
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:54,715
the younger one
and he said,

831
00:28:54,715 --> 00:28:57,340
"Do you know who
used to live here?

832
00:28:57,340 --> 00:29:00,790
Indians". I could

833
00:29:00,790 --> 00:29:02,485
literally hear
him say this.

834
00:29:02,485 --> 00:29:04,660
The irony is fantastic.

835
00:29:04,660 --> 00:29:06,250
There we all
were a group of

836
00:29:06,250 --> 00:29:09,160
Miami people literally
an earshot of

837
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,290
this statement that
was relegating us to

838
00:29:11,290 --> 00:29:14,965
the past in our
own homelands.

839
00:29:14,965 --> 00:29:17,830
"You know who used
to live here?

840
00:29:17,830 --> 00:29:21,820
Indians". I invite
you to imagine with

841
00:29:21,820 --> 00:29:24,460
me what would occur
if we were to reframe

842
00:29:24,460 --> 00:29:28,045
that statement,
perhaps as follows.

843
00:29:28,045 --> 00:29:30,835
You know whose
lands we're on,

844
00:29:30,835 --> 00:29:32,860
the [inaudible] ,

845
00:29:32,860 --> 00:29:34,600
who hold indigenous
title to

846
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,615
these lands and serve
as the lands past,

847
00:29:37,615 --> 00:29:40,270
present, and
future caretakers.

848
00:29:40,270 --> 00:29:44,390
How might that broader
discourse change?

849
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,210
Later on then I note
that practice of

850
00:29:49,210 --> 00:29:51,835
language reclamation
is heavily guided by,

851
00:29:51,835 --> 00:29:53,530
in fact embedded into

852
00:29:53,530 --> 00:29:54,999
intellectual sovereignty.

853
00:29:54,999 --> 00:29:59,185
[NOISE] This is a
widely referenced topic

854
00:29:59,185 --> 00:30:01,225
in Native
American studies,

855
00:30:01,225 --> 00:30:03,800
usually attributed
to Robert Warrior.

856
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,030
But this
particular example

857
00:30:06,030 --> 00:30:07,770
that I'm quoting
here applies

858
00:30:07,770 --> 00:30:09,420
the concept of
an intellectual

859
00:30:09,420 --> 00:30:11,010
sovereignty
specifically to

860
00:30:11,010 --> 00:30:13,905
indigenous
language work and

861
00:30:13,905 --> 00:30:15,390
even more specifically to

862
00:30:15,390 --> 00:30:17,915
indigenous language
work in California.

863
00:30:17,915 --> 00:30:19,750
Intellectual
sovereignty as

864
00:30:19,750 --> 00:30:21,175
defined by Sheri Tatsch,

865
00:30:21,175 --> 00:30:23,920
is the right to create,
interpret, evaluate,

866
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,330
and conceive without

867
00:30:25,330 --> 00:30:26,440
the willful assault of

868
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,000
Euro-American languages,

869
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,980
values, and social norms.

870
00:30:31,860 --> 00:30:34,960
Linguistic work can,
and I would argue,

871
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,520
must occur in ways that

872
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,649
respect tribal
intellectual sovereignty.

873
00:30:41,820 --> 00:30:44,080
Linguistic work must be

874
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:45,910
grounded in tribal
ways of knowing,

875
00:30:45,910 --> 00:30:47,650
I should say community
ways of knowing,

876
00:30:47,650 --> 00:30:48,760
which will of
course vary from

877
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,125
one community to the next,

878
00:30:50,125 --> 00:30:51,835
but have some
commonalities

879
00:30:51,835 --> 00:30:54,560
across indigenous
populations.

880
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,160
This language research,

881
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:58,990
other types of
language work,

882
00:30:58,990 --> 00:31:02,125
most certainly can and
I think oftentimes

883
00:31:02,125 --> 00:31:05,140
does draw effectively from

884
00:31:05,140 --> 00:31:07,330
ideas that are
non-indigenous.

885
00:31:07,330 --> 00:31:09,610
But my point is that
this must occur in

886
00:31:09,610 --> 00:31:11,650
a thoughtful way where

887
00:31:11,650 --> 00:31:13,900
those outside ideas have
first been deemed to

888
00:31:13,900 --> 00:31:15,040
be culturally appropriate

889
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:16,360
and potentially useful,

890
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:17,695
rather than just being

891
00:31:17,695 --> 00:31:20,470
imposed as often
occurs through

892
00:31:20,470 --> 00:31:22,390
statements such as
everybody knows

893
00:31:22,390 --> 00:31:24,400
that and then
some statement

894
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,930
that is only partly true.

895
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,760
This is hugely important
to pay attention to,

896
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,455
especially given
the context

897
00:31:32,455 --> 00:31:33,820
that we tend to live in,

898
00:31:33,820 --> 00:31:35,170
which is where

899
00:31:35,170 --> 00:31:38,410
Western knowledge
systems are hegemonic.

900
00:31:38,410 --> 00:31:39,925
They are so dominant

901
00:31:39,925 --> 00:31:42,620
that they go unquestioned.

902
00:31:43,170 --> 00:31:45,760
I'd like to share
with you a statement

903
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,170
[inaudible] ,

904
00:31:47,170 --> 00:31:48,370
critically education

905
00:31:48,370 --> 00:31:49,945
scholar Brenda Liebowitz,

906
00:31:49,945 --> 00:31:51,490
who commented on this on

907
00:31:51,490 --> 00:31:53,230
the hegemony of
Western knowledge,

908
00:31:53,230 --> 00:31:56,170
noting the following,
"The hegemony

909
00:31:56,170 --> 00:31:57,849
of Western knowledge
is problematic

910
00:31:57,849 --> 00:31:59,245
in five respects;

911
00:31:59,245 --> 00:32:00,700
it is embedded
in relations

912
00:32:00,700 --> 00:32:02,379
of violence and
imposition;

913
00:32:02,379 --> 00:32:04,060
it is embedded
in relations

914
00:32:04,060 --> 00:32:05,740
of social inequality;

915
00:32:05,740 --> 00:32:09,370
it is interwoven with
dynamics of alienation,

916
00:32:09,370 --> 00:32:11,230
it lacks a foil to counter

917
00:32:11,230 --> 00:32:15,010
its own excesses and
show up its weaknesses,

918
00:32:15,010 --> 00:32:17,710
and it is inadequate
on its own to

919
00:32:17,710 --> 00:32:21,410
solve questions that
require attention."

920
00:32:24,420 --> 00:32:27,920
I hope that that
speaks for itself.

921
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,960
By extension then,
a practice of

922
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:32,250
language
reclamation entails

923
00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:34,199
centering indigenous
knowledges,

924
00:32:34,199 --> 00:32:35,865
especially I want to argue

925
00:32:35,865 --> 00:32:38,810
community definitions
of language.

926
00:32:38,810 --> 00:32:40,510
That raises a
question then,

927
00:32:40,510 --> 00:32:41,740
well, what is
language anyway,

928
00:32:41,740 --> 00:32:43,090
and when language
work is occurring,

929
00:32:43,090 --> 00:32:46,495
whose definition
is being used?

930
00:32:46,495 --> 00:32:49,120
Western scientific
tradition

931
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:50,350
establishes languages,

932
00:32:50,350 --> 00:32:51,820
as objects to
be described in

933
00:32:51,820 --> 00:32:53,740
scientific materials
such as texts,

934
00:32:53,740 --> 00:32:56,425
corporal, technical
publications, and so on.

935
00:32:56,425 --> 00:32:58,990
These can induce, serve
multiple audiences,

936
00:32:58,990 --> 00:33:00,520
but normally are
structured around

937
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,175
colonial categories and
norms of description.

938
00:33:03,175 --> 00:33:05,230
Specific examples
include how

939
00:33:05,230 --> 00:33:07,090
languages are
classified, for example,

940
00:33:07,090 --> 00:33:09,415
with numerical
vitality scales,

941
00:33:09,415 --> 00:33:11,200
because Miami was
just off the scale

942
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,245
entirely because scales
don't capture us,

943
00:33:14,245 --> 00:33:16,390
are written or otherwise

944
00:33:16,390 --> 00:33:18,580
represented symbolically,

945
00:33:18,580 --> 00:33:20,665
even given what
are known as

946
00:33:20,665 --> 00:33:22,210
International Organization

947
00:33:22,210 --> 00:33:23,320
for Standardization

948
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:25,600
639 codes,

949
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:27,160
which impose a taxonomy of

950
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,380
naming and demarcating
these languages.

951
00:33:34,710 --> 00:33:37,450
It is crucially important
that we consider

952
00:33:37,450 --> 00:33:39,895
instead indigenous
definitions of language.

953
00:33:39,895 --> 00:33:42,640
These vary from one
context to the next.

954
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:44,170
The moral of my story is

955
00:33:44,170 --> 00:33:45,400
that it's always
appropriate to

956
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,130
ask what the
local definitions

957
00:33:48,130 --> 00:33:50,110
are in a given place.

958
00:33:50,110 --> 00:33:51,310
But they tend to have

959
00:33:51,310 --> 00:33:52,495
certain things in common.

960
00:33:52,495 --> 00:33:53,950
We very often
hear language is

961
00:33:53,950 --> 00:33:56,530
power, language is us.

962
00:33:56,530 --> 00:33:57,940
We would not be us without

963
00:33:57,940 --> 00:34:00,250
our language,
so counterpart.

964
00:34:00,250 --> 00:34:03,340
Language is a gift
from the creator

965
00:34:03,340 --> 00:34:04,990
because it allows us to

966
00:34:04,990 --> 00:34:07,640
communicate our culture
with each other.

967
00:34:07,650 --> 00:34:10,990
Very frequently in
these definitions

968
00:34:10,990 --> 00:34:12,895
is the concept of
language as a verb.

969
00:34:12,895 --> 00:34:15,415
In English, the word
language is a noun,

970
00:34:15,415 --> 00:34:17,170
but in many
Indigenous languages

971
00:34:17,170 --> 00:34:18,610
or many languages
in general,

972
00:34:18,610 --> 00:34:20,665
that concept is
captured with a verb.

973
00:34:20,665 --> 00:34:22,735
This is also true
with the word

974
00:34:22,735 --> 00:34:25,235
Myaamiaataweenki
which is a verb,

975
00:34:25,235 --> 00:34:26,790
to speak Miami, or

976
00:34:26,790 --> 00:34:29,650
Miami speaking or
something like that.

977
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:34,600
Given the theme of
this particular talk,

978
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,210
which is [FOREIGN] ,

979
00:34:37,210 --> 00:34:38,770
I'd like to now
share with you

980
00:34:38,770 --> 00:34:41,710
a specific example of
language or languaging

981
00:34:41,710 --> 00:34:43,300
that comes from Myaamia

982
00:34:43,300 --> 00:34:47,980
language teacher,
Jarrid Baldwin.

983
00:34:47,980 --> 00:34:49,855
I'm pleased to say
Jarrid's father,

984
00:34:49,855 --> 00:34:52,075
Daryl is here in
the audience.

985
00:34:52,075 --> 00:34:55,045
Jarrid grew up
speaking the myaamia

986
00:34:55,045 --> 00:34:56,770
since become a
language teacher

987
00:34:56,770 --> 00:34:58,595
and also a
cultural leader.

988
00:34:58,595 --> 00:35:00,490
I had the
opportunity to do

989
00:35:00,490 --> 00:35:02,560
an interview
based study of

990
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:03,940
Indigenous definitions

991
00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:05,050
of language a
number of years

992
00:35:05,050 --> 00:35:07,630
ago and I interviewed
Jarrid as part of that,

993
00:35:07,630 --> 00:35:09,760
and this is what he
shared in response to

994
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,670
the question,
what is language?

995
00:35:12,670 --> 00:35:14,110
He noted that it's how

996
00:35:14,110 --> 00:35:15,610
a community connects
to each other and

997
00:35:15,610 --> 00:35:16,825
how they express
themselves

998
00:35:16,825 --> 00:35:18,550
and their culture
to each other.

999
00:35:18,550 --> 00:35:20,365
Language provides

1000
00:35:20,365 --> 00:35:21,640
within the
Myaamia community

1001
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:22,540
a mapping for us to

1002
00:35:22,540 --> 00:35:27,680
learn more about each
other and ourselves.

1003
00:35:28,980 --> 00:35:32,065
Centering community
views such as this one,

1004
00:35:32,065 --> 00:35:33,100
aligns to the practice

1005
00:35:33,100 --> 00:35:35,330
of language reclamation.

1006
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,145
Let's consider what
this definition means.

1007
00:35:39,145 --> 00:35:40,660
One implication is that

1008
00:35:40,660 --> 00:35:42,220
cultural norms
and practices can

1009
00:35:42,220 --> 00:35:43,780
never be secondary
as they are

1010
00:35:43,780 --> 00:35:46,330
part of language
by definition.

1011
00:35:46,330 --> 00:35:48,820
Another theme that
emerges here is to

1012
00:35:48,820 --> 00:35:50,470
focus on actual use.

1013
00:35:50,470 --> 00:35:53,920
By extension, language
research materials

1014
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,800
that follow this
line of thinking,

1015
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,210
are likely going
to produce

1016
00:35:58,210 --> 00:35:59,590
resources that
are going to help

1017
00:35:59,590 --> 00:36:00,760
communities members

1018
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,410
actually use the
language and

1019
00:36:02,410 --> 00:36:03,700
actually connect to each

1020
00:36:03,700 --> 00:36:05,770
other as opposed
to resources,

1021
00:36:05,770 --> 00:36:07,630
for example, that
might teach grammar in

1022
00:36:07,630 --> 00:36:09,310
a decontextualized
way following

1023
00:36:09,310 --> 00:36:11,480
a more Western tradition.

1024
00:36:12,450 --> 00:36:15,430
Following reclamation
framework also

1025
00:36:15,430 --> 00:36:16,570
means that a
person applying

1026
00:36:16,570 --> 00:36:17,740
this particular definition

1027
00:36:17,740 --> 00:36:19,600
would probably
consider how and why

1028
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:21,160
contemporary
Myaamia people

1029
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:22,210
are geographically

1030
00:36:22,210 --> 00:36:24,580
scattered and often on

1031
00:36:24,580 --> 00:36:25,960
the individual level away

1032
00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:27,325
from our original
homelands,

1033
00:36:27,325 --> 00:36:28,120
even though, of course,

1034
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:29,635
[inaudible] comment
about this land,

1035
00:36:29,635 --> 00:36:33,290
knowing us no more
forever was incorrect.

1036
00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:41,710
A practice of
language reclamation

1037
00:36:41,710 --> 00:36:43,150
also entails paying
attention to

1038
00:36:43,150 --> 00:36:45,114
the wisdom that's
encoded within

1039
00:36:45,114 --> 00:36:46,090
the language or within

1040
00:36:46,090 --> 00:36:47,560
the process of languaging.

1041
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,720
I want to share with
you a specific example

1042
00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:51,700
that's deeply
guided my thinking.

1043
00:36:51,700 --> 00:36:53,920
It has to do with the
relationship between

1044
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:55,060
these two words which also

1045
00:36:55,060 --> 00:36:56,950
exist in a number
of other forms.

1046
00:36:56,950 --> 00:36:59,260
Awen [FOREIGN] is
to be related,

1047
00:36:59,260 --> 00:37:01,630
awentii to be related
to each other,

1048
00:37:01,630 --> 00:37:03,910
so it has a
reciprocal suffix.

1049
00:37:03,910 --> 00:37:05,950
We can take a verbose,

1050
00:37:05,950 --> 00:37:06,790
such as this one to be

1051
00:37:06,790 --> 00:37:07,870
related to each other or

1052
00:37:07,870 --> 00:37:09,145
allied with each other

1053
00:37:09,145 --> 00:37:10,315
and make it into a noun.

1054
00:37:10,315 --> 00:37:11,680
Myaamiaataweenki's
verb heavy but it

1055
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:14,920
does have nouns as well,

1056
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:16,990
and many verbs can
be nominalized,

1057
00:37:16,990 --> 00:37:17,560
that is to say,

1058
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:21,200
made into nouns by
adding the suffix on it.

1059
00:37:21,990 --> 00:37:24,385
To be related
to each other,

1060
00:37:24,385 --> 00:37:27,220
when made into a
noun means alliance,

1061
00:37:27,220 --> 00:37:31,370
or also is
translated as peace.

1062
00:37:37,580 --> 00:37:39,960
Cultivating
relationships and

1063
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,450
recognizing those
relationships thus,

1064
00:37:42,450 --> 00:37:44,175
is a way of
producing peace.

1065
00:37:44,175 --> 00:37:45,330
I wish that the United

1066
00:37:45,330 --> 00:37:47,340
States leadership
knew this,

1067
00:37:47,340 --> 00:37:50,650
but perhaps there'll
be a shift soon.

1068
00:37:52,340 --> 00:37:54,840
Continuing on
then, a praxis

1069
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,360
of reclamation requires
relationality.

1070
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,605
By relationality,
I'm using

1071
00:38:01,605 --> 00:38:03,450
this term as it's commonly

1072
00:38:03,450 --> 00:38:05,850
employed in
indigenous studies.

1073
00:38:05,850 --> 00:38:08,040
Living and operating in

1074
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,410
relation to others,
including of course,

1075
00:38:10,410 --> 00:38:11,895
non-human relatives,

1076
00:38:11,895 --> 00:38:15,525
in recognition of our
interconnectedness.

1077
00:38:15,525 --> 00:38:19,245
Often then with
an ensuing idea,

1078
00:38:19,245 --> 00:38:21,570
that this
interconnectedness is

1079
00:38:21,570 --> 00:38:23,865
part of a healthy
interdependence,

1080
00:38:23,865 --> 00:38:26,020
as I mentioned earlier.

1081
00:38:26,390 --> 00:38:28,560
Throughout this
symposium over

1082
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,195
the last couple of days,

1083
00:38:30,195 --> 00:38:31,200
they've been a number

1084
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:32,655
of discussions
about problems,

1085
00:38:32,655 --> 00:38:34,770
major problems in
the world that I

1086
00:38:34,770 --> 00:38:35,970
think in many ways are

1087
00:38:35,970 --> 00:38:37,845
tied to broken
relationships,

1088
00:38:37,845 --> 00:38:39,765
or relationships
shall we say,

1089
00:38:39,765 --> 00:38:42,270
get broken by some
other agent who

1090
00:38:42,270 --> 00:38:43,830
often isn't
identified that

1091
00:38:43,830 --> 00:38:46,300
really needs to
be identified.

1092
00:38:46,550 --> 00:38:49,740
Where that
unidentified agent

1093
00:38:49,740 --> 00:38:56,084
then develops
and maintains

1094
00:38:56,084 --> 00:38:58,350
systems that

1095
00:38:58,350 --> 00:39:01,690
facilitate the
continued domination.

1096
00:39:02,420 --> 00:39:04,350
Given the problems that

1097
00:39:04,350 --> 00:39:05,400
are occurring in
the world now,

1098
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,695
particularly with respect
to climate change,

1099
00:39:07,695 --> 00:39:08,670
I'm not under

1100
00:39:08,670 --> 00:39:10,110
the impression
that simply having

1101
00:39:10,110 --> 00:39:11,670
strong relationships
would be

1102
00:39:11,670 --> 00:39:12,885
enough of a fix.

1103
00:39:12,885 --> 00:39:14,250
The problem is so severe,

1104
00:39:14,250 --> 00:39:15,480
the ruptures are
so severe at

1105
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,130
this point that
I think we need

1106
00:39:17,130 --> 00:39:18,840
sort anything
and everything

1107
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:20,910
in terms of responses.

1108
00:39:20,910 --> 00:39:24,329
Still, an ongoing theme
that I've observed,

1109
00:39:24,329 --> 00:39:26,160
that very often the
fixes are about

1110
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,215
mitigating a
particular issue,

1111
00:39:28,215 --> 00:39:29,430
a particular process,

1112
00:39:29,430 --> 00:39:30,840
but not dealing with

1113
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,550
the underlying issues that

1114
00:39:32,550 --> 00:39:34,290
beget that process
in the first place,

1115
00:39:34,290 --> 00:39:35,655
such as colonization,

1116
00:39:35,655 --> 00:39:36,990
settler colonialism,

1117
00:39:36,990 --> 00:39:38,970
and broken relationships.

1118
00:39:38,970 --> 00:39:40,140
When people have

1119
00:39:40,140 --> 00:39:41,595
relationships
with each other,

1120
00:39:41,595 --> 00:39:43,200
and when they have
relationships with

1121
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:44,550
particular lands and with

1122
00:39:44,550 --> 00:39:46,515
non-human relatives,

1123
00:39:46,515 --> 00:39:53,399
they treat each other
in a way that ensues.

1124
00:39:54,890 --> 00:39:58,545
I also here emphasized
the larger principle

1125
00:39:58,545 --> 00:40:00,345
that indigenous knowledges

1126
00:40:00,345 --> 00:40:02,040
and relational practices,

1127
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,005
especially as they
relate to place,

1128
00:40:04,005 --> 00:40:05,580
often provide models for

1129
00:40:05,580 --> 00:40:07,245
sustainable and
healthy living.

1130
00:40:07,245 --> 00:40:08,940
Not just in the
said community,

1131
00:40:08,940 --> 00:40:11,100
even though knowledge
tends to be local,

1132
00:40:11,100 --> 00:40:14,710
but also for
communities beyond.

1133
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,285
Saying a little bit more
about relationality,

1134
00:40:20,285 --> 00:40:22,900
I observed that many
indigenous scholars

1135
00:40:22,900 --> 00:40:24,840
have noted how
relationality

1136
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:26,160
is just one of many,

1137
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:27,720
many, what we
call R Words.

1138
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:28,950
That is to say
words that at least

1139
00:40:28,950 --> 00:40:30,675
in English start with R,

1140
00:40:30,675 --> 00:40:32,880
such as reciprocity,

1141
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:37,150
responsibility
and respect.

1142
00:40:38,270 --> 00:40:41,175
I gave you a
little while ago,

1143
00:40:41,175 --> 00:40:42,120
but I've considered to be

1144
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,700
a relatively prototypical
language definition

1145
00:40:44,700 --> 00:40:45,765
from a Myaamia person,

1146
00:40:45,765 --> 00:40:47,339
in this case, from
Jarrid Baldwin.

1147
00:40:47,339 --> 00:40:48,990
In that particular
statement,

1148
00:40:48,990 --> 00:40:50,820
he didn't explicitly
mentioned land,

1149
00:40:50,820 --> 00:40:52,440
but certainly that
theme was part of

1150
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:54,480
that broader conversation
I had with him,

1151
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:55,680
and something that
I know that he

1152
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:56,970
thinks about
and cares about

1153
00:40:56,970 --> 00:40:58,560
deeply from my many years

1154
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:00,790
of interactions with him.

1155
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:02,940
I want to emphasize

1156
00:41:02,940 --> 00:41:04,860
then the centrality
of land.

1157
00:41:04,860 --> 00:41:06,495
Not just abstract land,

1158
00:41:06,495 --> 00:41:08,220
but usually from
the specific lands

1159
00:41:08,220 --> 00:41:12,495
from which a given
language comes.

1160
00:41:12,495 --> 00:41:14,910
Indigenous language
projects that

1161
00:41:14,910 --> 00:41:16,680
fail to acknowledge
the land,

1162
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:18,390
serve to reinforce
the legacy

1163
00:41:18,390 --> 00:41:19,710
of colonial violence that

1164
00:41:19,710 --> 00:41:21,720
dispossesses many
indigenous peoples

1165
00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:23,939
from our respective
homelands.

1166
00:41:23,939 --> 00:41:26,160
I don't pretend
that any simple

1167
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:27,945
land acknowledgment
will fix this,

1168
00:41:27,945 --> 00:41:31,080
as their very clearly
very strong pressures,

1169
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:33,030
legal structures
that prevent

1170
00:41:33,030 --> 00:41:34,395
indigenous peoples from

1171
00:41:34,395 --> 00:41:36,330
accessing your own lands.

1172
00:41:36,330 --> 00:41:37,560
But I do think it's

1173
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:38,700
very important that all of

1174
00:41:38,700 --> 00:41:41,565
us recognize land itself,

1175
00:41:41,565 --> 00:41:44,355
or perhaps personified
in some contexts,

1176
00:41:44,355 --> 00:41:45,720
is a stakeholder and

1177
00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:46,770
a collaborator in

1178
00:41:46,770 --> 00:41:49,035
indigenous language
reclamation efforts.

1179
00:41:49,035 --> 00:41:51,870
Land provides wisdom
about the world

1180
00:41:51,870 --> 00:41:53,010
along with the necessary

1181
00:41:53,010 --> 00:41:55,120
resources for us to live.

1182
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,605
It's as part of
that relationship,

1183
00:41:57,605 --> 00:41:59,345
our relationship to land,

1184
00:41:59,345 --> 00:42:03,085
that these other
words, R words emerge.

1185
00:42:03,085 --> 00:42:10,310
As far as reciprocity,

1186
00:42:10,310 --> 00:42:13,790
we have the responsibility
to respect,

1187
00:42:13,790 --> 00:42:15,860
to think, and to care for

1188
00:42:15,860 --> 00:42:18,910
the lands with which we
have a relationship.

1189
00:42:18,910 --> 00:42:21,840
Data, of course, with
respect to all of

1190
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:27,160
our non-human
relatives beyond land.

1191
00:42:31,850 --> 00:42:34,200
Finally, then I
want to emphasize

1192
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:35,340
that reclamation practice

1193
00:42:35,340 --> 00:42:36,720
entails direct action

1194
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:38,100
in one's own communities.

1195
00:42:38,100 --> 00:42:39,750
Communities plural,
because most of us are

1196
00:42:39,750 --> 00:42:42,220
members of multiple
communities.

1197
00:42:42,220 --> 00:42:44,120
It also entails being

1198
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,895
an ally to other
communities.

1199
00:42:46,895 --> 00:42:50,690
Remind you that
[FOREIGN] ,

1200
00:42:50,690 --> 00:42:52,980
the verb root
changed [FOREIGN]

1201
00:42:52,980 --> 00:42:55,605
has to do with
forming alliances,

1202
00:42:55,605 --> 00:42:58,485
and from those
alliances comes peace.

1203
00:42:58,485 --> 00:42:59,850
I think we can apply that

1204
00:42:59,850 --> 00:43:01,680
to this notion of an ally.

1205
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:03,630
As I feel the
term ally used

1206
00:43:03,630 --> 00:43:04,770
particularly in western

1207
00:43:04,770 --> 00:43:05,940
academic institutions,

1208
00:43:05,940 --> 00:43:07,875
it tends to have a
more narrow meaning,

1209
00:43:07,875 --> 00:43:09,600
usually referring
to somebody who's

1210
00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,790
not a member of a
given identity group,

1211
00:43:11,790 --> 00:43:13,590
but his professed
some support

1212
00:43:13,590 --> 00:43:15,135
for members of that group.

1213
00:43:15,135 --> 00:43:17,265
That's a narrow
definition of ally,

1214
00:43:17,265 --> 00:43:20,010
not sure that alliance in

1215
00:43:20,010 --> 00:43:21,510
the Myaamia sense would

1216
00:43:21,510 --> 00:43:24,090
necessarily equal that.

1217
00:43:24,090 --> 00:43:27,370
But there certainly
is some relationship.

1218
00:43:27,530 --> 00:43:31,425
Reclamation praxis
then, by extension,

1219
00:43:31,425 --> 00:43:34,575
entails being an ally.

1220
00:43:34,575 --> 00:43:36,480
In academic institutions,

1221
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:37,590
I'm emphasize
that this calls

1222
00:43:37,590 --> 00:43:38,820
for developing
and supporting

1223
00:43:38,820 --> 00:43:41,160
structures that support
reclamation work,

1224
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:42,840
especially in contexts of

1225
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:44,805
hiring, promotion
and tenure.

1226
00:43:44,805 --> 00:43:46,530
Similarly observed that

1227
00:43:46,530 --> 00:43:48,015
a praxis of language
reclamation

1228
00:43:48,015 --> 00:43:49,200
aligns with research that

1229
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:50,820
reflects indigenous
needs, values,

1230
00:43:50,820 --> 00:43:53,010
and sovereignty as
might occur through

1231
00:43:53,010 --> 00:43:54,660
a community-based
work that leads

1232
00:43:54,660 --> 00:43:56,955
to community authorship
or co-authorship,

1233
00:43:56,955 --> 00:43:59,430
as well as community
stewardship whenever

1234
00:43:59,430 --> 00:44:03,639
possible of the
resulting products.

1235
00:44:03,710 --> 00:44:06,420
It looks like I'm about
out of time here,

1236
00:44:06,420 --> 00:44:08,010
so I'd like to
conclude with

1237
00:44:08,010 --> 00:44:09,825
some final
summarizing thoughts.

1238
00:44:09,825 --> 00:44:11,070
Moving toward a praxis

1239
00:44:11,070 --> 00:44:13,035
of language reclamation.

1240
00:44:13,035 --> 00:44:14,940
If I were just
talking about

1241
00:44:14,940 --> 00:44:16,590
specific indigenous
language efforts,

1242
00:44:16,590 --> 00:44:19,560
I might not say
toward a praxis.

1243
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:21,255
I might just say a praxis

1244
00:44:21,255 --> 00:44:22,545
of language reclamation,

1245
00:44:22,545 --> 00:44:24,855
but here I'm emphasizing
the broader context.

1246
00:44:24,855 --> 00:44:27,675
I don't think that most
groups are here yet,

1247
00:44:27,675 --> 00:44:30,580
hence the notion
of moving toward.

1248
00:44:31,940 --> 00:44:35,640
Summary Observation
1, fixing

1249
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,440
indigenous language
extinction in

1250
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:38,700
a way that draws from

1251
00:44:38,700 --> 00:44:40,605
colonial discourses
of extinction

1252
00:44:40,605 --> 00:44:42,360
can make the
situation worse by

1253
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:44,250
reinforcing the
structures and

1254
00:44:44,250 --> 00:44:45,570
ideologies that

1255
00:44:45,570 --> 00:44:49,120
beget indigenous
language shift.

1256
00:44:51,050 --> 00:44:53,760
Point 2, privileging

1257
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:55,485
indigenous community
definitions

1258
00:44:55,485 --> 00:44:57,030
of language aligns with

1259
00:44:57,030 --> 00:45:00,090
the praxis of
language reclamation.

1260
00:45:00,090 --> 00:45:02,370
If I had more space
on this slide,

1261
00:45:02,370 --> 00:45:03,555
I might've said
privileging

1262
00:45:03,555 --> 00:45:05,715
indigenous community
definitions of language,

1263
00:45:05,715 --> 00:45:07,320
which includes languaging,

1264
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:08,565
the concept as a verb,

1265
00:45:08,565 --> 00:45:09,915
aligns with the praxis

1266
00:45:09,915 --> 00:45:11,670
of language reclamation.

1267
00:45:11,670 --> 00:45:13,725
Last but not least,

1268
00:45:13,725 --> 00:45:15,960
regarding this
relationality concept

1269
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:17,235
that I just spoke about,

1270
00:45:17,235 --> 00:45:19,080
and the related r words,

1271
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:20,999
we might observe
that allyship

1272
00:45:20,999 --> 00:45:23,580
is grounded in
relationships.

1273
00:45:23,580 --> 00:45:26,220
Developing these entails
deep listening and

1274
00:45:26,220 --> 00:45:28,994
points to other r
words such as respect,

1275
00:45:28,994 --> 00:45:31,920
responsibility,
reflection,

1276
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:35,820
rights, and of
course reclamation.

1277
00:45:35,820 --> 00:45:38,310
On that note, I
will stop here.

1278
00:45:38,310 --> 00:45:40,530
[FOREIGN] Big thanks for

1279
00:45:40,530 --> 00:45:41,670
allowing me to
speak to you today.

1280
00:45:41,670 --> 00:45:53,970
[APPLAUSE]

1281
00:45:53,970 --> 00:45:55,230
How are we on time?

1282
00:45:55,230 --> 00:46:00,090
[BACKGROUND] We
have some time

1283
00:46:00,090 --> 00:46:03,250
for Q&A or comments,

1284
00:46:05,750 --> 00:46:08,280
or you can just
go on, engage

1285
00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:10,840
in reclamation,
that's okay too. Yes.

1286
00:46:12,070 --> 00:46:14,960
>> First of all,
thank you. This is

1287
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:18,140
wonderful and
thought provoking.

1288
00:46:18,140 --> 00:46:20,600
One of the first
slides you showed

1289
00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:22,700
about language

1290
00:46:22,700 --> 00:46:32,045
[NOISE]

1291
00:46:32,045 --> 00:46:34,220
[inaudible]

1292
00:46:34,220 --> 00:46:36,470
I don't know who
the linguist was.

1293
00:46:36,470 --> 00:46:38,735
I think [NOISE] it
was Robert Hall

1294
00:46:38,735 --> 00:46:40,370
who might have been
quoting someone else,

1295
00:46:40,370 --> 00:46:42,890
who said a
language doesn't

1296
00:46:42,890 --> 00:46:45,785
die when the last
speaker dies.

1297
00:46:45,785 --> 00:46:47,720
A language dies
when the second

1298
00:46:47,720 --> 00:46:50,120
to last speaker dies.

1299
00:46:50,120 --> 00:46:52,040
That you have to have

1300
00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:56,375
at least two people
to have a language.

1301
00:46:56,375 --> 00:47:00,290
Otherwise, it's just
a mental construct.

1302
00:47:00,290 --> 00:47:02,030
[NOISE] I think in a way,

1303
00:47:02,030 --> 00:47:05,090
that relates to a lot

1304
00:47:05,090 --> 00:47:07,370
of what you're saying
about relationality,

1305
00:47:07,370 --> 00:47:09,290
that languages
are relational,

1306
00:47:09,290 --> 00:47:12,530
that it involves
a dialogue,

1307
00:47:12,530 --> 00:47:15,440
a way of communicating
with someone else.

1308
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:18,185
By extension,
that would mean

1309
00:47:18,185 --> 00:47:22,310
between generations,
between communities,

1310
00:47:22,310 --> 00:47:25,100
and between cultures so

1311
00:47:25,100 --> 00:47:26,330
that language is always

1312
00:47:26,330 --> 00:47:33,540
relational in a way
and always stochastic,

1313
00:47:34,090 --> 00:47:37,070
because one speaker has to

1314
00:47:37,070 --> 00:47:39,905
adapt to the
other speaker,

1315
00:47:39,905 --> 00:47:42,965
which involves always
changing language.

1316
00:47:42,965 --> 00:47:48,365
I'm Italian, from a small
Southern community.

1317
00:47:48,365 --> 00:47:50,720
Each little town has

1318
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:53,960
its own unique
language there.

1319
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:56,270
I know the difference

1320
00:47:56,270 --> 00:47:58,685
between the way my
grandparents spoke it

1321
00:47:58,685 --> 00:48:00,425
and my parents
spoke it and

1322
00:48:00,425 --> 00:48:03,500
my sister and I spoke it.

1323
00:48:03,500 --> 00:48:07,340
So that, I think,

1324
00:48:07,340 --> 00:48:10,985
all supports what
you're saying.

1325
00:48:10,985 --> 00:48:12,650
But ultimately,

1326
00:48:12,650 --> 00:48:15,755
when you talk
about reclamation,

1327
00:48:15,755 --> 00:48:17,929
it seems to suggest

1328
00:48:17,929 --> 00:48:21,275
[NOISE] bringing some
kind of artifact

1329
00:48:21,275 --> 00:48:24,410
as opposed to looking

1330
00:48:24,410 --> 00:48:27,800
at moments
relational language.

1331
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:32,105
[OVERLAPPING] choose
which moment,

1332
00:48:32,105 --> 00:48:33,380
which relationship,

1333
00:48:33,380 --> 00:48:35,105
which aspect of
the language

1334
00:48:35,105 --> 00:48:37,490
that you're
going to oppose.

1335
00:48:37,490 --> 00:48:39,590
>> There's a
number of points

1336
00:48:39,590 --> 00:48:40,700
that have
embedded in here.

1337
00:48:40,700 --> 00:48:43,030
To mention one, is that
I'll note then that I

1338
00:48:43,030 --> 00:48:44,260
actually gave a definition

1339
00:48:44,260 --> 00:48:46,420
of language from
an Ionia person.

1340
00:48:46,420 --> 00:48:48,010
The definition itself was

1341
00:48:48,010 --> 00:48:49,584
intrinsically relational.

1342
00:48:49,584 --> 00:48:51,895
It's about connecting
to each other.

1343
00:48:51,895 --> 00:48:54,205
By extension, if there
is just one person,

1344
00:48:54,205 --> 00:48:55,675
that one person
can connect

1345
00:48:55,675 --> 00:48:57,220
with non-human relatives,

1346
00:48:57,220 --> 00:48:59,450
that person might
connect to ancestors,

1347
00:48:59,450 --> 00:49:01,265
that person can
connect to land.

1348
00:49:01,265 --> 00:49:03,320
But the dialogic
language use

1349
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:04,400
that I think you
were referring to,

1350
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,140
indeed, would not occur.

1351
00:49:06,140 --> 00:49:08,270
So, perhaps,
then a language

1352
00:49:08,270 --> 00:49:11,280
or a given code becomes
a sleeping language

1353
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:12,670
when the second to last

1354
00:49:12,670 --> 00:49:13,810
person who actively is

1355
00:49:13,810 --> 00:49:16,585
using it with
somebody else dies.

1356
00:49:16,585 --> 00:49:18,160
But it would still be
a sleeping language,

1357
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:19,960
not of course, a
truly dead language,

1358
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:21,670
unless it has no
documentation

1359
00:49:21,670 --> 00:49:23,125
and no reclamation
potential,

1360
00:49:23,125 --> 00:49:24,475
which is normally
not the case

1361
00:49:24,475 --> 00:49:27,110
in Native North
America, at least.

1362
00:49:28,090 --> 00:49:31,010
As part of my early
academic work,

1363
00:49:31,010 --> 00:49:32,990
I didn't develop, but I

1364
00:49:32,990 --> 00:49:34,310
codified or formalized

1365
00:49:34,310 --> 00:49:36,500
the notion of
sleeping languages,

1366
00:49:36,500 --> 00:49:39,575
and one of the ironies
of that early work

1367
00:49:39,575 --> 00:49:40,880
is that it is in some ways

1368
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:43,160
based on language
as an object,

1369
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:45,170
a language that can
be brought back.

1370
00:49:45,170 --> 00:49:46,760
In order for that
concept to work,

1371
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:47,960
it has to, in some way,

1372
00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:49,760
exist separate from
the community.

1373
00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:51,710
It has to exist
as some idea,

1374
00:49:51,710 --> 00:49:54,095
some intellectual
combination of

1375
00:49:54,095 --> 00:49:56,940
grammar and vocabulary,
if you will.

1376
00:49:57,190 --> 00:49:59,494
I would argue, however,

1377
00:49:59,494 --> 00:50:00,260
that even with

1378
00:50:00,260 --> 00:50:01,880
that particular
conceptualization,

1379
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:04,040
which has certain truths
to it, I mean, yes,

1380
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:05,180
there's something
that's document,

1381
00:50:05,180 --> 00:50:06,875
it's a list of words,

1382
00:50:06,875 --> 00:50:10,325
the underlying
relational practices,

1383
00:50:10,325 --> 00:50:12,050
I think, are still
embedded there,

1384
00:50:12,050 --> 00:50:14,990
and that's what we're
really reclaiming.

1385
00:50:14,990 --> 00:50:18,410
I want to make an
analogy to a comment

1386
00:50:18,410 --> 00:50:22,250
made by Hupa scholar,
Cutcha Risling Baldy,

1387
00:50:22,250 --> 00:50:24,680
who in her recent book was

1388
00:50:24,680 --> 00:50:26,840
talking about a
certain Hupa ceremony,

1389
00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:28,445
specifically the
Flower Dance,

1390
00:50:28,445 --> 00:50:29,750
which had about 100 years

1391
00:50:29,750 --> 00:50:30,620
of dormancy and then

1392
00:50:30,620 --> 00:50:33,930
was brought back
into community use.

1393
00:50:34,420 --> 00:50:37,355
Risling Baldy observed

1394
00:50:37,355 --> 00:50:38,690
that although
other people were

1395
00:50:38,690 --> 00:50:41,030
saying that it was extinct

1396
00:50:41,030 --> 00:50:43,370
or dead, that the spirits,

1397
00:50:43,370 --> 00:50:45,785
the people above,
the ancestors,

1398
00:50:45,785 --> 00:50:48,020
always were practicing
this Flower Dance,

1399
00:50:48,020 --> 00:50:49,340
it just wasn't
being practiced

1400
00:50:49,340 --> 00:50:50,750
here on the ground,

1401
00:50:50,750 --> 00:50:51,950
and so perhaps
that's another

1402
00:50:51,950 --> 00:50:54,050
way to think about it.

1403
00:50:54,050 --> 00:50:56,720
I like to think
that our ancestors

1404
00:50:56,720 --> 00:50:59,625
were interacting in
relational contexts.

1405
00:50:59,625 --> 00:51:01,645
Their voices got recorded

1406
00:51:01,645 --> 00:51:03,205
onto paper, in this case.

1407
00:51:03,205 --> 00:51:05,110
More contemporary
documentation might

1408
00:51:05,110 --> 00:51:06,670
actually be audio or
video recordings,

1409
00:51:06,670 --> 00:51:07,300
which would be better,

1410
00:51:07,300 --> 00:51:09,560
but we don't
work with those.

1411
00:51:09,940 --> 00:51:12,680
What we're doing then
is we're bringing

1412
00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:14,690
that back into
the context.

1413
00:51:14,690 --> 00:51:16,280
So there is an element
of language as

1414
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:18,620
an object out there,

1415
00:51:18,620 --> 00:51:20,480
but it is still a

1416
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:22,370
relational object
that I think is in

1417
00:51:22,370 --> 00:51:26,210
some practice
continually practiced.

1418
00:51:26,210 --> 00:51:28,895
With respect to this
other question,

1419
00:51:28,895 --> 00:51:31,370
I think you're
asking where within

1420
00:51:31,370 --> 00:51:32,870
the vast body of
documentation

1421
00:51:32,870 --> 00:51:34,925
does one choose
to draw from?

1422
00:51:34,925 --> 00:51:36,830
It's a practical question.

1423
00:51:36,830 --> 00:51:38,630
It also can occur
in situations where

1424
00:51:38,630 --> 00:51:39,830
somebody's
learning language

1425
00:51:39,830 --> 00:51:41,045
from a living speaker,

1426
00:51:41,045 --> 00:51:43,010
where, perhaps, there
are different varieties

1427
00:51:43,010 --> 00:51:44,405
of the language
in question.

1428
00:51:44,405 --> 00:51:45,875
Well, who do you go to?

1429
00:51:45,875 --> 00:51:46,970
People are different types

1430
00:51:46,970 --> 00:51:48,470
of teachers, and so on.

1431
00:51:48,470 --> 00:51:49,010
Well,

1432
00:51:49,010 --> 00:51:50,930
I think the short answer
is that one would

1433
00:51:50,930 --> 00:51:53,915
make a critically-informed
choice

1434
00:51:53,915 --> 00:51:55,070
about what is best,

1435
00:51:55,070 --> 00:51:56,960
given the situation,
and whether

1436
00:51:56,960 --> 00:51:57,860
that choice is also

1437
00:51:57,860 --> 00:51:59,855
informed by
what's available.

1438
00:51:59,855 --> 00:52:02,750
In the case of work

1439
00:52:02,750 --> 00:52:03,980
with Myaamia
documentation,

1440
00:52:03,980 --> 00:52:05,300
that's not really my area,

1441
00:52:05,300 --> 00:52:07,025
it's really more
of David Costa,

1442
00:52:07,025 --> 00:52:09,425
Daryl Baldwin, and
a couple of others.

1443
00:52:09,425 --> 00:52:11,270
I'll say there that
one has to have

1444
00:52:11,270 --> 00:52:14,315
a very critical
awareness of

1445
00:52:14,315 --> 00:52:16,250
the lens through which
language is being

1446
00:52:16,250 --> 00:52:18,335
documented, because
the prototype,

1447
00:52:18,335 --> 00:52:20,510
at least with Myaamia
documentation,

1448
00:52:20,510 --> 00:52:22,520
is that it's a
non-indigenous person

1449
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:23,750
who's recording
the language,

1450
00:52:23,750 --> 00:52:25,160
and sometimes
putting it into

1451
00:52:25,160 --> 00:52:27,395
non-Myaamia categories.

1452
00:52:27,395 --> 00:52:28,970
It's also the
case, of course,

1453
00:52:28,970 --> 00:52:30,320
that that
documentation spans

1454
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:31,700
a great deal of time,

1455
00:52:31,700 --> 00:52:34,505
thereby reflecting
language change.

1456
00:52:34,505 --> 00:52:36,140
It also, of
course, reflects

1457
00:52:36,140 --> 00:52:39,904
particular geography's
regional dialects

1458
00:52:39,904 --> 00:52:41,120
or ethnic dialects as

1459
00:52:41,120 --> 00:52:42,830
they might be
thought about.

1460
00:52:42,830 --> 00:52:44,540
I do know that where there

1461
00:52:44,540 --> 00:52:47,420
are documented
dialectal differences,

1462
00:52:47,420 --> 00:52:49,580
most contemporary
Myaamia people will

1463
00:52:49,580 --> 00:52:51,770
choose the form
that corresponds

1464
00:52:51,770 --> 00:52:53,540
to whatever
particular group or

1465
00:52:53,540 --> 00:52:56,360
a particular family
they come from,

1466
00:52:56,360 --> 00:52:57,980
and that's the pattern
that I've most

1467
00:52:57,980 --> 00:53:00,395
commonly observed
in California,

1468
00:53:00,395 --> 00:53:02,645
where I currently work.

1469
00:53:02,645 --> 00:53:04,790
In terms of making
those decisions,

1470
00:53:04,790 --> 00:53:06,230
I guess that's how I
would describe it.

1471
00:53:06,230 --> 00:53:11,750
It's of an
intellectually-informed process

1472
00:53:11,750 --> 00:53:13,550
that's heavily

1473
00:53:13,550 --> 00:53:16,025
guided by what's
even available,

1474
00:53:16,025 --> 00:53:19,175
and that all of
those things,

1475
00:53:19,175 --> 00:53:21,560
even if there isn't a
clear match between

1476
00:53:21,560 --> 00:53:23,810
a particular place
or particular person

1477
00:53:23,810 --> 00:53:26,060
or a particular time
period, eventually,

1478
00:53:26,060 --> 00:53:27,260
all of those things become

1479
00:53:27,260 --> 00:53:28,520
very Myaamia again
because it's

1480
00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:30,500
contemporary
Myaamia people with

1481
00:53:30,500 --> 00:53:32,300
our respective
regions and so on,

1482
00:53:32,300 --> 00:53:33,650
who are practicing them.

1483
00:53:33,650 --> 00:53:34,790
It's a long answer.

1484
00:53:34,790 --> 00:53:37,130
Did I answer the main
parts of your question?

1485
00:53:37,130 --> 00:53:37,790
>> [inaudible] question.

1486
00:53:37,790 --> 00:53:39,905
>> Yeah, two-part
question.

1487
00:53:39,905 --> 00:53:44,400
Anybody else?
Yeah. Go for it.

1488
00:53:45,430 --> 00:53:49,370
>> Thanks a lot for the
presentation. I think

1489
00:53:49,370 --> 00:53:50,750
what you're bringing to

1490
00:53:50,750 --> 00:53:51,860
the conversation in terms

1491
00:53:51,860 --> 00:53:55,730
of shifting [inaudible]
reclamation,

1492
00:53:55,730 --> 00:54:00,290
the one above
[inaudible] extinction

1493
00:54:00,290 --> 00:54:03,380
when these languages and

1494
00:54:03,380 --> 00:54:05,750
the cultures
have [inaudible]

1495
00:54:05,750 --> 00:54:07,550
Subject to a ratio
of oppression

1496
00:54:07,550 --> 00:54:08,780
and forces of power,

1497
00:54:08,780 --> 00:54:13,200
not just state that
is in some abstract.

1498
00:54:13,810 --> 00:54:15,770
There's such
so many things

1499
00:54:15,770 --> 00:54:17,405
that I was reminded in,

1500
00:54:17,405 --> 00:54:18,800
in my own trying

1501
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:19,970
to rebuild
relationships with

1502
00:54:19,970 --> 00:54:21,500
communities that
are trying to

1503
00:54:21,500 --> 00:54:23,390
reclaim certain types of

1504
00:54:23,390 --> 00:54:25,680
relationships to the land.

1505
00:54:26,530 --> 00:54:29,330
In Missile America
and the Andes,

1506
00:54:29,330 --> 00:54:32,210
there are certain words
that are particularly

1507
00:54:32,210 --> 00:54:34,370
significant to people as

1508
00:54:34,370 --> 00:54:36,815
they engage in movements
for reclamation.

1509
00:54:36,815 --> 00:54:38,210
In Oaxaca the word

1510
00:54:38,210 --> 00:54:40,565
[FOREIGN], which
is celebratory,

1511
00:54:40,565 --> 00:54:42,410
communal labor practice in

1512
00:54:42,410 --> 00:54:44,195
a shared reciprocal manner

1513
00:54:44,195 --> 00:54:46,985
on non-monetary basis and

1514
00:54:46,985 --> 00:54:48,710
on a compulsory basis,

1515
00:54:48,710 --> 00:54:50,345
on the land that is shared

1516
00:54:50,345 --> 00:54:51,650
and if the product
is shared.

1517
00:54:51,650 --> 00:54:55,400
[FOREIGN] or thank
you, or in the Andes,

1518
00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:56,930
[FOREIGN] or [FOREIGN],

1519
00:54:56,930 --> 00:54:58,475
all these terms
that reflect

1520
00:54:58,475 --> 00:55:02,405
particular way of
organizing community.

1521
00:55:02,405 --> 00:55:05,990
If people find
sooner than later,

1522
00:55:05,990 --> 00:55:09,185
they cannot reclaim
these terms

1523
00:55:09,185 --> 00:55:11,990
without necessarily
reclaiming

1524
00:55:11,990 --> 00:55:15,110
the practice [OVERLAPPING]
commonality.

1525
00:55:15,110 --> 00:55:15,890
>> Right.

1526
00:55:15,890 --> 00:55:18,140
>> If language is
embedded in land,

1527
00:55:18,140 --> 00:55:20,780
then land reclamation
must be elaborately.

1528
00:55:20,780 --> 00:55:21,215
>> Yes.

1529
00:55:21,215 --> 00:55:23,490
>> If language isn't
better than community,

1530
00:55:23,490 --> 00:55:25,660
then language
reclamation must

1531
00:55:25,660 --> 00:55:27,250
necessarily mean
the reclamation

1532
00:55:27,250 --> 00:55:28,810
of commonality as a form

1533
00:55:28,810 --> 00:55:31,640
of organization
governance.

1534
00:55:31,640 --> 00:55:33,875
At that very moment,

1535
00:55:33,875 --> 00:55:37,340
it hits those who are
working in reclamation

1536
00:55:37,340 --> 00:55:39,110
directly against
the interests

1537
00:55:39,110 --> 00:55:41,000
of those who
control the land.

1538
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:41,495
>> Right.

1539
00:55:41,495 --> 00:55:43,340
>> Because you need
a place to practice

1540
00:55:43,340 --> 00:55:46,830
that language in
significance with the land.

1541
00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:49,175
How do we confront

1542
00:55:49,175 --> 00:55:50,810
those obstacles
when we know

1543
00:55:50,810 --> 00:55:52,370
that language
reclamation cannot be

1544
00:55:52,370 --> 00:55:54,260
abstract reclamation
of something and say,

1545
00:55:54,260 --> 00:55:55,385
"Oh, let's codify it.

1546
00:55:55,385 --> 00:55:56,525
Let's just
transmit it in a

1547
00:55:56,525 --> 00:55:57,740
classroom and
that's that."

1548
00:55:57,740 --> 00:55:59,630
These are like
how Whyte's says,

1549
00:55:59,630 --> 00:56:01,160
what does indigenous
knowledge do for

1550
00:56:01,160 --> 00:56:03,290
indigenous peoples once
you just extract it,

1551
00:56:03,290 --> 00:56:05,255
you codify it
and let it poor?

1552
00:56:05,255 --> 00:56:06,995
>> It helps the
colonizers, yes.

1553
00:56:06,995 --> 00:56:08,720
>> Then you have
colonizers practicing

1554
00:56:08,720 --> 00:56:09,950
the indigenous
knowledge [OVERLAPPING]

1555
00:56:09,950 --> 00:56:11,150
on indigenous
peoples' own land.

1556
00:56:11,150 --> 00:56:11,600
>> Yes.

1557
00:56:11,600 --> 00:56:14,985
>> Which is the ultimate
settler colonialism.

1558
00:56:14,985 --> 00:56:17,260
>> It becomes part
of our knowledge

1559
00:56:17,260 --> 00:56:18,400
where the our does not

1560
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:23,060
include the original
peoples it comes from.

1561
00:56:23,130 --> 00:56:25,450
>> What are your
thoughts on

1562
00:56:25,450 --> 00:56:27,725
what once we come
against that,

1563
00:56:27,725 --> 00:56:30,260
that we are not just
reclaiming language

1564
00:56:30,260 --> 00:56:31,940
but its embedded with

1565
00:56:31,940 --> 00:56:34,230
all these other
reclamations?

1566
00:56:34,690 --> 00:56:37,670
>> I think you
raised a great point

1567
00:56:37,670 --> 00:56:43,160
about with a particular
vocabulary item,

1568
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:44,360
a particular word that has

1569
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:46,250
particular
connotations one can

1570
00:56:46,250 --> 00:56:49,670
teach those connotation
in a classroom.

1571
00:56:49,670 --> 00:56:53,280
One can teach them in a
decontextualized way.

1572
00:56:54,010 --> 00:56:56,870
In the absence of
other possibilities

1573
00:56:56,870 --> 00:56:58,055
at a given moment,

1574
00:56:58,055 --> 00:57:00,980
or at a given time
in a given place,

1575
00:57:00,980 --> 00:57:02,870
I think that doing
so would be better,

1576
00:57:02,870 --> 00:57:04,040
at least for
community members,

1577
00:57:04,040 --> 00:57:06,410
than not doing so at all.

1578
00:57:06,410 --> 00:57:08,930
But what you're pointing
out then, of course,

1579
00:57:08,930 --> 00:57:11,360
is that there are really
two themes that I am

1580
00:57:11,360 --> 00:57:14,360
thinking about as I
process your question.

1581
00:57:14,360 --> 00:57:17,060
One is that reclamation
is very messy.

1582
00:57:17,060 --> 00:57:19,910
It's very messy because
it's responding not

1583
00:57:19,910 --> 00:57:21,170
just to a couple of people

1584
00:57:21,170 --> 00:57:22,610
or to a couple
of naysayers,

1585
00:57:22,610 --> 00:57:25,580
but rather to an
entire structure,

1586
00:57:25,580 --> 00:57:27,815
an entire legal system,

1587
00:57:27,815 --> 00:57:29,570
an entire all sorts of

1588
00:57:29,570 --> 00:57:34,790
things instigating and
that's very complex.

1589
00:57:34,790 --> 00:57:38,870
Second, of course,
emerging in my response

1590
00:57:38,870 --> 00:57:40,130
and this is something
that's pointed out a

1591
00:57:40,130 --> 00:57:42,725
lot among younger people,

1592
00:57:42,725 --> 00:57:43,940
just that reclamation is

1593
00:57:43,940 --> 00:57:45,919
an inter-generational
process.

1594
00:57:45,919 --> 00:57:47,330
It's not something
that you

1595
00:57:47,330 --> 00:57:49,130
start and then finish.

1596
00:57:49,130 --> 00:57:51,350
Now indeed, certain steps,

1597
00:57:51,350 --> 00:57:53,900
certain particular
events might

1598
00:57:53,900 --> 00:57:55,505
have a beginning
and an end,

1599
00:57:55,505 --> 00:57:57,590
such as not
having access to

1600
00:57:57,590 --> 00:57:58,670
a given place for

1601
00:57:58,670 --> 00:58:00,635
purposes of performing
ceremony there,

1602
00:58:00,635 --> 00:58:02,120
and then perhaps using

1603
00:58:02,120 --> 00:58:04,115
some Western
legal structure,

1604
00:58:04,115 --> 00:58:05,930
gaining access
to that place

1605
00:58:05,930 --> 00:58:08,040
as some tribes are doing.

1606
00:58:09,970 --> 00:58:11,990
I would emphasize
is that it's

1607
00:58:11,990 --> 00:58:13,310
a messy process.

1608
00:58:13,310 --> 00:58:15,960
It is inter-generational.

1609
00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:19,100
As practice, in terms of

1610
00:58:19,100 --> 00:58:21,470
really practical
applications of that,

1611
00:58:21,470 --> 00:58:24,050
my advice for people is to

1612
00:58:24,050 --> 00:58:26,810
always work with what

1613
00:58:26,810 --> 00:58:29,735
they have and start there.

1614
00:58:29,735 --> 00:58:32,390
Always recognize
the structures

1615
00:58:32,390 --> 00:58:34,250
that are preventing
the other things that

1616
00:58:34,250 --> 00:58:36,920
are needed such as
access to land and

1617
00:58:36,920 --> 00:58:39,710
then to concurrently
do those things.

1618
00:58:39,710 --> 00:58:41,270
To concurrently work with

1619
00:58:41,270 --> 00:58:42,680
what they have while

1620
00:58:42,680 --> 00:58:46,130
also working to rebuild

1621
00:58:46,130 --> 00:58:47,900
the broader infrastructure,
if you will,

1622
00:58:47,900 --> 00:58:49,580
that's a
capitalist notion,

1623
00:58:49,580 --> 00:58:51,260
the infrastructure, the

1624
00:58:51,260 --> 00:58:52,580
places, the connections,

1625
00:58:52,580 --> 00:58:53,510
and so on, the

1626
00:58:53,510 --> 00:58:54,890
economic development
that might be

1627
00:58:54,890 --> 00:58:56,990
necessary in

1628
00:58:56,990 --> 00:58:58,955
order to facilitate
those things.

1629
00:58:58,955 --> 00:59:01,475
But it's not a clean
process at all.

1630
00:59:01,475 --> 00:59:03,380
It's very, very difficult.

1631
00:59:03,380 --> 00:59:05,120
The other theme that

1632
00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:06,140
emerges, of course though,

1633
00:59:06,140 --> 00:59:11,000
is that, reclamation is

1634
00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:12,410
centered in the specific

1635
00:59:12,410 --> 00:59:14,480
communities in which
it's occurring.

1636
00:59:14,480 --> 00:59:16,100
But of course,
those broader

1637
00:59:16,100 --> 00:59:17,270
structures that
you're talking about,

1638
00:59:17,270 --> 00:59:22,595
particularly inhibited
access to land,

1639
00:59:22,595 --> 00:59:24,740
whether through
particular legal

1640
00:59:24,740 --> 00:59:26,360
structures such
as ownership

1641
00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:28,460
or through severe
degradation of

1642
00:59:28,460 --> 00:59:29,690
that land such
that perhaps

1643
00:59:29,690 --> 00:59:30,710
nobody can access it,

1644
00:59:30,710 --> 00:59:32,375
at least not right now,

1645
00:59:32,375 --> 00:59:34,550
is that it's the
other entities,

1646
00:59:34,550 --> 00:59:36,710
the agents, the

1647
00:59:36,710 --> 00:59:39,750
unnamed agents of
disappearance,

1648
00:59:40,120 --> 00:59:42,875
who need to step up.

1649
00:59:42,875 --> 00:59:46,250
That is a very
difficult process,

1650
00:59:46,250 --> 00:59:47,420
but certainly,

1651
00:59:47,420 --> 00:59:48,890
the first part
of it then is to

1652
00:59:48,890 --> 00:59:50,510
identify the need
and to identify

1653
00:59:50,510 --> 00:59:51,740
the issue because
right now I

1654
00:59:51,740 --> 00:59:53,225
would argue that most
of the time that

1655
00:59:53,225 --> 00:59:55,610
the logics of
colonialism are so

1656
00:59:55,610 --> 00:59:58,220
strong that

1657
00:59:58,220 --> 01:00:00,485
those patterns are
largely invisible.

1658
01:00:00,485 --> 01:00:02,030
Everybody knows
it's that's

1659
01:00:02,030 --> 01:00:04,260
just the way that it is.

1660
01:00:04,870 --> 01:00:09,095
The particular landscape
that we live in now,

1661
01:00:09,095 --> 01:00:11,164
with all of its
obstruction

1662
01:00:11,164 --> 01:00:13,730
becomes the norm,
the new baseline.

1663
01:00:13,730 --> 01:00:15,290
People always must

1664
01:00:15,290 --> 01:00:18,380
remember that it's
not that way.

1665
01:00:18,380 --> 01:00:20,600
Again, it's a weak answer,

1666
01:00:20,600 --> 01:00:21,920
but it's a very
difficult question,

1667
01:00:21,920 --> 01:00:23,930
but thank you
for posing it.

1668
01:00:23,930 --> 01:00:25,460
>> It's an amazing answer.

1669
01:00:25,460 --> 01:00:27,830
If I may say something
is that I was

1670
01:00:27,830 --> 01:00:29,060
thinking specifically of

1671
01:00:29,060 --> 01:00:31,010
the Indian project that
does in technologies,

1672
01:00:31,010 --> 01:00:32,690
it's trying to restore

1673
01:00:32,690 --> 01:00:34,400
the way in which people in

1674
01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:38,900
different cells of
the mountain area

1675
01:00:38,900 --> 01:00:41,315
would exchange
labor and goods.

1676
01:00:41,315 --> 01:00:43,250
They call it the Winedija.

1677
01:00:43,250 --> 01:00:46,940
People are saying, we
want to restore this,

1678
01:00:46,940 --> 01:00:48,770
but the law proved
doesn't allow

1679
01:00:48,770 --> 01:00:50,450
seed sharing
because the seeds

1680
01:00:50,450 --> 01:00:57,215
are patented and they
just write it off.

1681
01:00:57,215 --> 01:00:59,484
>> Again, that's a great
example, as I said,

1682
01:00:59,484 --> 01:01:03,185
of a Western legal system
that's causing that.

1683
01:01:03,185 --> 01:01:06,200
Such as, when
indigenous folks

1684
01:01:06,200 --> 01:01:07,580
in what's now the
United States have

1685
01:01:07,580 --> 01:01:09,530
to get a permit from

1686
01:01:09,530 --> 01:01:10,610
the United States
in order to

1687
01:01:10,610 --> 01:01:11,990
hunt on their own lands,

1688
01:01:11,990 --> 01:01:14,480
to be on their own lands.

1689
01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:16,655
In the immediate moment,

1690
01:01:16,655 --> 01:01:17,750
if that's the situation,

1691
01:01:17,750 --> 01:01:18,800
I would encourage
those folks

1692
01:01:18,800 --> 01:01:20,000
to go ahead and do that

1693
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:21,260
so that they can
be there rather

1694
01:01:21,260 --> 01:01:22,505
than to not do it at all.

1695
01:01:22,505 --> 01:01:26,300
But no, clearly this is

1696
01:01:26,300 --> 01:01:29,010
so astonishingly wrong.

1697
01:01:30,700 --> 01:01:32,780
Now for a moment,
I'm speechless.

1698
01:01:32,780 --> 01:01:33,860
I don't even know
where to begin

1699
01:01:33,860 --> 01:01:34,970
[LAUGHTER] aside
from being aware of

1700
01:01:34,970 --> 01:01:38,330
it. Anybody else? Yeah.

1701
01:01:38,330 --> 01:01:41,600
>> Well, just to
go with that,

1702
01:01:41,600 --> 01:01:44,570
thank you so much
for this talk.

1703
01:01:44,570 --> 01:01:47,120
I think we're all
so grateful for it.

1704
01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:49,895
It's [NOISE]
incredibly helpful.

1705
01:01:49,895 --> 01:01:51,950
But I was really struck by

1706
01:01:51,950 --> 01:01:55,205
your way of framing in
terms of potentiality,

1707
01:01:55,205 --> 01:02:02,180
that this course is

1708
01:02:02,180 --> 01:02:03,740
that extinction seemed
to participate in

1709
01:02:03,740 --> 01:02:05,750
a flat notion of

1710
01:02:05,750 --> 01:02:07,805
time and then a linear
notion of time,

1711
01:02:07,805 --> 01:02:12,560
that will
[inaudible] senses

1712
01:02:12,560 --> 01:02:13,580
of potentiality that

1713
01:02:13,580 --> 01:02:14,750
might have to do
with sleeping.

1714
01:02:14,750 --> 01:02:15,980
I thought about dreaming

1715
01:02:15,980 --> 01:02:18,300
[NOISE] in that context.

1716
01:02:20,830 --> 01:02:25,070
With the idea of
the patented seeds,

1717
01:02:25,070 --> 01:02:27,425
if we think in terms of

1718
01:02:27,425 --> 01:02:29,000
alternative temporalities,

1719
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:30,590
we don't have
to suffice with

1720
01:02:30,590 --> 01:02:32,855
the idea that this
is foreclosed.

1721
01:02:32,855 --> 01:02:38,540
There's a long
potential horizon

1722
01:02:38,540 --> 01:02:42,900
[NOISE] addressing the
problem of the seeds,

1723
01:02:43,450 --> 01:02:46,025
but also that needs to be

1724
01:02:46,025 --> 01:02:47,750
grounded and real work

1725
01:02:47,750 --> 01:02:51,070
on changing the
material conditions

1726
01:02:51,070 --> 01:02:52,940
to continue to allow

1727
01:02:52,940 --> 01:02:55,730
the dreaming and the
potential to be present.

1728
01:02:55,730 --> 01:02:58,820
>> With respect to
the seeds example,

1729
01:02:58,820 --> 01:03:01,550
it's important to
recognize laws.

1730
01:03:01,550 --> 01:03:03,860
However, everybody
knows that

1731
01:03:03,860 --> 01:03:05,960
or however common sense.

1732
01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:07,730
They are sometimes
understood to

1733
01:03:07,730 --> 01:03:10,280
be made by people.

1734
01:03:10,280 --> 01:03:12,710
These types of laws
at least are made by

1735
01:03:12,710 --> 01:03:15,260
people in particular
power relations

1736
01:03:15,260 --> 01:03:16,970
that can and do change,

1737
01:03:16,970 --> 01:03:19,580
and those laws themselves
can also change.

1738
01:03:19,580 --> 01:03:21,335
In particular, if
there's a broader

1739
01:03:21,335 --> 01:03:23,735
effort to make
that happen.

1740
01:03:23,735 --> 01:03:25,550
I didn't talk about seeds

1741
01:03:25,550 --> 01:03:27,170
[inaudible] not my
area of expertise,

1742
01:03:27,170 --> 01:03:29,809
but I think it's
worthy of mentioning

1743
01:03:29,809 --> 01:03:34,070
that myaamia [inaudible]
corn is also in

1744
01:03:34,070 --> 01:03:36,260
this realm of the E word

1745
01:03:36,260 --> 01:03:39,330
are people who are
not growing it.

1746
01:03:39,490 --> 01:03:42,545
Some myaamia
elders kept it,

1747
01:03:42,545 --> 01:03:44,570
had ears of myaamia corn,

1748
01:03:44,570 --> 01:03:45,995
which is a unique
variety of corn with

1749
01:03:45,995 --> 01:03:47,795
eight rows and
relatively big kernels.

1750
01:03:47,795 --> 01:03:49,960
White corn came to

1751
01:03:49,960 --> 01:03:51,955
our people several
hundred years ago.

1752
01:03:51,955 --> 01:03:54,100
Unique variety
of myaamia corn

1753
01:03:54,100 --> 01:03:56,140
that some people were

1754
01:03:56,140 --> 01:04:00,050
keeping hadn't
been growing

1755
01:04:00,050 --> 01:04:03,560
for a long time,
but it was planted.

1756
01:04:03,560 --> 01:04:07,260
What happened?
Started growing.

1757
01:04:07,780 --> 01:04:11,975
We started engaging
with it, planting it.

1758
01:04:11,975 --> 01:04:14,165
It has a ceremonial
purpose.

1759
01:04:14,165 --> 01:04:17,040
Of course, people
are also eating it.

1760
01:04:18,250 --> 01:04:20,315
It was a really very

1761
01:04:20,315 --> 01:04:21,920
actively, if this
makes sense,

1762
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:25,430
actively not practiced
for a period of time,

1763
01:04:25,430 --> 01:04:26,795
and yet now there
are whole fields

1764
01:04:26,795 --> 01:04:29,240
of myaamia corn.

1765
01:04:29,240 --> 01:04:29,690
I'm guessing

1766
01:04:29,690 --> 01:04:31,490
at least some people
in this room,

1767
01:04:31,490 --> 01:04:35,660
even plants, grow some.
Is that the case?

1768
01:04:35,660 --> 01:04:37,085
>> Yeah.

1769
01:04:37,085 --> 01:04:44,030
>> It's definitely
not extinct. Yes.

1770
01:04:44,030 --> 01:04:45,560
>> Actually, [NOISE]
I want to share

1771
01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:49,640
a little story about
extinct languages.

1772
01:04:49,640 --> 01:04:52,970
[NOISE] I'm coming
from China.

1773
01:04:52,970 --> 01:04:56,120
In the early
years actually,

1774
01:04:56,120 --> 01:05:00,110
there's a lot of people
learning English.

1775
01:05:00,110 --> 01:05:02,495
We are forced to
learn English

1776
01:05:02,495 --> 01:05:05,990
when we are in
primary school.

1777
01:05:05,990 --> 01:05:08,780
After a long time,

1778
01:05:08,780 --> 01:05:11,239
Chinese government
recognize

1779
01:05:11,239 --> 01:05:13,520
that it is important

1780
01:05:13,520 --> 01:05:15,410
to let the kids who know

1781
01:05:15,410 --> 01:05:18,620
about China's
culture stuff.

1782
01:05:18,620 --> 01:05:20,855
We have a long time of

1783
01:05:20,855 --> 01:05:22,670
culture and there's tons

1784
01:05:22,670 --> 01:05:27,650
of language evolved from
the original stuff.

1785
01:05:27,650 --> 01:05:29,930
We start to force

1786
01:05:29,930 --> 01:05:34,170
the kids to learn
the ancient Chinese

1787
01:05:34,930 --> 01:05:40,700
from high school
and we are

1788
01:05:40,700 --> 01:05:42,740
forced to take those tests

1789
01:05:42,740 --> 01:05:46,895
to high school
and even college.

1790
01:05:46,895 --> 01:05:50,045
I think it is
really important

1791
01:05:50,045 --> 01:05:54,180
that the government is
supporting that stuff.

1792
01:05:54,730 --> 01:05:57,830
When I was junior
high school,

1793
01:05:57,830 --> 01:05:59,915
I was forced to learn that

1794
01:05:59,915 --> 01:06:03,380
and I think that
really helps.

1795
01:06:03,380 --> 01:06:07,820
We actually have a lot
culture connection and

1796
01:06:07,820 --> 01:06:11,755
a lot of stories
connection,

1797
01:06:11,755 --> 01:06:15,540
and we also learn
a lot of stuff

1798
01:06:15,540 --> 01:06:17,605
from the ancient people

1799
01:06:17,605 --> 01:06:19,490
that are really smart.

1800
01:06:19,490 --> 01:06:21,635
We're keeping
learning that,

1801
01:06:21,635 --> 01:06:23,855
and I think it is
really helpful,

1802
01:06:23,855 --> 01:06:26,300
and also because Chinese

1803
01:06:26,300 --> 01:06:28,160
is where [inaudible]
really be.

1804
01:06:28,160 --> 01:06:31,984
There is a lot of
tribes in the mountain,

1805
01:06:31,984 --> 01:06:36,900
and they are all spoken
different languages.

1806
01:06:38,500 --> 01:06:42,200
They have their own
identity and they

1807
01:06:42,200 --> 01:06:46,160
have [NOISE] their
own stuff [NOISE],

1808
01:06:46,160 --> 01:06:49,650
those stuff that
really is unique.

1809
01:06:49,780 --> 01:06:52,070
There's a lot of

1810
01:06:52,070 --> 01:06:55,760
young people in those
tribes saying that

1811
01:06:55,760 --> 01:06:58,550
there's no future
if I still

1812
01:06:58,550 --> 01:07:00,320
living in that tribe and

1813
01:07:00,320 --> 01:07:02,210
I need to go to
the big city.

1814
01:07:02,210 --> 01:07:03,935
I come from Beijing and

1815
01:07:03,935 --> 01:07:06,470
there's lot of
tons of people

1816
01:07:06,470 --> 01:07:09,890
that come from
those tribes

1817
01:07:09,890 --> 01:07:13,070
or little villages
to come to Beijing.

1818
01:07:13,070 --> 01:07:16,730
They are actually no
longer related to

1819
01:07:16,730 --> 01:07:21,335
that nation or related
to that stuff again.

1820
01:07:21,335 --> 01:07:25,565
Their kids won't be
related to them.

1821
01:07:25,565 --> 01:07:27,350
There is an action

1822
01:07:27,350 --> 01:07:29,975
that Chinese
government do.

1823
01:07:29,975 --> 01:07:33,950
They don't make
tons of money to

1824
01:07:33,950 --> 01:07:36,140
the little villages and to

1825
01:07:36,140 --> 01:07:39,095
help them to connect
to the big villages,

1826
01:07:39,095 --> 01:07:41,120
big city and help

1827
01:07:41,120 --> 01:07:43,980
them to come back
to the Internet.

1828
01:07:45,460 --> 01:07:48,140
You can see the future in

1829
01:07:48,140 --> 01:07:49,850
those little
villages and you

1830
01:07:49,850 --> 01:07:53,660
didn't need to go
outside the [inaudible].

1831
01:07:53,660 --> 01:07:56,750
It's also really
important to add

1832
01:07:56,750 --> 01:07:58,340
those [BACKGROUND] into

1833
01:07:58,340 --> 01:08:00,440
the education of the kids.

1834
01:08:00,440 --> 01:08:02,975
The kids need to
know those stuff

1835
01:08:02,975 --> 01:08:06,095
and the government
need to support us.

1836
01:08:06,095 --> 01:08:09,005
I think that is the
true thing that

1837
01:08:09,005 --> 01:08:13,430
really is important for
the extinct languages.

1838
01:08:13,430 --> 01:08:15,665
Also, I didn't know about

1839
01:08:15,665 --> 01:08:18,440
the American situation
really well,

1840
01:08:18,440 --> 01:08:20,840
but I think it is

1841
01:08:20,840 --> 01:08:23,480
really important to
the government know

1842
01:08:23,480 --> 01:08:26,765
that supporting
those languages is

1843
01:08:26,765 --> 01:08:29,900
a really important
stuff and it

1844
01:08:29,900 --> 01:08:31,460
would lead to a
bright future

1845
01:08:31,460 --> 01:08:33,740
for those tribes.

1846
01:08:33,740 --> 01:08:35,810
>> Thank you for
your comment.

1847
01:08:35,810 --> 01:08:37,460
There are a
number of themes

1848
01:08:37,460 --> 01:08:38,945
that emerged in
your comment.

1849
01:08:38,945 --> 01:08:42,830
I want to reinforce
a couple of them.

1850
01:08:42,830 --> 01:08:43,730
One is that there was

1851
01:08:43,730 --> 01:08:45,350
a recognition of policy,

1852
01:08:45,350 --> 01:08:47,990
a particular
government-oriented policies,

1853
01:08:47,990 --> 01:08:49,910
but policies also occur
in the home level,

1854
01:08:49,910 --> 01:08:51,230
at the community level, in

1855
01:08:51,230 --> 01:08:52,430
official capacities,

1856
01:08:52,430 --> 01:08:54,740
in unofficial capacities.

1857
01:08:54,740 --> 01:08:58,670
Policies, in many
cases, guide practices.

1858
01:08:58,670 --> 01:09:00,590
Therefore, we
need to pay a lot

1859
01:09:00,590 --> 01:09:02,554
of attention to policies.

1860
01:09:02,554 --> 01:09:04,160
Second, of course, is that

1861
01:09:04,160 --> 01:09:06,140
a tool of colonization
[inaudible]

1862
01:09:06,140 --> 01:09:09,470
colonialism is taking
education away from

1863
01:09:09,470 --> 01:09:11,510
the community and imposing

1864
01:09:11,510 --> 01:09:13,070
a different
educational system,

1865
01:09:13,070 --> 01:09:14,960
one that usually
teaches that

1866
01:09:14,960 --> 01:09:17,390
the original
community is limited,

1867
01:09:17,390 --> 01:09:20,090
is bad, is extinct,
and so on.

1868
01:09:20,090 --> 01:09:24,275
Case in point, most
United States education.

1869
01:09:24,275 --> 01:09:27,574
Indeed, governments
of various kinds

1870
01:09:27,574 --> 01:09:30,530
often have the power,

1871
01:09:30,530 --> 01:09:33,755
the infrastructure
to respond to that.

1872
01:09:33,755 --> 01:09:35,120
That's what the
Miami tribe

1873
01:09:35,120 --> 01:09:37,640
of Oklahoma
government does.

1874
01:09:37,640 --> 01:09:39,710
I do not really believe

1875
01:09:39,710 --> 01:09:41,720
that the United States
government does,

1876
01:09:41,720 --> 01:09:46,160
although there have
been some movements and

1877
01:09:46,160 --> 01:09:48,680
more critically-oriented
education scholars

1878
01:09:48,680 --> 01:09:50,000
and practitioners
in various

1879
01:09:50,000 --> 01:09:51,815
states to that effect.

1880
01:09:51,815 --> 01:09:53,750
One specific
point to raise

1881
01:09:53,750 --> 01:09:55,850
here is that the notion of

1882
01:09:55,850 --> 01:09:59,660
having education in
one's own language,

1883
01:09:59,660 --> 01:10:02,120
through one's
cultural ways

1884
01:10:02,120 --> 01:10:03,365
of knowing and so on,

1885
01:10:03,365 --> 01:10:06,260
is recognized as a
basic human right

1886
01:10:06,260 --> 01:10:08,645
by the United Nations.

1887
01:10:08,645 --> 01:10:10,370
I think sometimes
it's been

1888
01:10:10,370 --> 01:10:11,930
useful for
indigenous people to

1889
01:10:11,930 --> 01:10:14,960
call upon those
larger principles,

1890
01:10:14,960 --> 01:10:16,205
those larger structures,

1891
01:10:16,205 --> 01:10:17,630
recognizing that
many times,

1892
01:10:17,630 --> 01:10:19,625
the specific
colonial governments

1893
01:10:19,625 --> 01:10:20,975
under which we live,

1894
01:10:20,975 --> 01:10:24,390
such as the United States
federal government,

1895
01:10:24,540 --> 01:10:26,620
have missed the memo

1896
01:10:26,620 --> 01:10:28,420
[LAUGHTER] or continue to

1897
01:10:28,420 --> 01:10:29,350
miss the memo as

1898
01:10:29,350 --> 01:10:32,500
a more active
thing, perhaps.

1899
01:10:32,500 --> 01:10:34,450
I think we probably
have time for

1900
01:10:34,450 --> 01:10:37,960
maybe one more question
if there are any.

1901
01:10:37,960 --> 01:10:38,725
Yeah.

1902
01:10:38,725 --> 01:10:41,690
>> Thank you for
you talk. Thank you

1903
01:10:41,690 --> 01:10:43,880
also for your comments

1904
01:10:43,880 --> 01:10:45,110
addressing some of

1905
01:10:45,110 --> 01:10:47,030
the material structures

1906
01:10:47,030 --> 01:10:50,040
of universities
themselves.

1907
01:10:56,800 --> 01:10:59,450
[inaudible] it's a
smaller conversation and

1908
01:10:59,450 --> 01:11:01,940
massive that
policy changes

1909
01:11:01,940 --> 01:11:04,940
that are a part of
this conversation.

1910
01:11:04,940 --> 01:11:06,245
But I wonder if you could

1911
01:11:06,245 --> 01:11:08,300
either speculate or
talk a little bit

1912
01:11:08,300 --> 01:11:10,190
more about what specific

1913
01:11:10,190 --> 01:11:11,900
economical
material changes

1914
01:11:11,900 --> 01:11:14,690
that we see at
universities right now.

1915
01:11:14,690 --> 01:11:16,010
[inaudible] can

1916
01:11:16,010 --> 01:11:17,569
that happen within
the context

1917
01:11:17,569 --> 01:11:21,740
of the Western University
as an institution?

1918
01:11:21,740 --> 01:11:24,020
>> General
question is, is it

1919
01:11:24,020 --> 01:11:26,180
possible to decolonize
the university?

1920
01:11:26,180 --> 01:11:29,870
[LAUGHTER] One of my
colleagues and friend

1921
01:11:29,870 --> 01:11:32,960
is a Kaweah artist,
Gerald Clarke.

1922
01:11:32,960 --> 01:11:35,450
He turned to me and
he said, ''Wesley,

1923
01:11:35,450 --> 01:11:37,744
that's like decolonizing
the museum.''

1924
01:11:37,744 --> 01:11:41,840
In other words,
this is just so

1925
01:11:41,840 --> 01:11:45,890
fundamentally
challenging given what

1926
01:11:45,890 --> 01:11:47,435
it is that we're
dealing with.

1927
01:11:47,435 --> 01:11:49,580
Certainly individual
elements of

1928
01:11:49,580 --> 01:11:51,560
indigenization of
decolonization,

1929
01:11:51,560 --> 01:11:54,275
do work and have worked.

1930
01:11:54,275 --> 01:11:56,690
I'm in the process
of engaging with

1931
01:11:56,690 --> 01:11:58,640
a number of those
things at UC Riverside.

1932
01:11:58,640 --> 01:12:00,245
I have the privilege
of leading

1933
01:12:00,245 --> 01:12:01,520
a faculty working group

1934
01:12:01,520 --> 01:12:02,855
that's framed
around reclamation.

1935
01:12:02,855 --> 01:12:04,430
Not specifically
language reclamation,

1936
01:12:04,430 --> 01:12:06,370
but rather that
the broader tenets

1937
01:12:06,370 --> 01:12:08,740
of reclamation as
it applies to all

1938
01:12:08,740 --> 01:12:10,810
of these faculty
members' areas of

1939
01:12:10,810 --> 01:12:14,145
research in whatever
they may be.

1940
01:12:14,145 --> 01:12:16,580
UC Riverside
recently received

1941
01:12:16,580 --> 01:12:18,335
a grant from the
Mellon Foundation,

1942
01:12:18,335 --> 01:12:19,460
a million dollar grant,

1943
01:12:19,460 --> 01:12:23,900
to boost
indigenous studies

1944
01:12:23,900 --> 01:12:27,230
and to really center

1945
01:12:27,230 --> 01:12:29,525
California
indigenous nations

1946
01:12:29,525 --> 01:12:31,160
within that process.

1947
01:12:31,160 --> 01:12:32,810
This just happened as of

1948
01:12:32,810 --> 01:12:34,190
January 1st and so

1949
01:12:34,190 --> 01:12:35,660
the results are
still to be seen.

1950
01:12:35,660 --> 01:12:36,260
But certainly if I have

1951
01:12:36,260 --> 01:12:37,175
anything to do with it,

1952
01:12:37,175 --> 01:12:38,420
which I probably
will, because I'm

1953
01:12:38,420 --> 01:12:40,650
a Co-PI on the grant.

1954
01:12:40,990 --> 01:12:43,040
I have found in

1955
01:12:43,040 --> 01:12:45,110
universities there

1956
01:12:45,110 --> 01:12:47,240
are some people
who are resistant,

1957
01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:48,860
there are some
people who get

1958
01:12:48,860 --> 01:12:51,260
it, at both ends.

1959
01:12:51,260 --> 01:12:53,345
There are quite a few
people in between;

1960
01:12:53,345 --> 01:12:55,550
people are just unaware

1961
01:12:55,550 --> 01:12:57,950
that indigenous
nations exist.

1962
01:12:57,950 --> 01:13:00,470
I realized this when
I was promoting

1963
01:13:00,470 --> 01:13:01,865
indigenous ways of knowing

1964
01:13:01,865 --> 01:13:04,250
for doing
linguistic science.

1965
01:13:04,250 --> 01:13:06,260
Real said, one
of the obstacles

1966
01:13:06,260 --> 01:13:07,280
is that people
don't know that

1967
01:13:07,280 --> 01:13:08,570
indigenous peoples
have ways of

1968
01:13:08,570 --> 01:13:11,414
knowing that we have
intellectual traditions.

1969
01:13:11,414 --> 01:13:13,270
Because of course,
that's not part

1970
01:13:13,270 --> 01:13:15,175
of the colonial education.

1971
01:13:15,175 --> 01:13:18,340
Instead making that
statement very clear,

1972
01:13:18,340 --> 01:13:19,570
emphasizing at least in

1973
01:13:19,570 --> 01:13:20,860
the United States context,

1974
01:13:20,860 --> 01:13:21,880
the nationhood and the

1975
01:13:21,880 --> 01:13:24,380
sovereignty of
the nations,

1976
01:13:24,380 --> 01:13:26,705
recognizing that
certain policies

1977
01:13:26,705 --> 01:13:27,845
of reciprocity,

1978
01:13:27,845 --> 01:13:29,900
of stewardship, of
recognizing say,

1979
01:13:29,900 --> 01:13:31,655
co-authorship and so on,

1980
01:13:31,655 --> 01:13:35,810
of repatriation of
a material items to

1981
01:13:35,810 --> 01:13:38,225
tribal communities
actually follows

1982
01:13:38,225 --> 01:13:41,945
even the colonial United
States system which,

1983
01:13:41,945 --> 01:13:43,490
despite its many problems,

1984
01:13:43,490 --> 01:13:45,065
does at least on paper,

1985
01:13:45,065 --> 01:13:46,310
recognize a government

1986
01:13:46,310 --> 01:13:47,569
to government relationship

1987
01:13:47,569 --> 01:13:48,875
between the United States

1988
01:13:48,875 --> 01:13:50,330
and the various
indigenous nations

1989
01:13:50,330 --> 01:13:51,410
that are now located

1990
01:13:51,410 --> 01:13:52,670
within it or that original

1991
01:13:52,670 --> 01:13:57,690
to its current boundaries.

1992
01:13:57,790 --> 01:14:00,200
I found that
it's important

1993
01:14:00,200 --> 01:14:02,120
to engage the
administration,

1994
01:14:02,120 --> 01:14:06,845
and to specifically
develop policies.

1995
01:14:06,845 --> 01:14:09,410
There'll be MOU
type policies

1996
01:14:09,410 --> 01:14:11,780
or just things in the
hiring guidelines,

1997
01:14:11,780 --> 01:14:13,715
and say, for example,

1998
01:14:13,715 --> 01:14:16,340
if you're going
to do a hire in

1999
01:14:16,340 --> 01:14:18,350
something related
to indigeneity,

2000
01:14:18,350 --> 01:14:19,790
one of the policies might

2001
01:14:19,790 --> 01:14:21,170
be to have members of

2002
01:14:21,170 --> 01:14:24,050
local indigenous
communities meet

2003
01:14:24,050 --> 01:14:25,520
with the potential
candidates and to

2004
01:14:25,520 --> 01:14:26,990
give feedback about
those candidates.

2005
01:14:26,990 --> 01:14:28,850
It's very simple.
But of course,

2006
01:14:28,850 --> 01:14:30,350
if that doesn't
happen very often,

2007
01:14:30,350 --> 01:14:31,760
you will get the
person who says,'' I

2008
01:14:31,760 --> 01:14:33,785
work with indigenous
communities.

2009
01:14:33,785 --> 01:14:36,380
Went to that reservation
that one time,

2010
01:14:36,380 --> 01:14:37,730
took a few things
published on,

2011
01:14:37,730 --> 01:14:39,290
and then I never
went back.''

2012
01:14:39,290 --> 01:14:41,945
Somebody like that
is not likely to

2013
01:14:41,945 --> 01:14:43,340
make it through
that particular

2014
01:14:43,340 --> 01:14:44,945
type of process.

2015
01:14:44,945 --> 01:14:46,835
Another issue that
comes up a lot is that

2016
01:14:46,835 --> 01:14:48,740
sometimes I'll get
this what I call,

2017
01:14:48,740 --> 01:14:52,680
[inaudible] blowing
people off.

2018
01:14:53,140 --> 01:14:56,360
I'll point out
how in academia

2019
01:14:56,360 --> 01:14:58,970
only certain types
of products that are

2020
01:14:58,970 --> 01:14:59,810
sanctioned through

2021
01:14:59,810 --> 01:15:01,670
a particular
knowledge system and

2022
01:15:01,670 --> 01:15:03,140
particular networks
really count

2023
01:15:03,140 --> 01:15:04,580
and everything
else is nice,

2024
01:15:04,580 --> 01:15:06,365
but it might be
called service.

2025
01:15:06,365 --> 01:15:07,865
I'm thinking
particular set of

2026
01:15:07,865 --> 01:15:10,490
intellectual productions
that are not peer

2027
01:15:10,490 --> 01:15:12,800
reviewed in the
conventional sense

2028
01:15:12,800 --> 01:15:15,350
in Western academia
whereby other experts,

2029
01:15:15,350 --> 01:15:17,480
people with
terminal degrees

2030
01:15:17,480 --> 01:15:20,240
in the same limited
disciplinary area,

2031
01:15:20,240 --> 01:15:21,260
make a review of

2032
01:15:21,260 --> 01:15:22,730
the products such
as a paper and say,

2033
01:15:22,730 --> 01:15:24,320
''Yay or nay or revise and

2034
01:15:24,320 --> 01:15:26,690
resubmit,'' as a
recommendation.

2035
01:15:26,690 --> 01:15:28,460
One of the very
important things

2036
01:15:28,460 --> 01:15:29,570
I think to do is to

2037
01:15:29,570 --> 01:15:32,375
institute community-based
peer review.

2038
01:15:32,375 --> 01:15:35,060
Recognizing, well,
especially when

2039
01:15:35,060 --> 01:15:36,410
you're writing about
indigenous communities.

2040
01:15:36,410 --> 01:15:38,555
But also if you're
doing research

2041
01:15:38,555 --> 01:15:41,210
in a particular
place that needs

2042
01:15:41,210 --> 01:15:43,250
to be reviewed by
and sanctioned

2043
01:15:43,250 --> 01:15:46,130
by the community-based
experts,

2044
01:15:46,130 --> 01:15:48,080
the indigenous
community experts.

2045
01:15:48,080 --> 01:15:50,105
As a matter of policy,

2046
01:15:50,105 --> 01:15:52,280
academia right
now revolves

2047
01:15:52,280 --> 01:15:55,790
around a lot of
unpaid labor or

2048
01:15:55,790 --> 01:15:56,975
at least the assumption

2049
01:15:56,975 --> 01:15:58,340
that the labor is
occurring because

2050
01:15:58,340 --> 01:15:59,150
the other person has

2051
01:15:59,150 --> 01:16:00,590
a faculty position
and there's

2052
01:16:00,590 --> 01:16:01,730
paid a salary
and that that

2053
01:16:01,730 --> 01:16:03,335
labor falls into
that salary.

2054
01:16:03,335 --> 01:16:04,490
This doesn't
really work when

2055
01:16:04,490 --> 01:16:05,540
the person is an adjunct,

2056
01:16:05,540 --> 01:16:07,475
when they're unemployed
or underemployed,

2057
01:16:07,475 --> 01:16:09,785
as I was for a
period of time.

2058
01:16:09,785 --> 01:16:11,390
Therefore, I
would emphasize

2059
01:16:11,390 --> 01:16:12,410
the importance
to appropriately

2060
01:16:12,410 --> 01:16:16,340
compensate the indigenous
community members

2061
01:16:16,340 --> 01:16:18,710
who engage in this
type of review.

2062
01:16:18,710 --> 01:16:21,035
Beyond the academia,

2063
01:16:21,035 --> 01:16:22,790
it's not necessarily
sanction it,

2064
01:16:22,790 --> 01:16:25,429
but I have found
a lot of success

2065
01:16:25,429 --> 01:16:28,295
using the problematic
principle of

2066
01:16:28,295 --> 01:16:31,280
interest convergence
as written

2067
01:16:31,280 --> 01:16:32,120
about particular instead

2068
01:16:32,120 --> 01:16:34,265
of diversity scholarship.

2069
01:16:34,265 --> 01:16:36,320
Interest convergence
being this idea

2070
01:16:36,320 --> 01:16:37,895
that a given institution,

2071
01:16:37,895 --> 01:16:40,700
a given entity will
support something

2072
01:16:40,700 --> 01:16:42,350
in so far as doing

2073
01:16:42,350 --> 01:16:44,614
so supports its
own interests.

2074
01:16:44,614 --> 01:16:46,220
Canonically,
this shows up in

2075
01:16:46,220 --> 01:16:47,360
the United States Academy

2076
01:16:47,360 --> 01:16:49,070
whereby institutions will

2077
01:16:49,070 --> 01:16:52,160
support indigenous
nations or

2078
01:16:52,160 --> 01:16:53,510
something to that effect

2079
01:16:53,510 --> 01:16:56,210
because it makes the
institutions look good,

2080
01:16:56,210 --> 01:16:59,195
generally around
some diversity

2081
01:16:59,195 --> 01:17:01,260
and equity frame.

2082
01:17:01,270 --> 01:17:03,860
Arguably what really
needs to happen,

2083
01:17:03,860 --> 01:17:06,125
it's like, well, if you
are in a given place,

2084
01:17:06,125 --> 01:17:08,900
certainly having
responsibility to

2085
01:17:08,900 --> 01:17:10,175
the local
indigenous group,

2086
01:17:10,175 --> 01:17:11,465
that should be a given.

2087
01:17:11,465 --> 01:17:12,650
That's not
something you do

2088
01:17:12,650 --> 01:17:13,760
because it makes
you look good,

2089
01:17:13,760 --> 01:17:14,810
that's something
you do because

2090
01:17:14,810 --> 01:17:16,505
it's the right
thing to do.

2091
01:17:16,505 --> 01:17:18,500
In the interim, however,

2092
01:17:18,500 --> 01:17:21,140
recognizing that
that is not,

2093
01:17:21,140 --> 01:17:24,215
I think that the common
line of thinking.

2094
01:17:24,215 --> 01:17:29,420
I have had quite a
bit of success in

2095
01:17:29,420 --> 01:17:30,800
terms of getting
particular things

2096
01:17:30,800 --> 01:17:32,930
through by

2097
01:17:32,930 --> 01:17:34,640
referring to that
interest convergence,

2098
01:17:34,640 --> 01:17:36,920
not with that label, but

2099
01:17:36,920 --> 01:17:38,360
certainly to the idea.

2100
01:17:38,360 --> 01:17:39,470
Well, this is really going

2101
01:17:39,470 --> 01:17:40,985
to help the university.

2102
01:17:40,985 --> 01:17:42,770
This fully aligns with

2103
01:17:42,770 --> 01:17:44,420
the university's
mission of

2104
01:17:44,420 --> 01:17:46,505
supporting this or
supporting this,

2105
01:17:46,505 --> 01:17:48,170
of getting more
students of color,

2106
01:17:48,170 --> 01:17:49,430
of having more
tribal members

2107
01:17:49,430 --> 01:17:51,170
on campus or
what have you.

2108
01:17:51,170 --> 01:17:54,410
It does work as
problematic as it is.

2109
01:17:54,410 --> 01:17:56,330
I hope we can
chat more about

2110
01:17:56,330 --> 01:17:58,385
this because it's
a larger topic.

2111
01:17:58,385 --> 01:18:00,245
I'm assuming that
we are in fact,

2112
01:18:00,245 --> 01:18:01,415
about out of time.

2113
01:18:01,415 --> 01:18:02,930
>> We are. Thank
you very much.

2114
01:18:02,930 --> 01:18:16,744
[APPLAUSE].

2115
01:18:16,744 --> 01:18:18,000
[inaudible]

2116
01:18:18,000 --> 01:18:19,000
>> [BACKGROUND]