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Enacting hope through narratives of Indigenous language and culture reclamation
In globalizing landscapes, Indigenous ways of knowing and being persist in their connectedness to specific geographies, even as they are transformed by migrations, both forced and voluntary, and dynamic exchanges. This paper presents narratives of Indigenous and ally scholars which explore what it means to enact language and culture reclamation…
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Weaving words: Conceptualizing language reclamation through culturally-significant metaphor
When the Creator called us to our homelands to become a distinct people, Chickasaws received the gift of our language—Chikashshanompa’—with which to speak to each other, the land, the plants, the animals, and the Creator. Chickasaws have held sacred the gift of our living language, passing it from generation to…
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Koni
Geared toward young readers, this monolingual children’s book encourages immersion in a vital Native American language as it teaches about opposites. Readers follow engaging, whimsical Koni (the Chickasaw word for skunk) through a variety of day-to-day situations designed to help young readers sniff out opposites like big and little, wet…
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Hear our languages, hear our voices: Stories of resilience and justice in Indigenous-language reclamation
Storywork provides an epistemic, pedagogical, and methodological lens through which to examine Indigenous language reclamation in practice. We theorize the meaning of language reclamation in diverse Indigenous communities based on firsthand narratives of Chickasaw, Mojave, Miami, Hopi, Mohawk, Navajo, and Native Hawaiian language reclamation. Language reclamation is not about preserving…
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Teaching from a place of hope in Indigenous education
The Council on Anthropology and Education’s Standing Committee on Indigenous Education has had a presence at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropology Association over the past decade. Member activities focus on engaging in theoretical and methodological discussions central to the field of Indigenous education, particularly those related to power…
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Chikashshanompa’ ilanompohó̲li bíyyi’ka’chi [We will always speak the Chickasaw language]: Considering the vitality and efficacy of Chickasaw language reclamation
This dissertation is grounded in stories of how Chickasaw people have restructured and dedicated their lives to ensuring the continuance of Chikashshanompa’, their Indigenous heritage language. Building on an earlier study of what motivates Chickasaw people-across generations-to engage in language reclamation, these pages explore how: 1) Chickasaw young adult professionals…
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Claiming space: An autoethnographic study of Indigenous graduate students engaged in language reclamation
This article explores the critical role of an emerging generation of Indigenous scholars and activists in ensuring the continuity of their endangered heritage languages. Using collaborative autoethnography as a research method, the authors present personal accounts of their pursuit of language reclamation through graduate degree programs. These accounts speak to…
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Family at the heart of Chickasaw language reclamation
The Chickasaw Nation faces rapid and unprecedented decline of its language, Chikashshanompa’. As a result, community members are growing increasingly aware of the importance of the language to identity and culture, and language reclamation has emerged as a dynamic project requiring commitment from all generations. This article argues that despite…
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Chikashshanompa’ ilanompola’chi [We will speak Chickasaw]: The significance of Chickasaw language decline and revitalization
December 30, 2013, marked a monumental loss for the Chickasaw Nation as it mourned the passing of its last monolingual speaker. Born in the 1920s, this valued elder surely witnessed unprecedented and relentless change within her community as mainstream American values were increasingly imposed on and even embraced by other…
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Pomanompa’ kilanompolika̲ chokma (It is good that we speak our language): Motivations to revitalize Chikashshanompa’ (Chickasaw language) across generations
Currently, the Chickasaw Nation is working toward the revitalization of its language—Chikashshanompa’—which is classified as a severely endangered Indigenous language. Successful language revitalization requires the dedication of all generations within a community. As such, it is important to understand what motivates different generations of Chickasaw citizens who are currently teaching…