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Chikashshanompaat bílli’ya: The Chickasaw language is forever
Drawing on research with Chickasaw citizens committed to Chikashshanompa’ (Chickasaw language) reclamation work, this chapter focuses on how Chikashshanompa’ learners and teachers engage in nation-building as they work to ensure the continuance of Chikashshanompa’ for future generations. Complementing Michelle Cooke’s chapter about teaching university Chickasaw language courses, I draw upon…
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Centering relationality in online Indigenous language learning: Reflecting on the creation and use of Rosetta Stone Chickasaw
Drawing on the authors’ experiences developing Rosetta Stone Chickasaw (RSC), an asynchronous online Chikashshanompa’ (Chickasaw language) course, this article shares examples of how relationality is enacted in online Indigenous language learning. We discuss the RSC interface and ways that it created opportunities and barriers to centering Indigenous and Chikasha (Chickasaw)…
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Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa’ anompoli katihma: Chickasaws are still speaking Chikashshanompa’
Holisso mako̲ anompa toklo’ ishtiiholissochitok, Chikashshanompa’ micha Naahollimanompa’. Hopaakikaash Chikashsha mó̲ma’at i̲yaakni’ sipokni’ áyya’shattook. 1837aash Naahollo i̲naalhpisa’at pomokloshi’ wihat kanallichittook. Pomokloshaat Hattak Api’ma’ I̲yaakni’ onat tahattook. Pomanompa’at impállaminattookookya kaniya’ookya iláyya’shakmat Chikashsha ilittimanompohó̲li katihma. Chikashsha alhihaat ittimanompoli aaissa ki’yokittook. Chikashsha sipóngni’at imanompa’ imaabahánchi bíyyi’kanattook. Mako’no imaabahánchi katihma. Pomanompa’at ikshoka’chi imahoobookya ki’yokittook.…
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Chikashshaat asilhlhat holissochi [Chickasaws are asking and writing]: Enacting Indigenous protocols in academic research and writing
As Chikashsha (Chickasaw) scholars and Chikashshanompa’ shaali’ (Chickasaw language learners/carriers), we utilize a dialogic and autoethnographic approach to explore the continuance between ancestral and community protocols for research. An account of the Chickasaw Nation’s language revitalization efforts is followed by a discussion of how Indigenous scholars engage in the writing…
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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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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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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…
