“Dámaan St’áang Tl’ang Kínggang” - Connecting our Past, Present and Future to Revitalize Xaad Kíl in Hydaburg, Alaska
by Ki’iljuus Lisa Lang
J.D., University of New Mexico School of Law, 2002 B.Sc., Emporia State University, 1990
Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
in the Department of Linguistics Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
© Lisa “Ki’iljuus” Lang 2019 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2019
Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval
Name: Lisa “Ki’iljuus” Lang Degree: Master of Arts (First Nations Languages) Title: “Dámaan St’áang Tl’aang Kínggang” - Connecting Our Past, Present and Future to Revitalize Xáad Kíl in Hydaburg, Alaska Examining Committee: Chair: Nancy Hedberg Professor Marianne Ignace Senior Supervisor Professor Patrick Moore Supervisor Associate Professor Department of Anthropology University of British Columbia
Date Defended/Approved: April 16, 2019
ii Ethics Statement
iii Abstract
The Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program, opened on September 18, 2019, in Hydaburg, Alaska, working to preserve Xaad Kíl, a critically endangered language of the Northern Alaska Haida people.
The main reason this study was conducted through interviews and observation was to find out whether the establishment of the Xántsii Náay Pre-School Immersion Program in September of 2018, in Hydaburg, Alaska, influenced the attitude and values of a community where the language, Xaad Kíl, is nearly extinct and second language learners are introducing pre-school students to the language.
The interviews and data themes focused on questions about the past, present and future experiences, of volunteers from three subject groups; a youth focus group, a leadership and a family/caretaker group.
There is no research conducted for this particular question. From my attendance at community meetings, and the data themes, from the interviews, the community supports in a positive manner but a reflection of similar situations or recorded voices is unstated anywhere in writing.
Keywords: Xaad Kíl; Indigenous research
iv Dedication
To my SFU First Nation language warriors: “Gin ‘láa hl istáa.
v Acknowledgements
I humbly acknowledge Gulkiihlgad [Dr. Marianne Ignace]. Her lifetime devotion and scholarly dedication to Xaad Kíl is worthy of great praise and high honor.
I also humbly acknowledge the following for believing in the future of Xaad Kíl;
A.J. Grant
XKKF Board of Directors
Diane Kaplan: A champion for rural Alaska and the Haida
Tlingit & Haida Central Council Indian Tribes of Alaska: President Richard Peterson
vi Table of Contents
Approval ...... ii Ethics Statement...... iii Abstract ...... iv Dedication ...... v Acknowledgements ...... vi Table of Contents ...... vii List of Tables ...... ix List of Figures ...... ix List of Acronyms ...... x Glossary ...... xi Introductory Image...... xii
Chapter 1. Introduction ...... 1 1.1. Haida Philosophy ...... 2 1.2. Introducing Xaad Kíl ...... 3 1.3. Who Are the Haida? ...... 5 1.4. The Value of My Worldview ...... 5 1.5. My Personal Connection to This Study ...... 7 1.6. Research Limitations ...... 9 1.7. Language Warriors ...... 10 1.8. Organization of this Project ...... 11
Chapter 2. A History of Language Loss and Boarding Schools ...... 13 2.1. The Boarding School Disjuncture ...... 17 2.2. The Establishment of the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program ...... 17 2.3. The Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion staff ...... 18
Chapter 3. Literature Review ...... 21 3.1. Indigenous-Based Research ...... 21 3.2. A Sociolinguistic Study: Defining Language Ideology ...... 21 3.3. Indigenous Research Methodology ...... 23 3.4. Decolonizing Research ...... 25 3.5. Similarities: The Hawaiian and Maori Community Language Revitalization ...... 25 3.6. Early Language Education Among Canadian First Nations ...... 27 3.7. Maori Immersion ...... 27 3.8. Retaining linguistic diversity ...... 28 3.9. Second Language Acquisition (SLA) ...... 30
Chapter 4. Research Methodology ...... 32 4.1. Participation and community benefit ...... 32 vii 4.2. Grounded theory approach ...... 33 4.3. Open-Ended Interviews ...... 33 4.4. Why did I pick these three groups to interview? ...... 34 4.5. How I contacted interviewees ...... 34 4.6. How many and what kinds of questions? ...... 35 4.7. What was done with the data? ...... 35 4.8. Data extraction ...... 36
Chapter 5. “What People Told Me” ...... 38 5.1. The Purpose ...... 38 5.2. The Tables ...... 38 5.2.1. Questions-Responses Related to Table 2: The Present: Codes from Interview Questions # 1-3, 15 ...... 40 5.2.2. Questions-Responses Related to Table 3: The Future: Codes from Interview Questions # 10-14 ...... 41 5.3. The Intent ...... 45 5.4. Example of connections and disjuncture ...... 45
Chapter 6. Comparison ...... 53 6.1. A Seven point comparison to interview data ...... 53 6.1.1. Point 1 ...... 53 6.1.2. Point 2 ...... 56 6.1.3. Point 3 ...... 57 6.1.4. Point 4 ...... 58 6.1.5. Point 5 ...... 58 6.1.6. Point 6 ...... 60 6.1.7. Point 7 ...... 60 6.2. Conclusions ...... 62
Chapter 7. Summary ...... 65
References ...... 67
Appendix A. Interview Questions...... 73
Appendix B. Consent Form ...... 75
Appendix C. Public Meeting Notice ...... 78
viii List of Tables
Table 5.1. The Past: Codes from Interview Questions # 4-9 ...... 43 Table 5.2. The Present: Codes from Interview Questions #1-3, #15 ...... 44 Table 5.3. The Future: Codes from Interview Questions #10-14 ...... 44
List of Figures
Figure 1.1. Haida Community; Hydaburg, Kasaan, Alaska, USA, Masset, Skidegate, BC, Canada...... 1 Figure 5.1. Reconncecting The Nine Raven and Eagle Clans, Hydaburg, Alaska Community Clan Meeting preparing for Guud San Glans and Gid7ahl- Gudsllaay Potlatch ...... 49 Figure 5.2. Figure 1.2 Dance Screen, Yawgh ‘Laanaas (Middle Town) Raven...... 50
ix List of Acronyms
HCA Hydaburg Cooperative Association L1 First Language L2 Second Language SFU Simon Fraser University SLA Second Language Acquisition XKKF Xaadas Kíl Kuyaas Foundation
x Glossary
ʻAha Pūnana Leo in The original language nest in HawaiʻI Hawaiʻi
The Haida who migrated from the Northern area of Kiis Xaat’aay Xaadláa Gwaayáay, to Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, and their descendants.
Language nests A cultural setting with efforts to create a home environment where children are raised entirely in the Indigenous language
Te Kōhanga Reo The name of the language variation of the Northern Alaskan Haida
Xaadláa Gwáayaay The Xaad Kíl name for the Islands now named Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada.
Xaad Kíl The name of the language variation (dialect) of the Alaskan Haida
Xántsii Náay The name of the Northern Alaskan Haida language preschool immersion nest run in conjuction with the Hydaburg City School. Xántsii refers to the rebirth, the reincarnation or reflection of a person who comes back in the body of a young child. Náay refers to the house.
xi Introductory Image
Hydaburg, Alaska Matriarchs. (F): Helen Sanderson, Alice Kitkoon, Esther Nix, Gladys Morrison, Clara Natkong. (R) Frieda Peele, Anna Peele. Photo Credit: C. Tolson. Used with permission.
Haida Philosophy
Áajii hlan-gwáay uu ya’áats’ gingaan uu iijang. This world knife like is The world is like a knife blade.
Daláng isdáalhl uu st’áang dámaan hl ḵíng’waang. You(pl.) walking steps carefully watch. When you are walking watch your step.
Gám st’aa’ang daláng kíngwaasang, Not[neg] steps you[pl] watch If you don’t watch your steps
Hlan-gwáay tlagáay daláng dlawíit’aehlsaang. The world land you[pl] will fall off. You will fall off the edge of the earth.
On hearing this Haida philosophy of world view, a young lad ridiculed it by prancing around and saying, “Hey, look I’m falling off of the world.” While prancing around he stepped on a fish bone and developed blood poisoning and died. Thus the old people say he had fallen off of the world. (Swanton 1905a: )
*Note: This is an earlier version of Xaad Kíl ethnography by C. Natkong, Sr.
xii Chapter 1.
Introduction
Figure 1.1. Haida Community; Hydaburg, Kasaan, Alaska, USA, Masset, Skidegate, BC, Canada. Source: Krauss, Michael, Gary Holton, Jim Kerr, and Colin T. West. 2011. Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska. Fairbanks and Anchorage: Alaska Native Language Center and UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research. Online: http://www.uaf.edu/anla/map Note: Permission to use this map for non-commercial, educational purposes is granted under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
In this study, my research question is whether the September 2018 opening of the Xántsíi Náay Pre-School Immersion program in Hydaburg, Alaska, has influenced the attitudes and values of a community where the language is nearly extinct, and the chance of succeeding hinges on second-language learners introducing pre-school students to the language. This research study was conducted by myself Ki’iljuus (Lisa Lang), within my
1 Alaskan Native village of Hydaburg, Alaska. Specifically, I set out to find out how my community, as a whole, views the past, present, and future of the Xáad Kíl language.
1.1. Haida Philosophy
The title of my project is “Dámaan St’áang Tl’ang Kínggang”--Connecting our Past, Present and Future to Revitalize Xaad Kíl (Northern Alaska Haida Language) in Hydaburg, Alaska. “Dámaan St’áang Tl’ang Kínggang” translates to “We Are Carefully Watching Our Steps” and it is the first line of a famous Haida saying which has been used as the title of numerous books; recently, it was paraphrased as the title of a Haida film, The Edge of the Knife. The complete Xaad Kíl text and English translation is as follows:
Áajii hln.gaay uu ya’áats’ gingaan uu G̱ iidanggwa. Daláng isdaalu, dámaan st’áang daláng ḵíngwaang. Daláng t’adahldaay angaa gúudaangs gyaan uu daláng tlagaay’saanggwa!
This world is the same as the edge of a knife. When you are walking, watch your steps. If you lose your steps, you will get hurt!”1
In this way, philosophically, we avoid falling off the edge of the world (which is metaphorically the edge of the blade of a knife) to avoid certain death. My personal belief is that we are language warriors on unique journeys, unafraid, passionate, determined and always catching our balance, while carefully watching, re-calibrating and guarding our next steps. We have no more choices - we have no more time. We cannot turn around. It is immerse or die. It is now or never. To lose our footing creates the illusion that we no longer care, that we no longer have our spirit and we no longer exist in this world. This painful and unacceptable reality is only one step away.
1 See Boelscher 1989: 2. Re-transcribed with help from M. Boelscher Ignace. This wording was provided by the late Alfred Davidson of Old Massett in 1979. See also Swanton 1905a:37
2 Our first language fluent speakers of Hydaburg have left this world and in my mind, we simply cannot continue to accept the perpetual hibernation of our language. We must execute a cultural mission of self-preservation. If we fail to achieve this mission, we will lose our connections to our land, to our ancestors, and to our own spirits. Indeed, we would lose our past, our present, and our futures as Haida human beings.
This is indeed a giant and overwhelming deed with severe consequences. Simply, we would cease to exist as a people. Our worldview would be lost to antiquity. Our failure would mean that the aggressors have won; consequently, without our precious Haida language, we would be lost people in a world dominated by English. I am one of several who firmly believe we could achieve this mission and achieve salvation. We will create our roadmap with our own markings and we will show our children that we are capable of saving our language. I also believe that we are responsible to our ancestors and to our descendants. We must complete this mission and connect with our past. We must build the foundational connections for future generations so that our descendants will continue to build into the future.
1.2. Introducing Xaad Kíl
In the introduction of the Dictionary of Alaskan Haida (2010), the author Dr. Jordan Lachler describes the Haida language as follows:
The Haida language, or Xaad Kíl, is the traditional language of the Haida people. In earlier times, Xaad Kíl was spoken in villages throughout Xaadláa Gwáayaay, the islands we now call Haida Gwaii. Over time, some people from the northern areas of Xaadláa Gwáayaay migrated across the fifty-mile-wide Dixon Entrance, and settled in villages on the southern shores of Prince of Wales Island. These people were known as K'íis Xaat'áay, and their descendants are the Haida people of Alaska. Today, X̱ aad Kíl is one of the world’s most endangered languages – only about 50 speakers remaining in all of the Haida communities. None of these speakers is younger than sixty, and most of the very best speakers are in their eighties and nineties (Lachler, J. 2010:8).
3 The situation that Dr. Jordan Lachler described in his 2010 book has progressed with the passing of time and with the loss of fluent native language speakers. To date in January 2019, we have one native language speaker, Phyllis Almquist (living in Ketchikan, Alaska) and another native language speaker Delores Churchill of Massett, B.C. who lives in Ketchikan, Alaska. Delores’s 95-year-old sister Jane Kristovich lives near Seattle, Washington. The Massett variety of Northern Haida only has five fully fluent first-language speakers, and approximately ten “semi-speakers” – those who understand the language fluently, can pronounce words accurately, but are less able to speak it fluently. Additionally, about ten second-language learners/speakers exist at the intermediate to advanced levels. The Skidegate dialect has about eight to ten fluent first- language speakers, and the numbers of “semi speakers” and intermediate to advanced learners are similar to Massett.
In Hydaburg, we have lost our last fluent first-language speaker of the language.
Charles (Chuck) Neil Natkong, Sr. was the last fluent speaker of Xaad Kíl living in Hydaburg, Alaska. He left this world on July 14, 2018 at the age of eighty-eight. His mother was Jesse (Neal) “Tink” Natkong and his father was Frank “Naats’ii” Natkong. Chuck’s Haida name was Kún Daguyáas and he was a Haida linguist who worked with Jeff Leer and other Haidas to preserve and document the language. Chuck was a high school graduate of Wrangell Institute and a celebrated Green Beret veteran. The passing of Kún Daguyáas was a sad day for the Haida language warriors and the Haida Nation.
Linguistic researchers have concluded that in less than one hundred years, almost half of the languages known today will be lost forever (Crystal 2000). The determinants of such endangered languages are primarily based on the definitions used by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Based on intergenerational transfer, the following four levels of UNESCO language endangerment range between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct" (no living speakers): 1. "vulnerable" (not spoken by children outside the home); 2. "definitely endangered" (children not speaking); 3. "severely endangered" (only spoken by the oldest generations); and 4."critically endangered" (spoken by a few members of the oldest generation, often semi-
4 speakers). Xaad Kíl, the Northern or Alaskan Haida dialect, is currently listed as a critically endangered language. In essence, the Hydaburg people must create and maintain a successful model of language immersion program, or fall off the blade of the knife.
1.3. Who Are the Haida?
The Haida people belong to the indigenous Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. The traditional Haida territory spans the current international boundary between British Columbia, Canada, and Prince of Wales Island, in Southern Southeast Alaska, United States. Today, the four major international traditional communities representing the variations and descendants of the Haida language are Hydaburg and Kasaan, Alaska, USA and Masset and Skidegate, Haida Gwaii, Canada. (See “Figure A. Map of Traditional Haida Communities.”) The Haida people who participated in this research are located in the Alaskan Native village of Hydaburg, Alaska. In the research literature, the Northern Alaskan Haida are often referred to as “Kaigani” (K’ayk’aani), after the name of a camp or village near Cape Muzon on the southern tip of Prince of Wales Island. Massett Haida refer to us as, “K´iis X̱ aadee” in the Xaad Kil language, after our ancient, pre-migration homes on Ḵ’iis Gwaay (Langara Island) off the northwestern tip of Haida Gwaii. Our name before our ancestors migrated to southeast Alaska at some point more than 200 years ago.
1.4. The Value of My Worldview
I am not sure sometimes how the world works. The opportunity to attend Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, and become a student in a new Graduate Certificate in the Linguistics of a First Nations language suddenly appeared in early 2017. Some call it good fortune, or in contrast, the determination of spirit. The program offered a learning opportunity for students to study the linguistic aspects of Xaad Kíl; specifically, our Northern or Alaskan variety (dialect), a highly endangered language isolate that has no first speakers left in Hydaburg. In addition to myself, K’uyaang (Benjamin Young) was admitted into the program. K’uyaang became fluent in the language by mentoring with
5 his Chinaa (grandfather) for several years before going to college and becoming a teacher. Although I have not yet gained fluency, I possess an extraordinary drive to preserve, promote, and protect the Xaad Kíl language in Hydaburg, Alaska.
K’uyaang and I managed to secure funding from various organizations that supported our mission for saving our language. Our journey began with the first of four trips to the Burnaby Campus of Simon Fraser University to fulfill course requirements and work on intensive class assignments. Dr. Marianne Ignace, led us along the path to language salvation. She is the conductor of the eight language bands of language warrior students from seven critically endangered Indigenous languages (Xaad Kíl, Secwepemctsin, Tahltan, Kaska, Downriver Halkomelem, Upriver Halkomelem, Squamish). As our cohort completed the first year we laddered into a newly formed Master’s Degree in the linguistics of a First Nations Language. We continued to strengthen our class bond and in 2019 we were slated to become the first graduates of the aforementioned language degree.
This linguistics project has been a life-changing opportunity for myself and my dedicated classmates at Simon Fraser University. Recently, a dear friend and fellow female Native American attorney, Pilar Thomas asked, “Why is your language so important to you?” Pilar is the smartest attorney I know and I always think twice before I answer her, because she usually has the answer figured out long before I do. I explained to her that unless you learn to kick open the door of your own language, you would always struggle to understand the value of your language. I told her a person could never, ever, convey in English what sitting in a ceremony and hearing our beautiful and ancient songs meant, let alone convey the incredible depth of our Indigenous languages. How could anyone understand the goose bumps you feel when traditional songs begin; experiencing the emotional awareness of your ancestors who are filling the room. I told her that it is important to learn your language because it allows you to reconnect with your ancestors, if only for a fleeting moment. Moreover, I consider learning my language as the ultimate act of Indigenous sovereignty. I have attempted to explain how languages are the very soul of us, our core value, and even a small village like mine in
6 Southern Southeast Alaska holds a language that is as crucial as any other language on Earth.
1.5. My Personal Connection to This Study
I cannot say why, but I have always believed in a Haida heaven and one of my greatest fears is that someday, when I transcend to the other world, I would see all my beloved Haida relatives and not be able to communicate with them in our mother tongue, Xáad Kíl. Most notably and especially my náanaay (grandmother) Helen Blanche (Brown) Sanderson. I carry her Haida name, Ḵa’iljuus. She was our Yahgw Jáanaas clan matriarch, historian and community leader. I surely would have died and gone to hell (if there is one) if I could not laugh, nor share their humor, nor express a simple conversation with a story in Haida. Since I could remember, I wanted to be able to share with them in our own language. Unfortunately, there was and is no methodology. Today, I would tell them her how our village is thriving culturally. We are finding our way back. Above all, it would be amazing indeed to find if Haida heaven truly does exist. I was so determined to find out if there really was a Haida heaven that I kept asking respected Haida elders what they thought. There are three who are of special and notable attention. One precious Haida elder visitor to Hydaburg from Haida Gwaii was Ethel Jones. She sat with me and told me what she thought with a smile and a slow but steady answer---“Perhaps, a small part of heaven belongs to us Haida, yes, you could be right.” If spirits could speak she would surely let me know, as she has moved gracefully from this world to the next. Two additional Haida beauties, and recent movie stars, reinforced my belief in Haida heaven when I asked them about their thoughts on the subject. The first was the younger of the two sisters, Delores (Adams) Churchill. Delores told me about a necklace which her Haida grandmother used to place around her neck. The necklace held a small pouch with Delores’ umbilical cord and she remembered that it smelled a bit. The necklace symbolized traditional beliefs but not all family members wanted Delores to wear it and they would remove it from her. Delores’ grandmother told her to wear the necklace just in case something should happen to her. As a child, her grandmother told Delores that she would find her way to Haida heaven through the cord.
7 Delores told me to ask Jane (her older sister) about Jane’s dream about being in Haida heaven. After traveling and attending the May 2018 Alaska Native Language Summit, in Fairbanks, Alaska, I finally met Jane and asked her about her dream. Jane told me she had a vivid dream about a place she believed to be Haida heaven. Everyone was speaking Xaad Kíl. She shared her funny and emotional story about her dream. I then realized why our language loss was so overwhelming and painful to think about. From my readings it took the missionaries, the government, and a dominant, ethnocentric society (which was not only breaking Native American spirits nationwide but also encroaching on our sacred lands) approximately one hundred and twenty years to try and completely break our Haida spirit by removing our precious language. Once our language would be gone, we as Haidas would be gone. They started with children in our great- grandparents generation, forcing the English language upon them and replacing our spirituality with a military style of church and educational indoctrination. They did their damn best to systematically assimilate our spirits with words, their words. In understanding the connection between language, identity, and culture I see clearly that once our language was viewed institutionally as gone, so were the very words created from over 14,000 thousand years of ancestor experiences. English would break our ties to our villages of origin, including our homeland, Haida Gwaii. Once that vein to the heart of our world was cut nothing but a vague mispronounced word or two would linger. Then the severing of the final connecting tissues to the lands we were once masters upon would be gone. The cut would amount to the final Federal Governments solution of the “Indian Problem” by axing away at an institutionally based solution until successfully disconnecting us from our sacred and spiritual words, our lands, our history and our language in Alaska. The ultimate loss and current missing element of our language is our connection back to a healthier framework, a stronger sense of self, and a living culturally vibrant community based on our Haida identity. We sit in a teacup, steeping like hot tea, in a rich world surrounding us with culture. Yet, one misstep and we stand to lose it all within this generation. The alternative is at hand, reconnect and embrace each other, cross into healthier frameworks of learning and like fibers in a fine weaving, we can become stronger, together. Together, we must travel on this journey of language acquisition to learn to dance harder, sing louder, conduct our spiritual ceremonies in our
8 language and continue to let go of the sorrow and shame put upon our ancestors and our amazing families.
1.6. Research Limitations
My research is a brief snapshot of language ideologies in Hydaburg during a mere few months of time. It gave me an opportunity to conduct local research to capture in ten interviews the thoughts and reflections of the local community on the fringe of trying to revitalize a language with no first language speakers left alive.
The immersion program opened in September 2018 and the interview process began in January 2019 and ended in March 2019. The interviews ask questions about the interviewees’ personal knowledge and experiences with the past, present, and future of our language. Their shared insights provide a community expression of values and attitudes to assist in identifying language ideologies from three distinct groups.
Like many Indigenous communities in the United States and in Canada, there are issues with trust and understanding of what I am doing. Everyone interviewed knows me as a Haida, who lives in Hydaburg, but they do not know me as a researcher. The building of trust is important and it is imperative that I explain and actually return all the information gathered to the community.
Beginning in September 2018, I had the good fortune to be asked to co-teach, with Angela Finlay, the first Tribal Government Class at the Hydaburg City High School. To my knowledge, there had been no local indigenous history taught until that point. The class was reflective of the institutions effort in Hydaburg to implement a tribal youth leadership program. Our own culture in the school curriculum is long overdue. A local limitation is placed on individual personal experiences, because no opportunities are available to learn of previous history from an Indigenous perspective. No indigenous perspectives are available in print which are created from our own Haida community. Teaching and communicating about these dissociations is a part of the local initiative.
9 Many locals have no idea about the horrific experiences their families have suffered, let alone the national agenda to use institutions to erase us from our lands and natural resources. Those historical traumas are the sources of many dysfunctions plaguing our communities today.
1.7. Language Warriors
In order to plan our future for preserving Xaad Kil, an international Haida cohort was through the XKKF, was invited to meet in Fairbanks, Alaska. Approximately one hundred and forty language instructors, first-language speakers, and language learners from eleven language cohorts attended the Alaska Native Language Revitalization Institute, May 21-24, 2018 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This conference was hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks - College of Rural and Community Development and its associated Native Alaskan language revitalization efforts.
The delegation of fourteen group members worked together and identified language planning which should include three focus areas. The first was to focus on utilizing a healing framework for future language work. The group added cooperation, and collaboration and suggested all three elements for future engagement. The healing framework discussed included the acknowledgement of the pain and sacrifices our families have endured. It is an obligation to create and to teach our history and our story with our own voices and words. It is frustrating that we are so close to language loss and our community carries limited knowledge about why and how our language became lost to us. The group outcomes include through searching from within and by defining ourselves through our own eyes is when true strides can be made. We found this idea challenging because it is often painful to look at the common damage inflicted globally and locally upon our Indigenous communities and remain optimistic. We all agreed that we must remain optimistic and unlimited in knowing that this is merely what the Maori identify as the “transitional” growth pains that we must face and endure in order to rebuild our family, our clan, and our community identity through our own Indigenous worldview. In our case through Xaad Kíl.
10 1.8. Organization of this Project
This project is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 began with a brief introduction regarding the research questions and follows with a description and status of the Xaad Kíl language of the Northern Alaskan Haidas. Thereafter, I describe my reasons and personal connections to the study as it is interlinked to my Haida ancestors, my philosophy, and my ideology. Finally, I describe what I view as the challenges of doing this research and limitations of the study outcomes.
Chapter 2 describes the history of language loss related to boarding school experiences and includes an anecdotal family story about boarding school. Next is a discussion on the Hydaburg City School District perspective on what led to the establishment of the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion School, in Hydaburg, Alaska. The staff of the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion School is also introduced.
Chapter 3 includes a review on relevant literature about community language revitalization for critically endangered languages, and the role of language nests and early immersion programs. I consider this literature in the context of my own Indigenous research and methodologies. Specifically, my literature research identifies situations elsewhere where indigenous groups have turned to early immersion or “language nest” projects to revitalize their languages. These experiences elsewhere enable us to learn what the outcomes, identifiable events and processes in other language communities were that became catalysts for community language revitalization, and if and how these can be compared to the data from Hydaburg.
Chapter 4 is a summary of the methodology I used in conducting the qualitative research and specifically, addressees the ten open-ended, semi-structured interviews of Hydaburg community members. The analysis of the interview summarized and the related connections and disconnections are discussed.
Chapter 5 contains summary charts of the interview data, and it is the main body of this work. This section looks at the past, present, and future of the Xaad Kíl language and questions the interviewees’ attitudes and values toward Xaad Kil and the efforts of
11 the Xántsii Náay with only second language learners engaging with the students. In addition, it discusses group connections and disparities within the interview data.
Chapter 6 takes the extracted themes transcribed and compares data with the seven points found within Dr. Anvita Abbi’s research on retaining language and diversity (Anvita_Abbi_2011_12_01_poster.pdf).
Chapter 7 is a summary, with discussion and followed by work in references.
12 Chapter 2.
A History of Language Loss and Boarding Schools
Over a span of nearly one hundred years, thousands of Native American children were removed from their homes, families, and communities and were placed in boarding schools operated by the federal government and religious institutions. Although the total number remains unrecorded, at least 20,000 Native American children were in boarding schools in 1900, and the number more than tripled by 1925. These American-born children were voluntarily or forcibly uprooted from their homes, families, and communities and re-placed into far-away schools where they were punished for speaking their native languages. These children were banned from acting in any way that might seem to represent traditional or cultural practices; symbolically and literally they were stripped of their traditions reflected within their clothes, their hair, their personal belongings, and their cultural ways. They suffered physical, sexual, cultural, spiritual abuse and neglect. In many cases, the treatment that they endured for speaking their Native languages would be constituted as torture. Many children never returned home and they have yet to be accounted for by the United States government. (https://boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history).
In Canada, much more has been written and publicized regarding its Indian Residential Schools than the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015; National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation 2017; Miller 1996; Milloy 2017). The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its 94 Calls to Action have begun to influence not only Indigenous peoples, but have started to influence the non-Indigenous public and policy makers.
In the State of Alaska, boarding schools were in operation between the 1880s and early 1980s, and were then replaced by home boarding here and in Canada. And following the “Molly Hooch” state class action in 1975, Alaska established schools in native villages with more than eight students. In Hydaburg, between the 1930s and mid- 1970s, children from Hydaburg were sent to a variety of segregated schools. They were
13 forbidden to speak their native Haida language and reportedly were subjected to violence and abuse. These acts of violence and abuse have been documented as illustrated by the following account from a former Wrangell Institute student:
“And the thing that I remember most about Wrangell, to this day, is they used to pull everybody from the boy's dorm, I don't know whatever happened with the girls' dorms, but every night for one year there, every night, well not every night, but whenever they caught somebody, they'd bring the whole dorm down there, and they'd have the two biggest boys in the dorm, and they would give them razor straps, you know the kind you sharpen razors with, and if a Native boy, now that's all that was in Wrangell Institute at the time, if they spoke their own language, they got swatted 10 times by two of the biggest boys in school. The reason they used the big boys is because after they got whipped, they couldn't go and jump on top of the guy that whipped them because they were usually the biggest and toughest guys in school. So they would use the biggest boys in school for speaking one word in their language. Even to this day, I can't maintain or hold my own language” (Hirshberg and Sharp 2005: 11).
Those survivors of Alaskan, or other state, boarding schools have spoken about their loss of identity, loss of culture, and loss of language (Hirshberg and Sharp 2005: 20- 21.) In my village and in the Alaskan Native communities at large, I do not know of anyone family or individual who has not been impacted historically by the boarding schools. My personal family experience is filled with these stories. They are too numerous to tell, but I will share just one.
My grandfather, Edward Sanderson, was a Karuk who originated from a reservation in Northern California. After his mother Pequeno Sanderson died, he was taken to Chemawa Indian Boarding School in Oregon, with his brother Ray and his sister Louise. I believe that his father Bernard Sanderson was still alive. My grandfather was five years old and his brother and sister were also very young children. Throughout their arrival until their graduation, neither he nor his brother nor sister ever left Chemawa to return home. It would not be until several decades later before he returned home. The pitiful family who raised Edward Sanderson was an institution-based federal program designed to destroy Native identities. The children physically labored half days and were encouraged to learn farming crops, a concept foreign to the majority. No one knows what my grandfather was submitted to or what he endured.
14 All of my memories of my grandfather are loving and kind. He claimed to be a Shasta Indian, like the picture on the Shasta soda pop can. Years later, I discovered that Mt. Shasta is the holy place where the his Tribe, the Karuk, practices an annual world renewal and peace dance. But my grandfather knew nothing about this holy place. My grandfather had no way to understand or experience his culture. He did not even know one word of his language.
After Edward Sanderson graduated from Chemawa, he headed north to Alaska with his friends from Metlakatla, Alaska, where he learned to fish. Eventually, he married my grandmother and he moved to Hydaburg. Years later, his brother Ray found his way to Alaska and to my grandfather in Hydaburg. Ray told him that he had been informed by the school that his brother was dead. My grandmother tracked down my grandfather’s sister Louise, who was also taken to Chemawa as a young child. She lived in Portland, Oregon, and died shortly after my grandparents located and traveled to visit her. My mother explained she had some type of eating disorder but was unsure of her Aunt’s background because she was so young when they visited.
Many native families and communities suffer from extreme addictions. I was told by my grandmother, who never drank alcohol in her lifetime, that my grandfather was a heavy drinker. Despite that, he was a successful fisherman and provided well for our family. I only know about the stories of his drinking because he stopped drinking before my brother Vinny, the oldest grandchild, was born. My grandfather never wanted Vinny or any one of his grandchildren to see him drunk. So, he stopped and hence none of us ever saw him drunk.
Before my grandfather died, my grandmother brought him to Oregon and California to reconnect with the only memories he had of his childhood. He only remembered eating snakes when he was little, and nothing else about his homeland. My grandfather met nieces and nephews of his brother Bill Sanderson and reconnected with the only living relatives on his mother’s side, which was crucial to my grandmother. My grandfather knew more Haida culture and language than most Hydaburg natives. His experiences from trapping and hunting near and around Hydaburg with the oldtimers
15 taught him Haida local traditional knowledge and nameplaces. He knew and used the names of the traditional fishing sites, in and around Alaska, all in Xaad Kíl.
Probably the saddest part of this story is when our grandparents got to the Hupa reservation in northern California on my grandfather’s journey of reconnection. My grandparents learned from family in Cresent City that my grandfather had another sister. He knew she did not go with them to the boarding school. Instead, this sister was taken and raised as a child of non-native neighbors. This sister of my grandfather, who goes unnamed, was raised in a racist household. My grandfather was warned not to address her or he would risk the rejection she had for Natives in general. Although he did not address her, my grandfather went into the record store where she worked and pretended to shop. My grandmother shared the experience of watching him look at his only living sister. She said you had to be blind not to notice the similarities, in their stature, their facial structure, and even their hair. He never said a word to her. I shared this story because it exhibits on so many levels how society can create these haunting outcomes and then try to express and explain somehow that it is acceptable. But it is not.
The only other point I know is that many people choose not to talk about their experiences. It is too hard to discuss for some. While others were taught in school or in church to repress their feelings, to ignore or pretend that their pain does not exist.
We are products of our ancestral experiences, our grandparent experiences, our parental experiences, and our own personal experiences. We should know all of those stories. They should be shared as a reminder, so we will learn from them and not relive them. We need to know all the stories, even the profoundly sad ones.
I have provided only an introduction to a lengthy and uniform history of the nationwide Federal Native American policies which include the traumatic boarding educational experiences. The resulting impacts our Indigenous Elders faced when forced to endure language loss are apparent in the United States, in Canada and globally. It is simply heartbreaking.
16 2.1. The Boarding School Disjuncture
The Elders who I interviewed either attended boarding schools themselves or were aware of their parents’ or grandparents’ attendance. However, among younger generations, there is little or no knowledge of the forced removal of children to boarding schools, of the trauma and abuse that their grandparents and great-grandparents suffered, and how they were discouraged or forbidden to speak Haida. The only reason that contributed to the decline of the Haida language, according to a twenty-something interviewee, was the death of the elders. In her view, the primary reason for language loss was the lack of elders left alive to teach the language.
In addition, there was no knowledge from the thirty-and-under interview group about the history of language loss in the community, nor the federal policies that caused and contributed to it. The founding of Hydaburg, and the actual move to Hydaburg from three Haida villages (Howkan, Sukkwan and Klinkwan) was based on the promise of a government school for Haida children around 1911. We are hanging onto our ancestral language by a thread and most Haidas here have little to no idea why. The historical decline began in the territorial days, in territorial laws, long before Alaska became a state. This is the part of the curriculum we need to teach our children, as well as our own stories, with our own Haida creation, clan and superheros.
2.2. The Establishment of the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program
Fast forward to the language immersion status in 2018, in Hydaburg, Alaska. It is one hundred and seven years since the formation and historical move of our three villages (Howkan, Klinkwan and Sukkwan) to establish Hydaburg, Alaska. Just exactly how did this opportunity for the Xaad Kíl Preschool Immersion Program to become a reality? I contacted Mr. Ben Glover, the Hydaburg City Principal [Personal Communication, March 12, 2019] and he explained the grant which lead to the opening of the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program came to be. Mr. Glover explained the “HEAL” grant, a federal grant was granted in a collaborative effort with a granting resolution from
17 the Hydaburg Cooperative Association (HCA or Tribe). It was awarded to the Hydaburg City School District and as Principal he initiated the hiring process in June 2018. The “HEAL” grant calls for the creation of an immersion school and provides funding for the school to become a Montessori Immersion Program The grant provides money both for the equipment needed and the staff that will work in the program. The Statewide School Board Association was instrumental in creating approaches to educational options with the HEAL grant. Hydaburg was one of only twenty grantees to receive this creative opportunity and the only community to select an immersion preschool program. Interviews for staff began in July of 2018. Hiring followed in August and the school opened September 18, 2019.
2.3. The Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion staff
The entire staff of the Xántsii Náay are Haida residents of Hydaburg, Alaska and are committed to the preservation of our language. The lead instructor is K’uyaang (Ben Young), a Haida, a graduate of Butler University in Indiana, and a certified history teacher. K’uyaang has an infant daughter, Daláay and a toddler son, Hiilangaay, who attend the immersion school. His wife, Ilskalas (Marita Young) is also a language warrior who works as an aide at the school. She is a college graduate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a licensed commercial pilot. Ilskalas is committed to preserving and revitalizing the Haida culture. She and her husband K’uyaang are serving as young, active, positive, inspiring, community role models of co-parenting and leadership.
Jáadaa Fiin (Stasha Sanderson) works as an aide at the school and currently is completing her basic college credentials for teaching. She has a toddler infant K’uyaas (Parker) who attends the immersion school. Jáadaa Fiin and her husband Joseph are exemplary Haida co-parenting role models with their three children and are engaged in educational and community events. They have an extended family who are strong intergenerational supporters of the model found so successfully linked to the family based Indigenous immersion programs. Jáadaa Fiin is also a part-time employee, like Ilskalas, with the Tribe. They work at the Hydaburg Cooperative Association’s Youth Leadership Program (I-Lead).
18 The I-Lead Program is an Administration of Native American (ANA) grant which recognizes that Tribal and community leaders are aging and there was no process or programs in place to prepare the next generation of community leaders. There grant states there are Haida language and wood carving programs in the village, which could coordinate with the I-Lease efforts to develop and empower strong and resilient youth and young adults. Again, the Tribe, as one of the lead economic entities in Hydaburg, provide a strong indicator of our community values and attitudes as reflected in the will and institutional support for language, culture and youth.
SG̱ aan Jáad (Andrea Peele) is a specialized aide for students with an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). She is the Haida song and dance community leader, a committed community volunteer, the local Fire Chief, and a mother of five. Her husband Roy Guthrie is her co-parenting Haida role model partner. She is a strong advocate for X̱ aad Kíl second language learning.
T’áatsdaang (Joy Young) is recently retired from the health care administration in the village. She is a school aide and she provides babysitting for the infants at the school. A portion of the HEAL grant is to implement infants via Montessori methods. Four children ages two and under attend the program. Altogether, counting these four children and fifteen children between the ages of three and five, the student count for enrolled students is twenty-one. She is also K’uyaang’s mother.
T’áaljáad (Angela Frank) is a specialized aide and the parent of a two-year-old enrolled immersion student, Áantliiq. She has three children. Her family are strong supporters of the language immersion movement in Hydaburg.
Our youngest, and only other male at the school is “Yáahldáats’ii” (Robert Tolson) a specialized aide. He is eighteen years old and a recent Hydaburg City High School graduate.
Ki’iljuus (Lisa Lang) is my name and I am also employed at the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion program, as well. Like my co-workers, we are multi-taskers. I am a licensed attorney, a Tribal Court judge, and the director of the XKKF which is a
19 volunteer language, grassroots non-profit, in Hydaburg. I am a mother, a grandmother and a language warrior.
Our staff is highly educated, highly motivated and driven to succeed. We are led by K’uyaang (Ben Young) who was taught intensively, during his personal and successful immersion journey by his now deceased grandfather, Claude “Miijuu” Morrison, to speak Xaad Kíl fluently and accurately. K’uyaang is also a talented and engaging certified teacher. He engages the students and the staff in the language, and manages to conduct all activities between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. entirely in X̱ aad Kíl. These consist of whole group short teaching sessions (e.g., weather, calendar, learning about clothing, body, foods) interspersed with small group activities of reading, playing (lego, sandbox, kitchen) crafts, Haida singing and dancing, physical play with equipment, and physical games. In addition, there is snack time and lunch time.
The challenge in our staffing process is to retain locals who are committed to immersing in the language and in the cultural ties of Hydaburg. Once identified and hired - a canoe load of staff training and support is required. While we are exposed to the language for several hours a day and are learning X̱ aad Kíl “on the job,” we need additional intensive language training in order to increase opportunities in Hydaburg and to enhance intergenerational immersion classes.
Our needs certainly outgrow our resources. The community recognizes the need for people to encompass all aspects of educational development, including researchers, language activists, scholars, curriculum developers, and visionaries.
To better understand how the sociolinguistic scholars have approached the issue of breathing life back into immersion programs is found in a literature review in Chapter 3, Literature Review.
20 Chapter 3.
Literature Review
This literature review will help me find an indigenous based research path that will enable me to present my research findings to the Hydaburg community.
3.1. Indigenous-Based Research
As other researchers, I discovered that any type of research is a step-by-step process that involves a series of activities followed by a certain order (Moyer 2008:25). Also, I discovered that my self-identification and my research belong to an Indigenous paradigm and therefore, my qualitative research must be applied within an Indigenous based research approach.
The majority of the literature that I reviewed was dominated by western research paradigms, a claim which was corroborated by similar findings within indigenous literature. The idea of Indigenous research methodology is a relatively new term within the traditionally non-indigenous western research realm. The first academic articles using this term appeared in 1998 and 1999 (Smith 1999, Bishop et al 1998, Hermes 1998, Rigney 1999). Since then, the quantity of literature claiming to use “Indigenous research methodologies” has increased significantly. This methodological framework has gained attention and exposure within academic community due to the recent publication of pivotal literature (see Kovach 2009, Walter and Andersen 2013, Wilson 2008).
3.2. A Sociolinguistic Study: Defining Language Ideology
This research required me to step back into the traditional, foundational texts of linguistic and sociologic scholarship. My research was definitively framed within what is termed a sociolinguistic study. Although the study of sociolinguistics is broad, a few fundamental concepts apply here. While some sociolinguists like Rumsey (1990) emphasize language ideologies as “shared bodies of common sense notions about the
21 nature of language in the world,” others have stated otherwise. According to Kroskrity et al. this overemphasis on “shared bodies” of notions about language “promotes an overly homogeneous view of language ideologies within a cultural group” (Kroskrity 2004); continuing, language ideologies may be different and in competition within a given community, shaped by opposed and competing interests. Differences of interest may exist across generations due to the manner in which individuals were affected (or not) by ancestral teachings that consequently, shaped their sense of identity.
Because of these ideological differences, it was necessary to determine the meaning of language ideology as it pertains to this research. Indigenous language activists, elders, and educators have emphasized how inseparably our languages are connected to our cultural identities (Twitchell 2018, Ignace 2016). As expressed in my introduction, my own linguistic ideology, which mirrors that of the elders, is that X̱ aad Kíl is irreplaceably interconnected to our Haida identity. In order to revitalize the language, we need to value it as something irreplaceable that sustains us as being Haida. In order to establish an ideology here, it will be necessary to explore the language ideologies of people in Hydaburg. How are these ideologies formed? Are they uniform or do they vary by such factors as time-generation, personal upbringing, or individual pride related to Haida singing, dancing, and drumming?
Important in my study is Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research which proffers positive attitudes, high value on language, connection between language and identity, to motivate language learners. Social identity theorists have observed that “social distance” that derives from an individual’s sense of connection to the community plays a role in motivation and ability to learn a target language. Thus, the values that an indigenous community, like Hydaburg, places upon the revitalization of a critically endangered language such as X̱ aad Kil, matter. My research goal is to identify language ideologies in Hydaburg, and to determine whether these ideologies connect us to identity and cultural pride or whether they include “disjunctures” (Meek 2011) among policy, practice, and points of view. As Meek reminds us, “language revitalization requires more than just linguistic rehabilitation; it demands a social transformation.”
22 Ultimately, understanding language ideologies, conjunctures and disjunctures, is a basic requirement for identifying events and processes that will be catalysts for successful community language revitalization.
3.3. Indigenous Research Methodology
I begin with an article by Shawn Wilson, entitled “What is Indigenous Research Methodology?” which served as my personal guide as an indigenous woman struggling to understand how indigenous research applied to my research project. The article explains and clarifies the major dominant research paradigms. The author’s starting point is epistemologies, or how people think about knowledge and knowledge acquisition, and how this affects how things are viewed in their world (ontology). The author asserts that indigenous research interplays between epistemology, ontology, and methodology. As suggested by Wilson, I agree that researching from an Indigenous paradigm means understanding Indigenous epistemology and ontology and then deploying those in the development of methodology. Wilson explains four combined aspects that make up Western dominant research paradigms. First is ontology or a belief in the nature of reality, your way of being, in essence what you believe is real in the world. Second is epistemology, which is how your think about your reality, and how knowledge about that reality is acquired and communicated. Third, is the research methodology, which is about how you are going to use your ways of thinking (your epistemology) to gain more knowledge about your reality. Last, is axiology, which is a set of morals or a set of ethics or how research has to do something beneficial in this world, which is the axiology of an Indigenous research paradigm. Since the indigenous axiology involves the ethics and judgment of worthwhile research, it differs depending on the research paradigms.
Wilson suggests that these four modes are eurocentric ways of doing research. Furthermore, he explains the dominant, western schools of thought that have emerged over time and steps into the main differences between the dominant and the non- dominant Indigenous paradigms. Notably he states the dominant non-Indigenous paradigm is built upon the fundamental belief that knowledge is an individual entity: the researcher is an individual in search of knowledge, knowledge is something that is
23 gained, and is believed to be owned by an individual. In direct opposition is the Indigenous paradigm which comes from a fundamental belief that knowledge is relational and shared with all creation. It is not the object that is important, rather, it is the relationship to the object that is important. Referencing Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies, (1999) he asserts that Indigenous methodology requires talking about relational accountability: You are answering to all your relations when you are doing research. He persists the questions must be different and I agree; especially, when establishing a clear understanding with myself and my community. I see where I have always operated within this particular framework but I did not have a name to put to it. My research neatly fits within what I understand to be an Indigenous methodology.
When evaluating research methodologies, Shawn Wilson encourages researchers to ask themselves:
1. What is my role as a researcher?
2. What are my obligations?
Additionally, researchers should ask themselves:
a. Does this method allow me to fulfill my obligations in my role?
b. Further, does this method help to build a relationship between myself as a researcher and my research topic?
c. Does it build respectful relationships with the other participants in the research?
Wilson encourages Indigenous researchers to trust their paths. He states that we are not only receiving but also giving in a mutual relationship, an exchange of information. I believe Wilson is correct in stating the Indigenous researchers are analyzing and building ideas and relationships for themselves and for their communities. This article gave me clarity and belief that I am indeed on the right road to conducting my research within what I termed my “indigenous framework.”
24 3.4. Decolonizing Research
The next review is an additional beacon for those struggling to comprehend and traverse the landscape of Indigenous research. This short essay was originally written for a doctoral seminar presentation held at the University of Tromso on March 25, 2004. Later it was adapted by the author for publication. Entitled, “An Essay About Indigenous Methodology” by Jelena Porsanger, an Indigenous Saami scholar and university teacher in the Department of Saami, it enlists practical articles and books written mostly by indigenous scholars. The author identifies methodological issues that are primarily important for researchers of indigenous perspectives. Porsanger mentions the famous Maori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith, author of Decolonizing Methodologies (1999), as a must read for researchers in any discipline dealing with Indigenous issues. In her book, Smith claims that “problematizing the Indigenous is a Western obsession” (ibid., 91). She links the term “research” with colonialism. Another Indigenous research scholar, Cheryl Crazy Bull (1997a, 19) emphasizes that ‘[c]ontinuing our use of Western methods would separate us from our understanding; knowledge would be external rather than integrated into our lives if we do not put our own tribal mark on research” (1997a, 19). The Maori (Linda Tuhiwai Smith) lead the way on putting the “tribal mark” on developing methods. Maori cultural and ethical protocols and metaphors have been used to create a specified Maori research methodology. The language warriors need to know about this cultural customization so as to template our own indigenous communal tribal marks upon our research and outcomes. This level of inter-relationship is what makes the community and the researcher understand each other’s motives and perspectives. This pivotal process, a process that is missing from most small Indigenous communities, has taken decades of university research to document, share, and present to the world what the Maori and the Hawaiian are working to advance.
3.5. Similarities: The Hawaiian and Maori Community Language Revitalization
The Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion program was inspired by early immersion programs started by Hawaiian Punana Leo (“Language Nest”) and Maori Te Kohanga
25 Reo in Hawaii and Aotea Roa (New Zealand) in the 1980s (Wilson and Kamana 2001, King 2001). In fact, following a May 2018 meeting in Fairbanks with two of those Hawaiian language warriors, Professor Pila (William) Wilson, and the Director of University of Hawai’i at Hilo’s Ka Haka “Ula O Ke’eiliko College of Hawaiian Language, Keiki Kawai’ae’a’, we discussed our initial plan. Our language group, along with Professor Marianne Ignace and her husband Ron Ignace and Kelli Finny, a PhD. Candidate, studying Haida Conversation, was invited to meet with the Hawaiian group at the University of Hawaii Hilo. There we spent a morning visiting a language nest and K- 12 immersion school, we debriefed with the Hawaiians, discussed our plans with them, and learned how they produced language resources. While our mission was the same (an immersion language nest), there is one notable difference. In Hydaburg, there are no first language speakers of our particular variety of Xaad Kíl, and only one advanced second language speaker. The success of our language nest will rest in the hands of second language learners (SLL). The scholarly and practical work of the Hawaiians and Maori language revitalists’ is steeped in the Indigenous research methodologies discussed previously in this chapter. Their style is creating their own methods for research, building relationship with academic institutions within their communities, while focusing on their language, is self-identified as the ultimate act of sovereignty.
While I continue this journey, I examine the efforts of successful immersion and language nests in order to find strategies. This research is difficult as very little research data from small Indigenous community exists on point for second language (SL) learners implementing a preschool immersion program when all fluent, first language speakers are no longer alive. Additional research related to small Indigenous communities is necessary and mandatory for building upon the sovereignty model modeled by the Maori. In practicing the Indigenous research mantra, the key points will be unique to my own community. In Hydaburg, these issues center around relationships, cultural protocol, and the requisite respect. It may be out of fear, or common sense, but once you are deemed an outsider by the community you simply do not belong. By representing the community in a study, one is an insider. However cumbersome, you are welcomed as a community member, you are given a place to develop relationships, your actions are deemed respectful and knowledgeable. The ability to stay and work within the community will, 26 returning all information to the benefit of the community will assist in formulating best practices for the community, including social transformations.
3.6. Early Language Education Among Canadian First Nations
In her report “Language Nests in BC: Early Childhood Immersion Programs in two First Nations Communities” (FPCC 2006), Onowa McIvor researched language nests in Adams Lake near Chase, British Columbia and at Lil’wat (Mount Currie). McIvor makes a case for early immersion based on SLA (second language acquisition) research, and explains how and why it can be an important part of language revitalization. As the administrator of Cséyseten Language Nest, Adams Lake, explained, “[Early childhood] is the prime time to teach language. The younger we can teach language, the more it acts like it’s a first language.” McIvor reviewed the structure and staffing of the two programs, their strengths and challenges, and explains how both programs entirely use the Indigenous language. During our initial planning week with staff and Professor Ignace, we reviewed McIvor’s report and benefited from its insights.
3.7. Maori Immersion
The role of language and immersion with the Maori is succinctly captured in a review by Nancy C. Dorian that contains two formal papers, plus questions and answers related to the Current Issues in Language and Society seminar at the University of Birmingham, in September 1995. One of the speakers was Bernard Spolsky of the Language Policy Research Center, Barllan University, Israel. Spolsky delivered his work “Conditions for language revitalization: A comparison of the cases of Hebrew and Maori.” The reviewer speaks to the significance that Bernard Spolskys discussion of Maori revitalization which greatly enhanced the presentation and adds . . .[i]n fact makes this a book that no one deeply concerned with small-language revitalization efforts should miss. Spolsky in his work seems to be speaking directly to all small communities, like Hydaburg, Alaska, and is on point when he sees revitalization as a special case of second language learning, in which parents or other significant caretakers face a decision about speaking what is for them a second language to the children in their care. The
27 details and discussion in his article will assist me in my process to identify the interview themes and responses from the interviews.
3.8. Retaining linguistic diversity
This is where I turn to Dr. Anvita Abbi, a guest professor in our SFU Masters Linguistics Program and a noted scholar of incredible achievement. Abbi passionately advocates, globally, for endangered Indigenous language preservation and she is an inspiring author. In her extensive writings, I refer back to a lecture and chapter in her writing, Retaining the Fabric of Diversity of Language, (Human Cognitive Abilities and Safeguarding Linguistic Diversity-Anvita Abbi.pdf (page 14 of 18), where she outlines the importance and several ways one can retain and maintain, linguistic diversity. The following is her complete list of seven findings:
1. The contemplation of the revival of nearly lost languages. There are several examples across the globe of languages being revived, e.g., Hebrew, Irish/Gaelic, Welsh, Basque, Catalan, Cornish, Maori, Hawaiian, etc. The will of the community, with some organized institutional support, can achieve this goal.
2. Indigenous languages can be introduced in schools from the start. Many of the almost-lost languages were revived in this manner. This will acquaint the child with familiar topics, in familiar surroundings, with easy comprehension.
3. Research and academic institutions across the country should begin language documentation, both in oral and written forms. The advancement in information technology, aided by computers, can facilitate this goal. Of course, trained personnel would be required to undertake the ask.
4. Traditional knowledge, encapsulated in old and tribal languages, should be documented and used in schools, especially in indigenous communities. Information thus collected can also be shared later among children in urban areas.
28 5. Scripts must be given to as many languages as possible. This can be achieved by adopting the local script of the state language to avoid unnecessary pressure on school-going children. I gave the Devanagari script to Great Andamanese, which enabled Andamanese school-going children to read the multilingual Great Andamanese dictionary and folk tales.
6. The use of electronic technology is entirely warranted: viz., AIR, TV programs, websites, computer-assisted learning by devising apps, thereby increasing prestige, wealth and social uplift. At Vancouver, I recently encountered a wonderful app for learning Haida, the First Nation language of British Columbia.
7. The country’s youth can be mobilized to take up the challenge of the revival, and survival, of languages.
In addition to accessing Dr. Abbi’s article and condensing her seven points, a simple discussion and comparison between her major points and the extracted themes from the data in this study make up Chapter Six. So now, you may ask, why did I chose this article over language revitalization scales like Joshua Fishman’s 1990 Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale( GIDS), or Michael Krauss’ 1992 scale of language endangerment. It’s a valid question which deserves a valid answer. First, I was personally touched and aware of Dr. Abbi’s article because in her lecture to our First Nations Indigenous class we witnessed through her eyes the painful loss of her intensive field work with the Andamnese languages, and her personal response to losing the last speaker to the Great Andamanese language. I trust her experiences. I trust her written recommendations, and because I actually heard her speak Xaad Kíl in class, with a very heavy Indian accent, I believe she has provided a path both her and Dr. Marianne Ignace have opened for us. Secondly, we don’t have any more time to test theory. We need to rely on trusted instincts, hard-work and experience of others who have done the actual work. She stated in class that with passion and with the will of the community a language could survive and thrive. I choose to believe her.
29 3.9. Second Language Acquisition (SLA)
A point which needs reflection is the role of second language acquisition or (SLA). The following review provides the information for ten factors to guide proficiency. We simply have no time to waste due to the status of Xaad Kíl. Hydaburg is uniquely situated because we are working to preserve a critically endangered language with no guidance from a fluent first language speaker. The search is to find proficiency in both the staff and the students. Therefore, searching for proficiency factors, is in reality a search to assist our team to mold and fit those successful factors into our own image.
A review of “Indigenous Second Language Acquistion: Factors leading to proficiency in te reo Maori (the Maori language)” by Matiu Ratima and Stephen May offers ten major steps in the development of Maori language proficiency of adults, with proficiency definitions created by the Maori language commission (Haemata Limited, 2006). The authors state that it is this development of Maori language proficiency amongst adults [that] is of local and global significance because of the lack of scholarly attention. He goes on to explain while it has been examined closely by Joshua Fishman who developed a comprehensive theory of Reversing Language Shift (RLS) he is critical because he asserts Fishman fails to explain how the development of adult proficiency in an endangered language can best occur. He even goes on to say, “Those who have written about adult language learning of endangered languages have been limited to describing the range of methods available to adult learners [end quotes] (Baker & Jones, 1998; Harnish & Swanton, 2004; Spolsky and Shohamy, 1999).
The article goes on to review and address the urgent need for a research agenda on adults developing proficiency in indigenous languages. This is an inspiring article because it does provide some footing for those interested in researching and actually running an immersion programs, such as the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion program, with second language learners (SLL) taking the lead on community immersion. The application of this information in Hydaburg is outside the scope of this article. Research data will be shared with the community at public presentations and at the United Front
30 strategic language planning meetings. The United Front is a local volunteer organization representing the active entities in Hydaburg, Alaska. This community organization will meet for three days, May 13-15, 2019, with the intent to produce a community plan document to support the long-term sustainability of Xaad Kíl.
31 Chapter 4.
Research Methodology
4.1. Participation and community benefit
My research is guided by doing “relationship based research (Kovach, 2005) in conjunction with what Smith terms a “potential to positively make a difference” for Indigenous communities (Smith, 2008.) As an Indigenous researcher, my ultimate search is for methods that speak “the language of participation and community benefit (Kovach, 2005, p. 24).
I am relying heavily on the development of Indigenous scholars whose practical experience come from their own experience they have developed while implementing for and with indigenous people, in their own community. It may surprise indigenous researchers in Native American tribes and First Nation’s in Canada our reliance comes from alliances with the Hawaiian (Wilson, K. & Wilson, (2001) and Maori (Smith, L. 1999).
Maori scholars and authors Linda and Graham Smith (Smith, L. 1999, G. Smith., 1997), Hawaiians Kamara and William Wilson (2002), Sewepemc educator Kathy Michel (2011), are Indigenous language activists and indigenous educators whose professional abilities have created the opportunity for their indigenous communities to move forward with successful immersion based on their designs. Hawaiian researcher Wilson makes key observations calling them the centrality of relational accountability to Indigenous methodologies. In struggling to understand both the institutionalized and historical non-indigenous traditions associated with research methods in the United States I can see where flexibility is required for the newer Indigenous paradigm to fit each particular Indigenous community.
32 4.2. Grounded theory approach
Thematic analysis offers the tools and is not theory bound (Braun and Clarke, 2006). It is a form of analysis that is used for identifying the emergence of dominate themes emerging from research which includes interview transcripts. Simply put, “what the story is about.” (Hunter, Emerald & Martin, 2013). The description of this analysis of content is “in pursuit of the essence of experience” (id.)
After I recorded and transcribed interviews from 10 individuals, the data were open coded, line by line. A data sheet was created to organize and to provide review of data into selective codes. Using a Grounded Theory approach (Charmaz 2006), and qualitative analysis steps, the themes were extracted. Once the themes were drawn out, tables were created to display the predominate themes (codes) between the Youth Focus Group, the Leadership Group, the Parent/Caretaker Group, with the fifteen interview questions. That data summary ending the chapter is simply a beginning point for future reference and research.
4.3. Open-Ended Interviews
The nature of the questions I selected allow the interviewee to tell me about themselves in the opening three questions. It creates a relaxed atmosphere and opened the lines of communicating. The interviews opened with a brief explanation of the process and an opportunity to allow for any questions or concerns. There is a marked difference in behavior on how a young person engages than an elder. This is part of my personal experiences in understanding how I should behave to make the interviewees comfortable. I noticed open and honest responses in each interview.
The wording, the concepts, the protocol, the ideas which I sought were sometimes not clear. My intent was more focused to remain consistent in the process then to work on the actual wording of the questions. This was definitely a positive learning experience and a trust building exercise. The community in general now knows “what it is she is doing.”
33 4.4. Why did I pick these three groups to interview?
The interviewees were entirely voluntary and represent the will of the community. The three groups selected are inclusive of a wide array of the community. The idea in selecting these three groups was to gain a broad view from the community which included young people, the active and engaged leadership and the family and caretakers of enrolled students in the newly opened Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program.
The volunteers who participated did result in a mixture of youth, adults and Elders. Their participation resulted in themes. The theme can assist with the research by drawing out local insights from their values and attitudes. Those actions move into the will of the community and the type of institutional support provided within the community.
The relationship in the interviewing process developed and built trust. The trust is required to come full circle for the future benefit of the community in finding a path for the second language learners (SLL) when no first language learners are left to guide them.
Although, the interviewees were voluntary, they are also busy, engaged community based people. They actually assisted as I actually had no way to “select” one volunteer over the other.
I explained what my project research was seeking and the community councils suggested volunteers or individuals within the community who fit one of the three groups I outlined in my presentation. The ten individuals provided their precious time and input understanding any and all benefit was to return to the community. Several more were available who volunteered and are available for future research efforts.
4.5. How I contacted interviewees
A part of the ethical requirements from the University required ethics approval to hold semi-public informational meetings. I also attended public meetings, explained the study and my need for volunteers. The Hydaburg community organizations I visited 34 made recommendations of key individuals they suggested and a list was created. I followed up with telephone calls and/or in person visits to explain the project and make appointments for interviews. The procedure was explained to each volunteer including the estimated time to complete the interview, the consent form, the follow up requiring their final approval for the use of the transcribed interview. I also explained that the final study materials would be safely housed at the Tribal building and would be made available per a written agreement with the Tribal staff.
4.6. How many and what kinds of questions?
A copy of the interview question sheet which contains the open-ended, fifteen questions is found in Appendix B. The first three are introductory questions about the interviewee. The remaining questions pertain to either the past, present and future experiences of the individual as those experiences relate to Xaad Kíl. The questions search for a way to create a baseline for gathering information. There is currently no protocol in place for researchers who work with the major entities in the community. The school may have policy in place but it is not Indigenous based as it should be. The questions did evoke common themes, ideas and views which were shared with me in the interviews. The creation of the questions with a local cultural protocol is one area I would strengthen for myself and any indigenous researcher who works with Hydaburg in the future.
4.7. What was done with the data?
The interviews were transcribed, word for word, and sent to the interviewee for draft review and final approval and consent to use the interview data in my study. No major changes were made to any of the interviews and all were approved for use. I read and re-read the interviews to familiarize myself and to search for common words, themes or ideas. I created an excel worksheet and wrote out the questions in one column and I created a column for each individual who participated. I noted highlights from their answers and placed that data into the appropriate column. I began looking for the story to form in the columns of the excel file. The results are outlined question by question at the
35 end of this chapter. The two Capstone project’s completed in 2019 by Ku’yaang and myself (Ki’iljuus) will be presented during the Hydaburg Cooperative Association’s Annual Haida Culture Camp. This annual event is held the last full week of July, Monday through Saturday. A general public meeting will be called to share and give back to the leadership, the youth, and the parent and caregivers who participated in the interview process and to provide the larger research community a glimpse into the community of Hydaburg, Alaska as they see the past, present and future of Xaad Kíl.
4.8. Data extraction
The data which I extracted, duplicated Charmez’s process of open coding, selective coding and the emergence of theory (themes) (Charmez, K., 2006). As a researcher, I looked for “words, emotional responses, and observable aspects of the interview. In search of understanding the story which was shared with me and which I was allowed to hear. One unwritten emphasis was building both individual interviewees and community respect for this ethically based type of interview research. A relationship is critical to open the lines of communication and result in identifying themes that emerge from the participants themselves. The task seemed oddly backwards. I had to have certain qualities, certain understandings and similar knowledge about how a person should behave to gain the required trust as a researcher. The construction of my ideas about the stories which were shared with me came after the interviews. I relied heavily on the work of published Indigenous researchers.
One lifetime observation I would like to share is in Hydabug, you are viewed as either an insider or an outsider. The community decides. The general guidelines are whether you live in Hydaburg and your contributions to the community within your lifetime. It is a lifelong measurement and is based on the cultural contributions you have made to the community in terms of assisting, donating, cleaning, digging graves and burying individuals, hosting clan parties, working collaboratively to enhance the community, and waiting until the end of one’s life to be honored for doing so. One of my goals in conducting this research was to keep my place as a community member and to not be viewed as an outsider who was going to take information and leave town.
36 The data extracted and the small research steps, regardless of their size, will be a simple baseline. It can be called many things but I simply believe it is reflective of how our community operates and how they may see, for themselves, an attempt at starting, planning and implementing a life-long community journey, together, called Xaad Kil. The extracted data can only be used as a guide reflecting the values and attitudes found in the themes. It is baseline data for the benefit and contribution to the success of community of Hydaburg, Alaska for language acquisition and successful immersion action planning.
37 Chapter 5.
“What People Told Me”
5.1. The Purpose
This socio-linguistic research study questions whether the opening of an immersion school with only second-language learners is a viable form of language preservation or language learning. Due to the dearth of academic evidence, my research relied heavily on qualitative, experiential evidence obtained from community interview questions. This interview process helped create a baseline time-continuum (past, present, future) of community values and attitudes toward the topic at hand. Ultimately, it is my goal as a researcher to enable the community to effectuate positive changes related to the Xaad Kíl (North Alaskan Haida variation).
This chapter contains tables highlighting themes related to experiential data from interview questions. These tables, which are based on the grounded theory method, resulted in emerging codes condensed into readable formats. These tables provide a visual of the underlying data and therefore will help the community more readily access and use the information.
5.2. The Tables
The following tables summarize and emphasize data related to specified interview questions. Specifically, these tables indicate the group associated with the interviewee, the emerging theme, and any related personal experience. Each table exhibits data from defined questions and distinct time periods. Table 1 is based on questions that relate to the past and it contains codes from interview questions # 4-9. Table 2 relates to questions about the present and this table contains codes from interview questions # 1-3, and 15. Table 3 relates to questions concerning the future and the codes are related to questions # 10-12. [Table 3 contains codes from interview questions # 13-14.] Subsequently, the questions, responses, and parenthetical comments for these tables are listed at the end.
38 The interviews, recorded on an Apple IPhone voice recorder, are stored on a memory stick (flash drive) along with the transcriptions. Also, the names of the interviewees are stored and available upon request.
Questions-Responses Related to Table 1: The Past: Codes from Interview Questions # 4- 9
# 4. “Tell me your experiences hearing Xaad Kíl in the past.”
• Youth Group: few opportunities to learn the language
• Leadership Group: No culture or language classes in boarding school; (responses included a range from never hearing the language to hearing the language and not understanding it; two interviewees, one who did not grow up hearing the language and the second hearing the language growing up, both noted they know the importance of the language to their children and to themselves)
• Parent/Caretaker Group: Boarding school did not offer an opportunity to learn language; the ladies (the elders) would not stop speaking and probably saved the language
# 5. “In your lifetime did you perceive either an increase or decline [decrease] in the use of the language?”
• Youth Group: An increase (unanimous response)
• Leadership Group: Increase, resurgence, school is bringing it back
• Parent/Caretaker Group: (Mixed response; a majority see an increase, dependent upon age, to a historical decrease); others see a decrease until recently when the school opened; Data identified key supportive leaders, key institutions and key individuals. Important in what studies of language nests in Indigenous communities similar to ours (McIvor 2006, King 2001, Wilson and Kamana 2001) identified as the required support team.)
# 6. “Tell me your experiences in the past hearing Northern Alaskan Xaad Kíl a.) spoken in your home? b.) in your community? c.) in the public forum?”
• Youth Group: Limited to hearing a few words; heard at cultural events
• Leadership Group: (Mixed response; dependent upon age); at cultural doings or events; (One of the identified leaders has a grandson enrolled in the Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program. She stated “the reason I moved home was
39 for my children to learn to be proud . . . as an adult who has moved home I’ve learned how important [Haida language and culture] is.)
• Parent/Caretaker Group: (Mixed response; dependent upon age); at cultural and public events that are referred to in Hydaburg as “doings”; (The term “doing” in this context refers to a variety of cultural events including, totem pole raisings, prayers in Xaad Kíl at cultural events, community events, and potlatches.)
# 7. “Can you speak to your experiences of Xaad Kíl being taught in the Hydaburg City School and in the community?”
• Youth Group: Variety over time, sporadic
• Leadership Group: (Age related question) segregated boarding school for people aged 60 and above; no opportunity to learn language if away at school; language or culture was not offered as a class
• Parent/Caretaker Group: (Age related question); varied from “none” to “boarding school”
# 8. “What experiences can you share that demonstrate the use of the language in your lifetime? (or if applicable, before your lifetime?) Were those experiences positive?”
• Youth focus group: Sibling in Xánsii Náay, positive exp.
• Leadership group: Elders, happy, joyful, positive exp.
• Parent/Caretaker group: Few word, phrases, never heard it spoken, positive experience once heard recordings
# 9. “To what do you attribute the decline of the language in Hydaburg?”
• Youth Group: I don’t know; missionaries
• Leadership Group: Elders forbidden to speak; no language in boarding school
• Parent/Caretaker Group: English only; beaten; generations not speaking
5.2.1. Questions-Responses Related to Table 2: The Present: Codes from Interview Questions # 1-3, 15
Questions #1-3 were introductory questions intended to initiate the recording process and therefore, no responses were captured.
40 # 1. “Who are you?”
# 2. “Tell me about yourself.”
# 3. “What do you do in Hydaburg?”
# 15. “Is there anything else you would like to say about your attitude toward our language which has changed?”
• Youth Group: Range: Thankful; happy; I don’t know
• Leadership Group: Language, glad, believe it’s a success
• Parent/Caretaker Group: Learning, talking; hope; positive; believe it can happen
5.2.2. Questions-Responses Related to Table 3: The Future: Codes from Interview Questions # 10-14
# 10. “How do you view the future of Xaad Kil in Hydaburg?”
• Youth Group: Great; coming back, good, I don’t know
• Leadership Group: Good; looks bright, more pride, working on clan, protocol
• Parent/Caretaker Group: (First language speakers) proud; conversation
# 11. “Do you think the addition of the Xantsii Naay Preschool Immersion Program in Hydaburg will make a contribution to the survival of this highly endangered Alaskan variation (dialect)? a.) if yes, why? b.) if no, why?”
• Youth Group: Yes (unanimous), new generation, bringing it back
• Leadership Group: Yes, if reach the children, children are learning, fun activities, fun classes
• Parent/Caretaker Group: Absolutely, younger the better, reach out to families
# 12. “If you think it is important to have an immersion program, then what other activities in the community could, or should be done to support the immersion?”
• Youth Group: Motivation, support, flashcards, memory cards,
• Leadership Group: Family classes, cultural; song and dance, family
• Parent/Caretaker Group: Intergenerational, parents, grandparents, classes 41 # 13. “Do you think the Haida language, culture, and identity are inter-connected? a.) if yes, explain why? b.) if no, explain why not?”
• Youth Group: Yes, more proud
• Leadership Group: Yes (unanimous) feel more proud, want to come home
• Parent/Caretaker Group: Yes (unanimous); Culture starts with language, connects you to your identity
# 14. “Describe impacts you personally witnessed.”
• Youth Group: Helping out, shows willingness of community
• Leadership Group: Christmas party, dance, culture, pride, joy, proud
• Parent/Caretaker Group: Elder lunches, Christmas program, pride
42 Table 5.1. The Past: Codes from Interview Questions # 4-9 QUESTION GROUP RESPONSE THEME/CODES # 4 YOUTH Decrease, never Language Loss heard spoken LEADERSHIP Decrease, heard No Transmission spoken, but never spoke PARENT/CARETAKER No opportunity to No Transmission learn # 5 YOUTH Increase Positive LEADERSHIP Decrease; increase Resurgence, Growing PARENT/CARETAKER Increase; decrease School is bringing back # 6 a) Home YOUTH No; doings* Culture LEADERSHIP Yes; no: doing* Culture PARENT/CARETAKER Yes; no: doings* Culture # 6 b) Public YOUTH Few words: doings* Culture LEADERSHIP Yes; no: doings* Culture PARENT/CARETAKER Yes; no: doings* Culture # 6 c) YOUTH Doings* Culture Community LEADERSHIP - - forum PARENT/CARETAKER Elders didn’t teach, Limited # 7 YOUTH Inconsistent LEADERSHIP Boarding school Historical PARENT/CARETAKER Lack experience Historical # 8 YOUTH Varied, sibling at Historically XNPIP lacking LEADERSHIP Not understand, Reflective of didn’t teach, English language status only PARENT/CARETAKER Phrases Reflective of language status # 9 YOUTH I don’t know; Lack of historical missionaries LEADERSHIP Forbidden speak Historical Haida Trauma PARENT/CARETAKER English only Negative historical Impact *Doings as defined in Hydaburg as a cultural event, ranging from funeral to a potlatch. ^XNPIP the acronym for Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program
43 Table 5.2. The Present: Codes from Interview Questions #1-3, #15 QUESTION GROUP RESPONSE THEME/CODES #1-3 YOUTH - Not applicable Introductory LEADERSHIP - Not applicable PARENT/CARETAKER - Not applicable # 15 YOUTH Happy Hopeful LEADERSHIP Believe Hopeful PARENT/CARETAKER Believer Hopeful
Table 5.3. The Future: Codes from Interview Questions #10-14 QUESTION GROUP RESPONSE THEME/CODES # 10 YOUTH Great; Connection LEADERSHIP Bright & Cultural, Deep Connection Pride PARENT/CARETAKER Proud Feeling of Connection # 11 YOUTH Absolutely, reach Children out, younger better LEADERSHIP Yes, Children PARENT/CARETAKER Yes, reach out, are Children funnier and they learn # 12 YOUTH Give motivation; Support Group flashcards LEADERSHIP Classes; family; Family/Culture song & dance PARENT/CARETAKER Classes; parent & Family/Culture grandparent classes # 13 YOUTH Yes, more proud Proud LEADERSHIP Yes, more proud, Deep connection want to come home PARENT/CARETAKER Yes, connects to Connection with your identity identity # 14 YOUTH Yes, helping out, Sense of pride will of community LEADERSHIP Yes, social event Proud PARENT/CARETAKER Yes, social event Pride
44 5.3. The Intent
The intent for the charts is to show a summary of a broad general community response to the questions in the interviews.
The process of pulling common terms and threads, creates a group response. From the group response came shared values and attitude. This is important because the factors which are identified as themes can be compared to similar immersion research indicators of success.
Identifying and explaining the connections and disjunctures is part of the process for drawing out a useful purpose for the data and the charts. This information can be used to communicate when reporting back to the community. The intent is to make the information understandable and useful locally to the community of Hydaburg, Alaska. Although it is simple baseline information it can now begin to serve a meaningful measure for identifying key factors to assist in successful long term community language immersion planning.
5.4. Example of connections and disjuncture
The dominate themes of culture, family and children fill the tables for the present and future sections of the chart. Each of the three interview group comments reflect a close and deep connection related to identifying Haida culture and language with a sense of Haida pride. This deep connection can be viewed as the will of the community or what the community finds value in, and what the community is willing to support. The highlights of examples are:
• Connection to the language is transmitted through cultural events continues.
• Culture is tied to Haida identity and language with pride.
• Family and children are the focus for support with immersion.
Although language loss has consistently progressed, the language remains connected to ceremonial and cultural events, in Hydaburg. The theme of culture and the
45 will of the community can be viewed in the series of major cultural events over the last decade in Hydaburg. A series of over twenty replicated Totem pole raisings during Haida Culture Camp, sponsored by the Hydaburg Cooperative Associaton (HCA) for the past decade, mark a resurgence blending traditional cultural practices with new. The practice of memorial potlatches connecting the individual with the clan in the last decade has increased as well.
A recent community cultural reconnection was hosted by Guud San Glans [Robert Davidson] and Gid7ahl-Gudsllaay [Terri-Lynn Davidson] October, 27, 2018, called the Gyaa ‘Isdla Potlatch, in Hydaburg, Alaska. The potlatch was novel because the hosts originate from Haida Gwaii but were presenting nine clan banners in Hydaburg, Alaska. Both Guud San Glans and Gid7ahl-Gudsllaay are gifted artists, talented professionally and highly respected for their numerous contributions to the Haida community in general.
In preparation for Gyaa ‘Isdla, the hosts, called for a series of community planning meetings in Hydaburg. The planning began by calling for the local genealogy charts to be accessible at a series of weekly meetings in Hydaburg. The genealogy charts were created during summer tribally sponsored Haida Culture Camps and the XKKF because they did not exist locally. The charts allow visitors and local community of Haida ancestry, to locate their place within their clan system in Hydaburg. The Gyaa ‘Isdla Potlatch planning meetings in Hydaburg allowed families to find their place in their clan, prepare for the clan acceptance of their banner at the Gyaa Isdla and assist each other in re-connecting lost families and individuals into their clan.
Guud San Glans [Robert Davidson] and Gid7ahl-Gudsllaay [Terri-Lynn Davidson] traveled to Hydaburg and hosted the last couple Hydaburg community meetings. They explained the type and makeup of their potlatch, a clear expectation of their role as hosts and the clan responsibility in accepting the banners at the potlatch, the agenda and the protocol. They conducted their meetings with song, laughter and grace. They answered questions at the final planning meeting demonstrating the precise planning and preparation they put into the event.
46 Guud San Glans explained his mother, Vivian Davidson’s and his own roots in Hydaburg. His story included his personal potlatch learning journey and the importance of knowing ones’ place within their clan. The Davidson’s clearly with the nine community clans participation held their potlatch. The large dance screens were ceremonially gifted and accepted by each of the nine clans. The banners are held by the individual clan in Hydaburg to display at clan ceremonial events. The community was actively engaged and clan identity was strengthened. The deep cultural connection to identity was witnessed at the dancing, singing, gifting and feasting.
This Gyaa ‘isdla potlatch hosted by the Davidson’s honor the following “k’iik’aanii gwaayk’angee (Northern Alaska Haida clans) with a dance screen:
Sgalans Sgandaas
Yaadaas
Ts’eehl ‘laanas/janas
Sgajuung.ahl ‘laanaas
Sdaasdas
Taas ‘laanaas
K’wii taas
Yahgw ‘laanas/janaa
Gaw kaywaas
The significance of this connection cannot be overstated for the community of Hydaburg. The intent with nine individual clan participants was reconnection and successfully achieved utilizing a combination of modern and traditional Haida potlatching.
47 The past decade of efforts for cultural activities in Hydaburg have included an effort to reconnect to clan. The creation of Hydaburg geneology charts during Haida Culture Camps (the last full week of July annually) and the announcement of the Gyaa ‘Isdla potlatch provided opportunity to participate as a clan member in the event. The opportunity to actively search for your place and identify within your clan, to have a sense of identity within the Haida world at a community wide cultural event required clan organization, meetings and participation. The reconnection was dual. It was internal to Hydaburg clan members seeking a place and external to our origins in Haida Gwaii, the homeland. All this made possible by sharing modern cultural potlatch knowledge. An example of where potlatch can be transformed into a tool of connection back to our origins while becoming aware of our place in this modern world.
The ultimate connection to our clan origins, to our identity and to our culture is through our language. The potlatch was well attended, with each banner, the clans were invited forward, to communicate their personal message and identify their matrilineal place in the Haida world. A strengthening of the local clan identity was witnessed. A strong indicator of the communities strong ties to cultural pride, sense of identity, protocol and clan relationships.
48
Figure 5.1. Reconncecting The Nine Raven and Eagle Clans, Hydaburg, Alaska Community Clan Meeting preparing for Guud San Glans and Gid7ahl-Gudsllaay Potlatch Photo by L. Lang.
49
Figure 5.2. Figure 1.2 Dance Screen, Yawgh ‘Laanaas (Middle Town) Raven. Photo by L. Lang.
50 A second example of connection to language is the opening of the Xansii Náay Preschool Immersion school in Hydaburg, Alaska. The opportunity mirrors the communities understanding of the vitality and importance of utilizing the same educational system used to destroy language and culture. Full on immersion. It is the preferred method of language acquisition and it works. The local attempt is to utilize the institutional setting which stripped our language away and to reverse the trend of language loss. Today, Haida and the community of Hydaburg, give a higher priority and value to our language locally and the thematic responses in the interview data suggest it is working to connect with culture and identity.
A third example of connection found in the themes emerging from the interview statements are the Christmas performance and the Tribal Elders’ lunches. The public functions, or “doings,” as they are referred to in Hydaburg, include immersion students’ performances, which brought out feelings and emotion based comments which include: Joy, a sense of pride with a lot of families, seeing them learn not only language, dance, cultural, their pride makes everyone proud of what our youngest are doing.
The family is another dominate theme from the interview series. The interviewees data provide support for immersion, suggest support for encouraging and strengthening the intergenerational use of the language. The suggestion of family immersion classes, cultural classes (including clan and protocol), fun immersion activities, teaching families Haida song and dance are the top suggestions found in the data.
Examples of disjunctures
The themes in the chart which point toward disjuncture or a disconnect are related to historical questions related to personal experiences including attendance at boarding school, a lack of historical perspective and the age of the interviewee also plays a role in disjuncture. Here are some highlights:
• The +60 interviewees attended boarding school-no opportunity to learn Xaad Kíl
51 • Elders were forced to not speak Xaad Kíl
• The generational loss of language transmission increased each generation
In summary, the pride and strength of the language can be passed down but the primary disjuncture identified in the themes above should serve as indicators which need both attention, communication and healing. How the community decide actions to address those issues can only come if the community is aware of the disjuncture. This requires searching for traditional values which still exist, which are still valued and which can be strengthened in sync with the evolution of immersion in Hydaburg. A place of value for those who did not learn the traditions through the language can and should be honored. A place of value for those who were hurt so deeply must be approached with a framework of healing. Those are the ideas our community can hold up to the light, examine and then determine what actions to take to create value in each other and in our language based values.
The examples of connection and disjuncture are provided to identify what the community said, from a community perspective. How that information gets utilized is a future planning question for Hydaburg.
52 Chapter 6.
Comparison
6.1. A Seven point comparison to interview data
This chapter compares the scholarly work of Dr. Anvita Abbi, “Human Cognitive Abilities and Safeguarding Linguistic Diversity” (Anvita Abbi.pdf (page 14 of 18) where she provides an outline of seven outputs. Her following points are summarized for comparison with comments related to the activity and outcomes surrounding the interview data.
6.1.1. Point 1
This study contemplates, as Dr. Abbi identifies, the revival of other nearly lost languages. Dr. Abbi identifies the will of the community, and organized institutional support as critical. She states you can achieve your goals if you have these two critical factors.
Data Finding Related to 1: The will of the community, and organized institutional support.
The data from the interviews find leadership, which is both the will of the community and local institutional support, responding positively and enthusiastically to the opening of the Xantsii Náay Preschool Immersion School. The interview comments, which make up the themes, reflect positively on the communities present and future will to achieve the research goals of this project. The following is a community leader from the leadership group:
“I think theres a good future in it [Xántsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program], I think that with the immersion class and the babies learning that theres' a chance that it’s going to grow, with parents getting involved and everyone’s got more pride, more self-esteem, everyones’ proud to be a Haida now and they want to learn all they can about it. We’ve been really working hard on the clans, Haida names, protocols and those types of things so language is really important to all that.”
53 The data outcomes provide the leadership group align with success indicators Dr. Abbi states are critical to achieve your goals. This suggests the second language instructors, working to develop a sustainable foundation to raise a new generation of first language speakers, have the cultural and family support from the leadership, youth focus group and family/parent interviewees. The question becomes whether the supportive will from the interviews can also be found in Hydaburg and the organized institutional support of the community. Can these values and attitudes be found in the actual work of the local institutions in Hydaburg? We look at the specific work of the local institutions as an indication of the overall community’s will. The theme of culture is one of the strongest data theme outcome and applicable to the actual work and planning found in the organized institutional support.
An example is the United Front, a volunteer group, of community organizations in Hydaburg, Alaska originally formed to solve a local land issue. The volunteer group achieved this goal and continued to work together as an economic development and land planning issue based organization. Meeting quarterly, they share and support, or provide updated information on individual and joint community projects. The agenda grew and a subcommittee, the Youth Activities Committee, was formed to support fundraising for major community events. The ability to collaborate has assisted grants, community projects, special events and serious land discussions.
Among the host of major endeavors, the group hired a consultant to create the Hydaburg Community Economic Development Plan 2000-2015. The goals of the first plan were all met and in October 2016, twenty community leaders representing the City of Hydaburg, Hydaburg Cooperative Association (HCA or Tribe), Haida Corporation, Hydaburg, the City School District, and the XKKF or Xaadas Kíl Kuyaas Foundation nonprofit, met to develop the updated long-range community plan. The plan would focus not only on future economic development, but on strengthening the cultural, language, social and physical health of the community. The top seven community development priorities are:
1. Create a Youth Training Center
54 2. Expand Haida Culture Education, Language & Youth Programs
3. Address Drug Use in Hydaburg
4. Protect the Environment & Complete Land Use Plan
5. Complete Dam, Water and Sewer Projects
6. Increase Availability of Fishing Permits
7. Develop a Grocery Co-op
Following the opening of the Xantsii Náay Preschool Immersion School in Hydaburg the leadership representing the United Front entities held their regular quarterly meeting in February 2019. The XKKF made a request for support to fund a community long-term strategic plan document to sustain Xaad Kíl, immersion and language related activites. At this meeting, after discussion, the collaborating members agreed to return to their respective councils, seek funding and participant. The request was to be fully engaged, to create a document supported by the community with the intent of planning for sustaining Xaad Kíl immersion and the language nest. The community and leadership are aware that the current funding for the school is contingent upon a three-year grant. They recognize the urgency which requires immediate planning for the future and for the inclusive nature of the community to succeed. They also recognize the success of their planning efforts in creating successful outcomes.
A contract was signed to provide three half-days of planning. On May 13, 14 and 15th 2019, an invitation was extended to the United Front representatives and language warriors in Hydaburg to engage in the process and produce a document for the long-term planning and sustainability of our immersion and language nest efforts. Additionally, a half day of planning is added to the agenda to provide an opportunity to update the overall Hydaburg Community Economic Development Plan (2016-2020).
The participants are individuals who are supportive, who work in language, are scholars, administrators, elected leaders, volunteers. They share a common vision to perpetuate the communities Haida cultural and language goals, and more importantly, are willing to do the work to successfully plan together, for future success.
55 The general data from the studies research, literature review and interviews will be shared as an update at this language planning session. Speakers, teachers, leadership, the school, the city, the Tribe and the non-profit will sit down and creatively look for ways to sustain our immersion.
From the responses in the interviews the two indicators for community will and institutional support are found in Hydaburg actions. The community found youth, culture and language the top priorities of the new Hydaburg Economic Development plan.
Hydaburg plans are in clear alignment with Dr. Abbi’s two critical factors found in her first point.
Additional undocumented support
As an employee at the Xantsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program, the staff is evidenced with volunteer support, including labor for a greenhouse building, grandparent intergenerational support, subsistence food donations, in-kind donations including the use of the building, supplies, traditional art, masks, drums, paddles for dancing and singing, parent snack donations, to name a few. They are all part of the unstated support and part of the actual community planning efforts for the future of Xaad Kíl. The community support is amazing. The immersion staff is lead with passion and intention to succeed. Once again, from an employee perspective, the difficult work will be in planning, which includes the following; finding self-identified methods to create fluency, access to creating new teachers at all levels, support staff, finding sustainable creative funding streams based on a healthy, collaborative and cooperative framework, incorporating culture and putting our local Haida tribal mark on all our language activities.
6.1.2. Point 2
Indigenous languages can be introduced from the start. Dr. Abbi looks at how, historically, language revival worked best. Many of the almost lost languages were revived in this manner. She suggests the cultural elements of familiar surroundings, topics and easy comprehension.
56 Point 2 Data Comparison
The interviews I conducted do not question this aspect of language acquisition because the immersion and Xaad Kíl is the introduction from the start at the Xantsii Náay Immersion Program. In addition, the additional benefit of a natural setting for learners exists. The village of Hydaburg is surrounded by natural beauty. The program exists on an island in a remote location. This all lends to the ease of implementing her suggestions. This is not an issue but an obvious benefit which is already in place.
6.1.3. Point 3
Research and academic institutional work are important and Dr. Abbi’s focus on language documentation is a priority for any critically endangered language. I would step further into her recommendation and add it is critical to build relationships with academic institutions which are capable of supporting your Indigenous language program development.
Point 3 Data Comparison
The relationship with Simon Fraser University is international and assists in the community value of developing our youth, our culture and our language. Of Dr. Abbi’s seven recommendations’ this is the most critical in terms of Hydaburg, Alaska continuing to proceed in alignment with the successes found in documented research and scholarly writings of the Maori, Hawaiian and some Canadian First Nations language revitalization and language nest stories. It has taken years, decades and endless amounts of work to try and rebuild the historical damage done to Indigenous Native communities. The programs who succeed with their initial efforts, are anywhere from twenty to forty years into figuring out the maze of research, of linguistic academics, educating and developing their community on implementing their vision of Indigenous based language revitalization.
The Haida in Alaska have established scholarly alliances and relationships which Dr. Abbi refers to as a contributing factor. The special relationship established with Simon Fraser University and Dr. Marianne Ignace began through a SSHRC grant titled, First Nations Languages in the Twenty-First Century: Looking Back, Looking Forward.
57 She has made it her life’s work to collaborate with West Coast First Nations and the Haida, on both side of the international boarder. She created the relationships required to find ways of preserving and teaching these languages between First Nations, the language warriors and the University. In fact, Dr. Anvita Abbi, was a guest lecturer with the First Nations Linguistics Program at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Campus. This point cannot be overlooked for the present and future community language planning strategy in Hydaburg.
6.1.4. Point 4
Point four refers to the backbone of an Indigenous community, which is the traditional knowledge, encapsulated in old and Tribal languages. Dr. Abbi stresses the collection of this information and she recommends to share locally with children, and later in urban areas.
Responding to point four, the data I collected is cursory. I could not pretend to address the depth of our 14,000 year old language or the traditional knowledge it contains in this study. Xaad Kíl is filled with traditional knowledge and is simply waiting to be unlocked by language students and our community. Learning to read and write and speak Xaad Kíl allow students the key inside the treasure trove of collected information by Haida scholastic experts. The Haida dictionaries (Lachler 2010, Enrico 2005), a large repository of recorded histories, stories and ethnographic writings, notably those recorded by John Swanton (1905a, 1908) and Boelscher Ignace (1989, 1992, forthcoming) and songs (Enrico, Swanton 1911) are all part of the institutional and scholarly relationship building which must continue. Like the Maori and the Hawaiian, the future generations are able to unlock these mysteries by learning to speak the language, alas the importance of immersion and language nests.
6.1.5. Point 5
Point number five recommends scripts (orthographies) must be given to as many languages as possible. This is where a dominant language is the political language. This point is perhaps a recommendation for a particular place in a particular situation. It is a 58 suggestion to utilize the institution which is dominated by a particular language. In our case it is English.
Point 5 Data Comparison
Our situation in Hydaburg is slightly different than what Abbi – whose experiences with language revitalization mainly involve the Indian sub-continent - suggests. Politically, at this particular point in time the policy makers in the educational, Tribal and City councils and language non-profit are all of Haida descent. The current will and passion of the leadership, youth and parent/caretaker groups from the data collected points to a community that supports the idea of immersion and language nests. Although English is the dominate language in Hydaburg, the inclusion of Xaad Kíl is not a political issue. This could change overtime and should acknowledged because leaderships do change. The data from my interviews in Hydaburg suggest that the community leadership and membership contain the required drive which Dr. Abbi finds mandatory to bring languages back from the brink of death. The community as reflected in the study mirror the actions for successful present and future planning. They include financial support and contain a deep self-identified connection of Haida self to culture and language. The following statements reflect the commitment at the leadership level;
“My grandparents spoke. I was never involved in it. I actually was never able to participate because they didn’t have culture in classes when I went to school, so it’s really important for me to see my children and grandchildren be involved in it, something like that. It’s been a big issue here, the only way I’m really involved is through the Tribe and the XKKF, of which I am a board member, and that is a way to try and preserve the language and the culture.” Doreen Witwer, HCA, Tribal Administrator.
Natasha Peele, the City Administrator adds;
“Actually, that’s precisely why I moved home. Like I said, . . .[I] moved away when I was seven, my mom moved us to another community, and then I raised my children in Ketchikan but hearing from my kids [who] asked me why are they Haida and why can’t they be normal? They didn’t have a good feeling about being Haida, which broke my heart, so I moved them home so they could know their family, they didn’t know anything about, I didn’t really know growing up, about what it was to be Haida and so since we moved home when the first year we got here my daughter made her own regalia. They were holding regalia making classes at the boys and girls club 59 and even though she didn’t have a parent with her, she made it there every day in third grade to go sew hers, she sewed everything, all he buttons, everything, on her own. And to hear them excited about things, they weren’t ashamed anymore. It brought them a sense of who they were and identified as being proud of being Haida and no longer feeling like they weren’t normal. So, they are learning the language, who they are, and where they come from.”
6.1.6. Point 6
Point 6 suggests the use of electronic technology as warranted. Dr. Abbi mentions the app for learning Haida with the First Nations of British Columbia. I agree that this is an extraordinary use of technology and language preservation and a great example of a useful resource.
Point 6 Data Comparison
In the interview data, only one person, the health professional and Tribal grant- writer addressed technology. He termed the issue a “competition” for attention.
He pointed out in his interview the use of a cell telephone to record the interview. He cautioned that society is so engaged in technology that teaching the Haida language could be another form of competition for a child or an adults technology time. He made a suggestion in the form of a summer subsistence camp in a remote location, teaching the Haida language and engaging in cultural teaching. The camp would be a family based idea with traditional food gathering and survival skills. His suggestion is remarkably on point with several of Dr. Abbi’s recommendations in her article. He does not advocate against technology, he simply offers a culture based option. He is leading the long term strategic planning session with the United Front and his ideas, which he has shared locally, will be a positive part of the process.
6.1.7. Point 7
Point 7, the final point sounds almost like a generational challenge where the country’s youth can be mobilized to take up the challenge of the revival, and survival of languages.
60 Point 7 Data Comparison
In reflecting on the data and the information collected through the interview process this final point is important. Great changes have come in societies from our younger generations. In Hydaburg, I made a point of separating out the three groups involved by age. It saddened me that the younger generation had never heard our language spoken in a full conversational setting.
It also made me aware that our young people were the most impacted by our language loss. It may be the job of the leadership of our community to inspire and support our infants and toddlers to speak Xaad Kíl as a model of the ultimate act of sovereign rebellion. The social transformation piece so critical in the Maori, the Hawaiian and some Canadian immersion nests and programs.
One of the questions I asked interviewees was, “if you think it’s important to have an immersion program, then what other activities in the community could, or should be done to support the immersion?” The following statement document the two interviewees in the parent/ caretaker group support who found family as a core focus for support:
“Family, spreading it [immersion] to the family cause that’s the number one way to support efforts at school. In any school setting. Teachers can’t make a difference on their own. It has to be followed through at home. I think the number one support would be reaching out to the families now so that the kids are getting reinforcement at home, is all.”
She is supported by another parent, from her group, who adds;
“Parent classes, not just parents, grandparents, caregivers, to keep the language going at home so it doesn’t stop as soon as they leave the door of Xantsii Náay. Maybe more immersion activities. Maybe classes in the school, up in the school, Junior high and high school kids, elementary kids.”
The strongest response or theme was for family and family involvement. The family theme included activity to keep the language going at home, including immersion activities, a variety of culturally based immersion family classes, including culture, protocol and clan. This is an outstanding data finding because it is the core of the two successful immersion models of the Maori and the Hawaiian. The Canadian immersion models are also family based models but my research found me
61 leaning toward the Indigenous research of the Maori and Hawaiians. A dominate family theme was found among all three study groups
6.2. Conclusions
Based on my analysis of the interview data and literature on language revitalization, I find that Dr. Anvita Abbi’s outline on ways to retain, and maintain, linguistic diversity is applicable to the situation in Hydaburg. The simple comparison draws out themes which suggest the Xantsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program has similar strong suggested indicators recommended by Dr. Abbi. The comparison was made at a minimum, to find useful points and share those ideas with the community of Hydaburg. Does the data from Hydaburg relate to Dr. Anvita Abbi’s lifelong and international efforts to assist in efforts to save dying Indigenous languages worldwide? The successes will ultimately be found in the will of the community, a team of dedicated community language warriors and the succeeding generations of Xaad Kíl immersion students.
There are strong correlations with the points she made amidst the extensive work she conducted worldwide for making the seven points. Hydaburg, as a community, would be wise to utilize and continue to build relationships with research and academic institutions, and political alliances. In a community which is transforming the scenario away from language loss we need to continue exactly what we are doing.
This study is a start. From the interview data and the themes extracted the results suggests that Hydaburg has several of the key indicators related to others success. A group of resilient language warriors, like other successful immersion programs, exists and form a strong core group. An incredibly strong network of relationships inside and outside the community. University and scholastic and political relationships, a leadership group who prioritize, culture and language in their work, and plan for future success. The necessary support team with values and attitudes, represented as extracted themes, align with success markers. A benefit we often overlook is we live remotely, on an island, subsist on the land and are surrounded by cultural gathering practices and natural beauty.
62 Our sense of Haida identity is strong. Our identity is tied to our culture, and our culture to the important work of immersion and language preservation.
In reading the literature and creating the themes from interviews, I would like to reflect on the needs of the village of Hydaburg and the Xántsii Náay Immersion School. The interviewees ask for classes, family immersion, fun innovative ways to engage, to learn with the students, cultural classes, healthy family outdoor subsistence immersion camps, ceremony, protocol and clan training. The list is extensive. This gives insight into the desire to see how Xaad Kíl could be promoted and to give our children valuable cultural lessons while in the language. The requests if implemented would strengthen the ties between language and the extracted themes in the data tables. They include a stronger sense of pride, enhanced self-esteem, a stronger sense of identity, the strengthening of families, our children and our culture. The themes extracted in the data are exhibited in the tables in the study.
The Xántsii Náay Immersion School needs training, training and more training. The list should include all levels and all types of training. The stronger the core, the stronger the body will be. A concerted focus should be on finding a methodology to provide training to second language learners. Currently, it is insufficient. A recommendation which I witnessed at SFU was the creation of University level immersion programs. The start would be to create the first100 hours of training for beginners and include dialogue for providing instruction while staying in the language. The next step would be to create and implement 1000 hours of immersion level one. The next step would be 2000 hours of immersion for level two. All the immersion would be conducted at the university level. The would require a working group intent to produce second language fluency in Xaad Kíl. Each additional 1000 hours brings the student to a new level. To save our language we must invest in creating these curriculums and implementing them while first language speakers of the language are left to assist.
The last comment about the interviews is the sustainability of our immersion programs in Hydaburg. This requires application of the healthy framework which the Haida Cohort discussed in Fairbanks. How do we collaborate and communicate in this
63 transformational phase in a spiritually healthy and cultural manner? I look forward to returning home to give back the stories I was given. I did find the themes with an indigenous method and mind. What I was not expecting was this study brought more questions than answers. The answers to the research question in Hydaburg, like most Indigenous communities will always be found locally, uniquely and culturally, in our case, Haida strong.
64 Chapter 7.
Summary
The purpose of this study was to find the impact on the values and attitudes of three groups of individuals interviewed in Hydaburg, Alaska. The research question asks whether the opening of the Xantsii Náay Preschool Immersion Program by second language learners, when no first language learners were left to assist, impacted interviewees response to open-ended questions about their past, present and future experiences with Xaad Kíl (Northern Alaskan Haida).
While researching the study question, the idea of Native language ideologies generally was a concept found foreign to dominate research practices and Native communities themselves. Examining the interview data through a Grounded Theory lens allowed me to step into the research without preconceived ideas. It also allowed me to bring forth ideas which have always been part of our community but were never recorded anywhere and potentially may not be identified in any future research.
Going a step further, identifying the individual community language ideologies within the community of Hydaburg, or any small indigenous community, is difficult and unique work. There is no one homogenous theory for small indigenous communities which fits all. As mentioned, very little research has been conducted on the sociolinguistic challenges which face individual Indigenous communities to identify their own language ideologies, let alone find applicable indigenous processes which would provide assistance in moving forward on success with language immersion practices.
The ideologies which were included in the process for gathering data were respect, community viewed as a whole, and empowering the researched community by providing them a written document reflective of their own voice. The major themes which emerged from the interviews were culture, children, family, deep connection, identify and pride.
65 Reviewing the interviews has pointed out intertwined themes. Identify, culture and language are viewed unanimously as independent upon the existence of the other. Within the cultural theme, Hydaburg continues to incorporate tradition with modern practices. I have looked at the connections and also the disjuncture which emerged from the data. The clear disjuncture are boarding school experiences, language loss related to age and the age of the participants.
The charts in Chapter Five reflect the main body of work organized into themes extracted from the interview data.
Examining Dr. Abbi’s article in Chapter Six, comparisons are strong between her recommendations and Hydaburgs current community will, strong social, political and institutional support required for relationship building. Looking at the data for language ideologies, or believes and actual practices within the community suggests Hydaburg is heading toward her recommended suggestions for success.
This study is a brief moment in the timeline of the Hydaburg, Haida people. It is a baseline we can use to enter the Indigenous research forum and create a baseline for future Indigenous researchers and research questions.
Indigenous languages must be prioritized and valued. Our highly endangered, language isolate, requires we act swiftly and courageously to save our language from going to sleep forever. The ultimate goal is to recognize we attain the strongest act of Tribal sovereignty by preserving our worldview, which is our language. The development of successful immersion practice and the revitalization of Xaad Kíl is the development of true sovereignty.
66 References
Anvita, Abbi (2011). Human Cognitive Abilities and Safeguarding Linguistic Diversity- Anvita Abbi.pdf
Báez, G. P. (2018). Comparative Analysis in Language Revitalization Practices: Addressing the Challenge. Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages.
Baker, C. & Jones, S. P. 1(998). Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education. Philadelphia, PA: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Bishop, R. (1998). Freeing ourselves from neo-colonial domination in research: A Maori approach to creating knowledge. International Journal of Qualitative Education, 11(2), 199–219.
Bishop, R. (1999). Kaupapa Maori Research: An indigenous approach to creating knowledge.
Boelscher, Marianne. (1988). The Curtain Within: Haida Social and Mythical Discourse. Vancouver. B.C. University of British Columbia Press.
Boelscher, Marianne. (1989) "Coast Salish Essays.” Vancouver. B.C.: 320-321.
Braun, V., Clarke, V. “Qualitative research in psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology. 3(2), 77-10.
Carroll, J. B. 1(962). “The prediction of success in intensive foreign language training. Training, research and education.” (pp. 87–136). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Chandler, M.J. and Lalonde, C. (1998). “Cultural Continuity as a hedge against suicide in Canada’s First Nations.” Transcultural Psychiatry 35: 191-219.
Charmaz, K. (1999). Stories of suffering: Subjective tales and research narratives. Qualitative health research, 9(3), 362-382.
Charmaz. K. (2000). “Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods.” Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd Edition.
Charmaz. K. (2006). Constructing Grounded theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis: Thousand Oaks, A. Sage Publications.
Condon, E.C. (1973). Introduction to Cross Cultural Communication. New Brunswick, NJ: Rogers University Press.
67 Crazy Bull, Cheryl. 1997a. A native conversation about research and scholarship – Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education 1997:9(1), 16–24.
Crystal, David. 2000. Language Death. Cambridge. Mass. Cambridge University Press.
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks and Dauenhauer, Richard. (1998). “Technical, Emotional, and Ideological Issues in Reversing Language Shift: Examples from Southeast Alaska.” In Endangered Languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects, edited by Lenore Grenoble and Lindsay J. Whaley, 57-98. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Dorian, Nancy. (1981). Language Death: The Life Cycle of a Scottish Dialect. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Dorian, Nancy C. (1998). Western language ideologies and small-language prospects. In Grenoble, Lenore A. & Whaley, Lindsay (eds.), Endangered Languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects, 3–21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R. 1997. Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Enrico, J. 1996. Northern Haida Songs. U of Nebraska Press.
Enrico, J. 2005. Haida Dictionary: Skidegate, Masset, and Alaskan Dialects. Alaska Native Language Center.
Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Foley, Dennis. 2006. International Journal of the Humanities. 3(8), 25-36.
Grenoble, Lenore A., and Lindsay J. Whaley. (2005). Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Haemata Limited. (2006). Candidate handbook for Level Finder Examination (LFE),
Haida dictionary_web.pdf Introduction-DIctionary of Alaskan Haida, (pg. 8).
Harnisch, H., & Swanton, P. 2004. Adults learning languages: A CILT guide to good practice. London: CILT Publications.
Hermes, M. (1998). Research methods as a situated response: Towards a First Nations' methodology. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 155-168.
68 Hinton, Leanne. 2008a. “Language revitalization: An Overview.” In The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice, edited by Leanne Hinton and Ken Hale, 3-18 Bingley, UK : Emerald Group Publishing.
Hinton, Leanne. 2008b. “Language Planning.” In The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice, edited by Leanne Hinton and Ken Hale, 51-62. Bingley, UK : Emerald Group Publishing.
Hinton, L., M. Vera, and N. Steele. (2002). How to Keep Your Language Alive: A Commonsense Approach to One-on-one Language Learning. Berkeley, Calif.: Heyday Books. Hirshbert and Sharp. 2005: 20-21.
Hirshberg, D., Sharp, S., & Hill, A. R. (2005). Thirty Years Later, the Long-term Effect of Boarding Schools on Alaska Natives and Their Community. Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Hunter, L., Emerald, E., & Martin, G. (2013). Participatory activist research in the globalised world. Springer.
Hyslop K. (2011, Sept.) “How Chief Atahm Elementary School Became a Success Story.” The Tyee.CA., (2011, Sept 11). Retrieved from https://thetyee.ca/News/2011/09/06/Chief-Atahm-Elementary- School/
Ignace, Marianne. (1998). Handbook for aboriginal language program planning in British Columbia: A report prepared for the First Nations Education Steering Committee, Aboriginal Language Sub-Committee. North Vancouver, BC: First Nations Education Steering Committee.
Ignace, Marianne. (2016). British Columbia Kindergarten -12 First Nations Languages Curriculum Building Guide. FNESC. (www.fnesc.ca)
Kamana, K., & Wilson, W. H. (2002). The Tip of the Spear: Hawaiian Educators Reclaim a Cultural Legacy. Teaching Tolerance, 21, 20-24.
Kipp, D. (2009). Encouragement, guidance and lessons learned: 21 years in the trenches of Indigenous language revitalization. Indigenous language revitalization: Encouragement, guidance and lessons learned, 1-9.
King, J. (2001). Te Kohanga Reo: Maori Language Revitalization. In The green book of language revitalization in practice (pp. 119-131). BRILL.
Kovach, M. (2005). Emerging from the margins: Indigenous methodologies. In L. Brown & S. Strega (Eds.), Research as resistance, critical, indigenous and anti- oppressive approaches (p. 24). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
69 Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Krashen, Stephen D. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Krashen, Stephen D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Krauss, M. (1992). The world’s languages in crisis. Language, 68(1), 4-10.
Krauss, Michael. (1996). “Status of Native American Language Endangerment.” In Stabilizing Indigenous Languages, edited by Gina Cantoni, 15-20. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona University.
Krauss, M., Holton, G., Kerr, J. & West, C.T. (2011). Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska. Fairbanks and Anchorage: Alaska Native Language Center and UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research. Online: http://www.uaf.edu/anla/map
Kroskrity, P. V. (2004). Language ideologies. A companion to linguistic anthropology, 496-517.
McIvor, O., A. Napoleon, A., and K. Dickie, K. (2013). “Language and Culture as Protective Factors for At-Risk Communities.” International Journal of Indigenous Health, 5(1): 6.
Meek, B. (2011). Failing American Indian languages. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 35(2): 43-60.
Miller, James, A. (1999). Shingwauk’s vision. A History of Native Residential Schools. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Milloy, John. (1999). A National Crime. The Canadian Government and the Residential School System 1879-1986. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
Mithun, Marianne. (1998). “The Significance of Diversity in Language Endangerment and Preservation.” In Endangered Languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects, edited by Lenore Grenoble and Lindsay J. Whaley, 163-191. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Moseley, Christopher (ed.). (2010). Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
Moyer, M. G. (2008). Research as practice: Linking theory, method, and data. The Blackwell guide to research methods in bilingualism and multilingualism, p. 25. 70 National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2015-17). Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Vols. 1-4. Montreal: McGill-Gueens University Press.
National Māori language proficiency examinations: Whakamātauria tō reo Māori. Available from http://www.korero.maori.nz/forlearners/testself.html
Porsanger, J. (2004). An essay about indigenous methodology. Nordlit, 8(1), 105-120.
Rigney, L. (1999). The first perspective: Culturally safe research practices on or with indigenous peoples. Paper presented at the Chacmool conference, University of Calgary. Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (Australia). (1991). Canberra, ACT: Author.
Ratima, M., & May, S. 2011. A Review of Indigenous Second Language Acquisition: Factors leading to proficiency in te reo Māori (the Māori language). Mai Review, 1, 1-21.
Smith, G.H. (1997). “Kaupapa Maori: Theory and Praxis.” Ph.D. diss., The University of Auckland.
Skehan, P. (1989). Individual differences in second-language learning. London; New York Routledge, Chapman and Hall, p.6.
Smith, Tuhiwai, Linda. (1999). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People. New York, NY: Zed Books (First Edition).
Smith, Tuhiwai, Linda. (2012). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People. New York, NY: Zed Books (Second Edition).
Spolsky, B., & Shohamy, E. G. (1999). The languages of Israel: Policy, ideology, and practice (Vol. 17). Multilingual Matters.
Swanton, John R. (1905a). Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida, Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Swanton, John R. (1908). Haida Texts: Masset Dialect. New York, NY: American Museum of Natural History.
Twitchell, Lance, X’unei. (2018). “For Our Little Grandchildren: Language Revitalization among the Tlingit.” Ph.D diss., University of Hawai’i at Hilo.
Walter, M., & Andersen, C. (2013). Indigenous statistics: A quantitative research methodology. Left Coast Press.
71 Walker, M., Fredericks, B., Mills, K., & Anderson, D. (2013). Perspectives on a decolonizing approach to research about Indigenous women's health: The Indigenous Women's Wellness Study. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 9(3), 204-216.
Wilson, Shawn. (2001). “What is indigenous research methodology?” Canadian Journal of Native Education; 25(2) p. 175.
Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods.
Wilson, W. H., & Kamana, K. (2001). "Mai Loko Mai 0 Ka 'I'ini: Proceeding from a dream" - The 'Aha Punana Leo connection in Hawaiian language revitalization. In L. Hinton & K. Hale (Eds.), The green book of language revitalization in practice (pp. 147-176). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Wong Fillmore, L. (1996). What happens when languages are lost? An essay on language assimilation and cultural identity. In D. Slobin, J. Gerhardt, A. Kyratzis & J. Guo (Eds.), Social interaction, social context, and language (pp. 435-446). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Wrone, David R. (1986). Indian Treaties and the Democratic Idea. Wisconsin Magazine of History, 70(2), 83-106.
72 Appendix A.
Interview Questions
SFU Research Project: 2018s0714 Lang Interview Questions: Lisa M. Lang, Hydaburg, Alaska Interview & Audio Recording
Please check which group you belong to? o Group 1: Leadership o Group 2: Family or Caretaker of Registered Student o Group 3: Focus Group: High School Age Youth in Hydaburg, Alaska ages 15 to 18 years
1. Who Are You?
2. Tell Me About Yourself?
3. What do you do in Hydaburg, Alaska?
4. Tell me your experiences with regard to Xáad Kíl in the past?
5. In your lifetime, up to the present, did you perceive either an increase or a decline in the use of the language?
a. Please explain your answer.
6. Tell me your experiences in the past, hearing Northern Alaska Xáad Kíl, a. spoken in your home? b. In your community? c. In the public forum?
7. Can you speak to your experiences of Xáad Kíl being taught in the Hydaburg City Schools? a. In the community?
8. What experiences can you share that demonstrate the use of the language in your lifetime? (or before your lifetime if applicable). a. If applicable, were those positive experiences?
73 9. What do you contribute the decline of the language in Hydaburg too?
10. How do you view the future of Xáad Kíl in Hydaburg?
11. Do you think the addition of the Xántsii Náay Pre-school Immersion Program in Hydaburg will make a contribution to the survival of this highly endangered Alaskan variation (dialect). a. If yes, why? b. If no, why?
12. If you think it is important to have an immersion program, then what other activities in the community could or should be done to support the immersion?
13. Do you think Haida language, culture and identity are connected a. If yes, please explain how. b. If no, please explain why not.
14. Please describe any impacts you have personally witnessed in the community which you would contribute to the opening of the Xántsii Náay Pre-school Immersion Program?
15. Is there anything else you would like to say about your attitude toward our language which has changed?
November 21, 2018 Version Edited December 7, 2018 (2018s0714 Lang)
74 Appendix B.
Consent Form
CONSENT FORM: Ethics Application Number 2018s0714
What is this consent form for? This consent form is an invitation for you to participate in a research project for a study by Lisa Lang, the purpose is to conduct interviews/recordings to obtain her Master’s Degree in First Nation’s Linguistics at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, B.C.
The study is titled: “Dámaan St’áang Tl’ang Kíngagang”: Connecting our Past, Present and Future to Revitalize Xaad Kíl in Hydaburg, Alaska
This form describes the mutual commitment and reciprocity between Lisa Lang and yourself, the research participant. This consent form has been developed in the spirit of respect and accountability with regard to traditional Haida (Xaada) community values.
The interview is approximately one hour long.
Please note no foreseeable risks are foreseen. Potential benefits may be setting a baseline for research in the area of sociolinguistics in the Native community of Hydaburg Alaska.
All prospective participants:
• are under no obligation to participate, are free to withdraw at any time without prejudice to pre-existing entitlements;
•
• will be given information that is relevant to their decision to continue or withdraw from participation in a timely manner throughout the course of the research project;
•
75 • your confidentiality will be respected if requested. Please check the appropriate box on this form.
The qualified designated representative who can explain scholarly aspects of the research to participants is Dr. Marianne Ignace. Upon request a teleconference will be arranged. Contact the P.I. Lisa Lang to make the arrangements in a timely manner.
Concerns or Complaints: If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your experience while participating in this study, you may contact Dr. Jeffrey Toward, Director, Office of Research Ethics.
The interview questions will be collected and audio recorded information for gaining insights in to the past, present and future attitudes and values about Northern Alaskan Xaad Kíl, which is a highly endangered language and the responses to the opening of a pre-immersion school in a community with no living first language learners.
• All information collected is related to language revitalization therefore it will be held by the community of Hydaburg, Alaska in a agreed upon safe and accessible place indefinitely.
• Lisa Lang is the primary individual who has access to the research data. The names of the participants will also remain in a locked cabinet with the data. Those who choose to remain unanimous will be provide with information on receiving a name/code to ensure confidentiality.
No possibility of commercialization of research findings, nor the presence of any real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest on the part of the researchers, or their institution exist.
No payments of any kind exist in this study. It is entirely voluntary.
Once the study is complete, and provided this is language revitalization research, a plan to store data with the community, in a safe place, for an unlimited time will be agreed upon. A data stewardship plan will be drafted by the community. All data related to this study and stored will remain in that status for access by the community.
I agree to voluntary participate in this research interview. By signing below I understand that I may withdraw my consent at any time without penalty. If I am under the age of 18
76 a parent must sign my consent document providing me permission to participate and I agree to review and edit/or comment providing approval for final publishing.
My Name Address Date
Minor Child’s Name______
o I agree to participate in the interview.
o I agree to allow the audio, video and pictures to be utilized for the research.
o I request confidentiality and ask that my name and direct contact information is not included in my interview. I also ask that my name and interview information to remain confidential for storage and access.
o I understand that all materials and data will be stored in the community of Hydaburg in a safe, mutually agreed upon storage place for access.
o I understand final published materials may be utilized for conferences, research publication or scholarly work.
o I understand that this process will be approximately from January 2019 to February 2019.
77 Appendix C.
Public Meeting Notice
HYDABURG COMMUNITY MEMBERS TBA DATE: 4:30 pm Helen Sanderson Elementary School Library
SFU: ETHICS APPLICATION NUMBER Lang, Lisa 2018s0714
A Public Meeting to Discuss and Provide Information on a Research Project Project Title: Dáaman St’áang Tl’ang Kinggang: Connecting Our Past, Present and Future to Revitalize Xaad Kil in Hydaburg, Alaska
Lisa Lang is conducting a study to find out whether the establishment of the Xantsii Naay Pre-School Immersion Program in September of 2018 in Hydaburg, Alaska influences the attitude and values of a community where the language is nearly extinct and second language learners are introducing pre-school students to the language. Specifically, how the community as a whole views the past, present and future of the language. Lisa is conducting the study as her capstone project at Simon Fraser University to complete her Master’s Degree in First Nations Linguistics.
At this meeting you will learn what the study details are including:
Introduction: Who’s involved Summary of Proposed Research Prospective Participant Information Recruitment Methods Obtaining Consent: Very Important Potential Benefits/Potential Risks Risks to Researchers Future Data Use Dissemination of Results
TO BE POSTED AT THE HYDABURG POST OFFICE, CITY BUILDING, HYDABURG CITY SCHOOL & HYDABURG COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION Original: November 11, 2018 EDITED: December 11, 2018
78