DOCSLIB.ORG

Choctaw Language Ideologies and Their Impact On

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Choctaw Language Ideologies and Their Impact On UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE PURISM, PRESCRIPTIVISM, AND PRIVILEGE: CHOCTAW LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON TEACHING AND LEARNING A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By ELIZABETH A. KICKHAM Norman, Oklahoma 2015 PURISM, PRESCRIPTIVISM, AND PRIVILEGE: CHOCTAW LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON TEACHING AND LEARNING A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY BY ______________________________ Dr. Sean O’Neill, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Gus Palmer ______________________________ Dr. Misha Klein ______________________________ Dr. Lesley Rankin-Hill ______________________________ Dr. Marcia Haag © Copyright by ELIZABETH A. KICKHAM 2015 All Rights Reserved. For: Jamey, Sean, Rheannon, and Aidan. Just keep swimming. Acknowledgements As no work is completed in isolation, several entities and individuals deserve recognition for their support of this research. First, and foremost, I would like to thank the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Choctaw Language Department, specifically, for graciously allowing me to conduct this research. I want to specifically thank Joy Culbreath, Executive Director of Education at Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and James Parrish, Director of the Choctaw Language Department, for their consideration and support throughout the research process. I would also like to acknowledge the National Science Foundation and Documenting Endangered Languages for supporting this work through a Dissertation Improvement Grant (1061588), which funded the fieldwork process. The University of Oklahoma Department of Anthropology also deserves appreciation for supporting preliminary research through the Bell Research Grant and later conference travel to present and refine findings and analysis through the Opler Memorial Travel Grant. The University of Oklahoma Women’s and Gender Studies Department supported the preliminary research for this dissertation through an Alice Mary Robertson scholarship. Granddaughter of a missionary to the Cherokee and daughter of missionaries to the Creeks, Alice Mary Robertson was not only the second female U.S. congressperson and the first Oklahoma female congressperson, but was instrumental in documenting and preserving the Mvskoke Creek language. I am honored to continue her tradition of language work. iv I would also like to express deep gratitude to the members of my committee, who generously shared many hours of their time to discuss issues concerning negotiating working with consultants, understanding theory, and interpreting interactions. Each member contributed significantly to this project in unique ways, from enhancing my understanding of the dynamics of working within a community, to discussing the intricacies of ethnicity theory, to teaching me to embrace narrative and simply exhorting me to persevere. This committee taught me to think critically, challenge my own assumptions, and to view obstacles as opportunities. Thanks are also due to the friends, colleagues, and family who supported me during this process. The University of Oklahoma Writing Center provided early guidance on the writing process and, through their innovative program “Camp Completion” gave me the final push needed to move from drafting to completed draft. Moira Ozias, my writing consultant and Lisa Bradley, friend and librarian, are owed a debt of gratitude for their generously and selflessly listening to me think through issues and theory, reviewing several drafts of this work, and providing valuable editing services when I was too close to the product to see my own errors. My family are also to be thanked, not only for putting up with a dissertation writer, but for their encouragement and tolerance during my years of education. Finally, I would like to thank the many consultants without whom this work would have been impossible. First, Dannielle Brannam, Coordinator of the Choctaw v Nation of Oklahoma Institutional Review Board proved instrumental during the editorial review process. The University of Oklahoma Choctaw teachers were generous with their time in allowing me to visit and survey their classes. Several of these university teachers also served as key consultants, helping me to better understand class dynamics, teaching choices, and Choctaw cultural and speech norms. Leroy Sealy, in particular, helped me to understand the nature of Choctaw narrative and how to engage in the community in a meaningful and respectful manner. The Choctaw community class teachers and students openly welcomed me into their community, taught me to sing, fed me, and on occasion, even housed me. Teachers and students were not only open with their time, but showed sincere interest in the project and its goals, and referred me to other community resources. Among these teachers, a few became close mentors who were essential as collaborators, reviewing writing, suggesting revisions or refinement, and providing deeper understanding. Most of the teachers and students who helped with this project remain anonymous by request, but one deserves specific recognition by name. Richard Adams, former Assistant Director of the Choctaw Language Department, is a man I am honored to call mentor and a friend. Richard is a treasure to the Choctaw language community and was invaluable in collaborating in the design and management of this project. Under his considerable, yet gentle guidance, this project developed into a community-focused, dialogic ethnography, vi not just about teaching and learning the Choctaw languages, but about understanding what and why Choctaw learning is. vii Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………….…………………………………………. iv List of Tables……………………….………………………………..…..….. x List of Figures……………………….……………………………................. xi Abstract……………………………………………………………................ xii Chapter 1: Introduction: Chahta Kilanumpa: Let’s Speak Choctaw….…...… 1 Chapter 2: Language Ideology and Second Language Learning in the Native American Context………………..………….....….. 29 Chapter 3: Humanizing Research: Critical Discourse Analysis and Collaborative Ethnography……………………………..…... 85 Chapter 4: No Elephants or Choclish Here: Language Purism, Identity, and Strategically Employed Ethnicity………….......….. 107 Chapter 5: That's not how my grandmother said it!: Prescriptivism, Dialect, Geography and Power in Oklahoma Choctaw………..… 151 Chapter 6: The Dictionary and the Bible: Privileging Literacy and Linguistics in Choctaw Language Education………………....… 201 Chapter 7: Opening a Dialog: Language Ideologies and Teacher Training……………………………………………..…. 240 Chapter 8: Conclusion: Understanding Language Ideologies and Community Language Work…………………………….…. 260 References………………………………………………………………....… 267 viii Appendix A: University of Oklahoma Institutional Review Board Approval… 283 Appendix B: Statement of Support from Choctaw nation of Oklahoma Director, School of Choctaw Language………………………..... 284 Appendix C: Statement of Support from Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Executive Director of Education..……………………………... 285 Appendix D: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Institutional Review Board Approval Letter………………..… 286 ix List of Tables Table 1: Community Class Teacher Demographics………………………. 93 Table 2: Representative Sampling of Community Teachers……………… 94 Table 3: Comparison of Choctaw Orthographies………………….……… 177 Table 4: Comparison of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Language Department Curriculum Orthography to Previous Orthographies…………..….……… 180 x List of Figures Figure 1: Map of Oklahoma Tribal Jurisdiction Areas………………..…. 20 Figure 2: Map of Southern Choctaw Nation Communities Perception of Prestige Dialect…………………………………………….… 166 Figure 3: Map of Choctaw Districts in Indian Territory at Removal……… 169 xi Abstract Oklahoma Choctaw, a Muskogean language originally spoken in the American southeast, is currently the focus of language revitalization efforts by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The School of Choctaw Language, which has hosted community language classes since 1997 faces significant challenges in attempting to produce fluent speakers, chief among them language ideologies that may be impacting the teaching and learning context. Using a collaborative, community- based ethnographic design and discourse analysis, this research describes an interrelated set of three language ideologies affecting the Choctaw language teaching and learning community: purism, prescriptivism and valorization of literacy. Essentialist/purist linguistic and ethnic ideologies prevalent among Choctaw Language Community Class members, though rooted and fixed in an immediately post-contact era, frame contemporary linguistic performance, linguistic meta-discourse, and language revitalization work to alienate some Choctaws while simultaneously providing motivation for language learners. Two competing discourses, prescriptivism and pluralism, are strategically employed by Choctaw community class members to authenticate speaker’s status and to resist discourses and covert policies privileging one dialect. Ideologies of purism, correctness, and valorization of literacy, as well as valorization of expert linguistic knowledge further impact community classes by a) reducing class effectiveness through a focus on grammatical analysis and literacy and b) creating an atmosphere of ethno-linguistic risk which inhibits speaker performance. Teachers’ ideological xii awareness may enable mitigation of the potential negative effects of the purist and prescriptivist
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Collaborating for Prosperity with American Indians and Alaska Natives Rural Development Programs for Tribes, Tribal Families, Children, and Communities
    Collaborating for Prosperity With American Indians and Alaska Natives Rural Development Programs for Tribes, Tribal Families, Children, and Communities USDA Rural Development Innovation Center Together, America Prospers From 2001 to 2018 USDA Rural Development invested more than $6.2 billion in Indian Country and Alaska. USDA Rural Development places a high value on its relationship with Tribes, American Indians, and Alaska Natives. We are committed to increasing investment throughout Indian Country and Alaska. We are collaborating and partnering with Tribes to realize a brighter future for families, children, and Tribal communities. Through loans, grants, and technical assistance, Rural Development makes critical investments in infrastructure, schools, health clinics, housing, and businesses, to benefit Native families and communities across rural America. Rural Development supports American Indians and Alaska Natives in holistic, sustainable, and culturally responsive ways. Every Tribal Nation has unique assets and faces distinct challenges. Maximizing the potential of these assets, and addressing local challenges, can only happen in an environment where relationships and trust provide a foundation for true partnership and collaboration. Rural Development staff understand that the legal, regulatory, governmental structure, protocols, and culture are unique to each Tribal Nation. We recognize that Tribes are distinct. We strive to understand those distinctions and tailor the delivery of services to be responsive to each Tribe’s circumstances
    [Show full text]
  • Independent Freedpeople of the Five Slaveholding Tribes
    Anderson 1 “On the Forty Acres that the Government Give Me”1: Independent Freedpeople of the Five Slaveholding Tribes as Landholders, Indigenous Land Allotment Policy, and the Disruption of Racial, Gender, and Class Hierarchies in Jim Crow Oklahoma Keziah Anderson Undergraduate Senior Thesis Department of History Columbia University April 15th, 2020 Seminar Advisor: Professor George Chauncey Second Reader: Professor Celia Naylor 1 Kiziah Love, interview with Jessie R. Ervin, spring 1937, Colbert, OK, in The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives, ed. T. Lindsay Baker and Julie Philips Baker (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996), 262. See Appendix 6 for a full transcript of Kiziah Love’s slave narrative. © 2020 Anderson 2 - Notice - None of the work included in this document may be cited or quoted without express written permission from the author. © 2020 Anderson 3 - Table of Contents - Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 5-15 Chapter 1: “You’ve an Indian Not a Negro”: Racecraft, 15-36 Land Allotment Policy, and Class Inequalities in Post-Allotment and Post-Statehood Oklahoma Racecraft and Land Use in the Pre-Allotment Period 15 Racecraft, Blood Quantum, and Ideology in the Jim Crow South & Indian Territory 18 Racecraft in the Allotment Process: Blood Quanta, One-Drop-of-Blood Rules, and Land Land Allotments, Indigeneity, and Racecraft in Post-Statehood Oklahoma 25 Chapter 2: The Reshaping of Gender in the Post-Allotment and 38-51 Post-Statehood Period: Independent Freedwomen Landowners, the (Re)Establishment of Black Infrastructure, and
    [Show full text]
  • The Choctaws
    THE CHOCTAWS The story o f a resourceful tribe in its Oklahoma homeYakni Achnukma the Good Land By DR, A, M. GI BSON I HE EASTERN fringe of the signed, were of Muskhogean linguistic n second ('toss-Timber :, sandwiched be- This is the of a series on the Five Civilized Tribes of Okla- stock. Early in the history of tween the Canadian River and the homa by DR . ;l , M. G l BSON, Ameri-can discoveryandexplorationthey Red River is the Choctaw Country. curator of the Phillips Collection, caught the notice of Spanish, Freneh '['here nature ran riot . Tumblers land head of the manscripts division and British adventurers for their forms distorted the orderly prairie and assoc iate prof essor of history, re-markableeconomicdevelolmient,tri- plains and from the geological scram- In cooperation with Dr. Crhson, bal valor and integrity, sand their in- ble t , the Kiamichi range. the Jack F4 irk . Sooner Magazine is making re-printsavailable To obtainone, trigulng folklore. De Soto's gulf ex- Winding Stair and pine-clad Sans Bois pedition in 1540 found the Choctaws humped above theChoc taw hats. write l}r. Gibson, Manuscripts the fortified town of Division, f)1'. Sparkling waters tumbled from high- occupying Mau-bila(Mobile)andrangingacross land springs . fused into tributaries Alabama and Mississippi . Thr Choc- and in lowlands formed the Mountain trapper's paradise . taws managed to stay free of Spanish Fork, the Kiamichi and the flue. In the Choctaw language there are involvement . These rivers cut deep and their banks two words: Alukko, meaning haven Before the impact of Western civil- were lacers with oak .
    [Show full text]
  • 71-28823 BADGER, Herbert Andrew, 1935- A
    71-28,823 BADGER, Herbert Andrew, 1935- A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW. University of Southern Mississippi, Ph.D., 1971 Language and Literature, linguistics University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © COPYRIGHT BY HERBERT ANDREW BADGER 1971 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. University of Southern Mississippi A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW by Herbert Andrew Badger A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved: Director Dean of tfte Graduate School May, 1971 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW by Herbert Andrew Badger May, 1971 The justification for a grammar of Mississippi Choctaw is contingent upon two factors. First, the forced removal of the Choctaws to Oklahoma following the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek had important linguistic effects, for while the larger part of the Choctaws removed to the West where their language probably followed its natural course, there remained in Mississippi a relatively small segment of Choctaws who, because they were fugitives from the removal, were fragmented into small, isolated bands. Thus, communication between the two groups and between the isolated bands of Mississippi Choctaws was extremely limited, resulting in a significant difference between the languages of the two groups. Second, the only grammar of Choctaw, Cyrus Byington's early nineteenth cen­ tury Grammar of the Choctaw Language, is inadequate because it was written before descriptive linguistic science was formalized, because it reflected the Choctaw language just 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Agenda OK Indigenous Languages Conference
    United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages Tribal Nations in Oklahoma Working to Preserve, Protect and Revitalize Our Languages November 15 & 16, 2019 Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur, Oklahoma Agenda Coffee, tea, water and light snacks will be available throughout the Conference days 1st Day: Friday, November 15th 8:00 AM Registration and Continental Breakfast 8:30 AM Opening Prayer: Stanley Smith, Chickasaw Nation 8:45 – 9:15 AM Opening Words of Welcome and Introduction to the Conference ● Honorable Jefferson Keel, Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation ● Rodney Factor, Assistant Band Chief, Seminole Nation, Board Member, International Indian Treaty Council ● Andrea Carmen, Yaqui Nation, Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council 9:15 – 9:45 AM The United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages: Objectives, Outcomes and plans for an International Decade • Grand Chief Ed John, Hereditary Chief of Tl’azt’en Nation, Indigenous Co-Chair of UNESCO International Year of Indigenous Languages Steering Committee (via Skype) • Kristen Carpenter, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 9:45 – 10:00 AM Questions, comments and discussion. All participants. 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM Panel 1: How did we get here? Impacts of Colonization, Historical Trauma and Current Threats to Indigenous Languages • Casey Camp, Councilwoman of the Ponca Tribe, Hereditary Drumkeeper, Ponca Scalp Dance Society, Elder and Matriarch • Rodney Factor, Assistant Band Chief Seminole Nation • Miryam Yataco, Quechua, Peru, Language Educator • Richard A. Grounds, Ph.D., Yuchi/Seminole, Yuchi Language Project • Moderator: Bineshi Albert, Yuchi/Annishinaabe, Movement Building Coordinator, Indigenous Environmental Network 11:15 – 11:45 AM Questions, comments and discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • A History by the Decade, 1840-1850
    ITI FABVSSA A New Chahta Homeland: A History by the Decade, 1840-1850 Over the next year and a half, Iti Fabvssa is running a series that covers Oklahoma Choctaw history. By examining each decade since the Choctaw government arrived in our new homelands using Choctaw-created documents, we will get a better understanding of Choctaw ancestors’ experiences and how they made decisions that have led us into the present. This month, we will be covering 1840-1850, a period when Choctaws dealt with the complications of incorporating Chickasaws into their territory, two new constitutions and the expansion of its economy and school system. At the start of the 1830s, Choctaws began the process of removal to their new homeland. In 1837, they had to deal with another difficulty– that of the Chickasaw Removal. The Chickasaw Nation would be removed into the Choctaw Nation when they arrived in Indian Territory. In working to resolve this new, complex issue, Choctaws and Chickasaws passed a new constitution in 1838 that brought the two nations together under one government. Although Choctaws and Chickasaws were united under this constitution, the newly created Chickasaw District maintained its own financial separation. Another significant feature of the Choctaw- Chickasaw relationship was that they had to share ownership over the entire territory that Choctaw Nation had previously received by treaty with the US government. This meant that the two tribes had to agree and work together when negotiating with the U.S. government – a provision that is still in effect today when it comes to issues over land and water.
    [Show full text]
  • Chickasaw Soldier Survives Attack, Completes Iraq Duty KADA
    Chickasaw Times Official publication of the Chickasaw Nation Vol. XXXIX No. 4 April 2004 Ada, Oklahoma Jared Willis latest Chickasaw Purple Heart recipient Chickasaw soldier survives attack, completes Iraq duty After nearly a year in Iraq, themselves, trying to make their beginning to improve. To protect against future at- operate normally. where he survived an explosion, own lives better.” “When we got there, they were tacks, they replaced the standard Those reinforcements almost suffered through sandstorms, Spc. E-4 Willis was among throwing money at us,” said Spc. issue window with a metal one certainly saved Spc. Barrett weathered intense heat and the members of the 1245th Willis. “The Iraqi dinars with and placed a metal cage around made the best of difficult liv- Transportation Company that Saddam’s picture, they’d just the gunner’s area, making sure See Jared Willis, page ing conditions, Jared Willis, a was deployed Feb. 10, 2003 give them to us. They’d get tired the gun could still rotate and 14 22-year-old Chickasaw soldier and returned to Ardmore, Okla., of them and it was like ‘Here.’ from Mannsville, Okla., returned March 19 of this year. “Now their money is starting home feeling U.S. efforts helped “Jared makes us all very to be worth something, since make a difference for the people proud,” said Chickasaw Na- they came out with the new di- of Iraq. tion Governor Bill Anoatubby. nars without his picture on it.” “I think their life over there is “We commend him, and all the Spc. Willis, who was a gunner getting better,” said Spc.
    [Show full text]
  • The Choctaw Nation and the Dawes Commission
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1954 The Choctaw Nation and the Dawes Commission Jeanne Francis Moore Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Moore, Jeanne Francis, "The Choctaw Nation and the Dawes Commission" (1954). Master's Theses. 1157. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/1157 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1954 Jeanne Francis Moore THE CHOCTAW INDIANS AND THE DAWES COMMISSION by ;' Sister. Jeanne Francis Moore A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate Scnoo1 of Loyola University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts June 1954 --------._-------------,------_.. -.. ,._-- \ LIFE Sister Jeanne Francis Moore was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, , May 20, 1906. ; She was graduated from the Saint John Acad.~, Indianapolis, IndianaI June 20, 1923 and entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Providence Q~ Septem-~ ber 7, 1923. She received her degree of Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mar.y-of- the-Woods College in June, 1942. From 1926 to 1942 she taught in the elementar.y parochial schools of Chicago, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Washington, D.C. After receiving her degree she taught at the Immaculata Seminar.y in Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15
    Library of Congress Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 Cutting Marsh (From photograph loaned by John N. Davidson.) Wisconsin State historical society. COLLECTIONS OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. OF WISCONSIN EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY REUBEN GOLD THWAITES Secretary and Superintendent of the Society VOL. XV Published by Authority of Law MADISON DEMOCRAT PRINTING COMPANY, STATE PRINTER 1900 LC F576 .W81 2d set The Editor, both for the Society and for himself, disclaims responsibility for any statement made either in the historical documents published herein, or in articles contributed to this volume. 1036011 18 N43 LC CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SERIAL RECORD NOV 22 1943 Copy 2 Page. Cutting Marsh Frontispiece. Officers of the Society, 1900 v Preface vii Some Wisconsin Indian Conveyances, 1793–1836. Introduction The Editor 1 Illustrative Documents: Land Cessions—To Dominique Ducharme, 1; to Jacob Franks, 3; to Stockbridge and Brothertown Indians, 6; to Charles Grignon, 19. Milling Sites—At Wisconsin River Rapids, 9; at Little Chute, 11; at Doty's Island, 14; on west shore of Green Bay, 16; on Waubunkeesippe River, 18. Miscellaneous—Contract to build a house, 4; treaty with Oneidas, 20. Illustrations: Totems—Accompanying Indian signatures, 2, 3, 4. Sketch of Cutting Marsh. John E. Chapin, D. D. 25 Documents Relating to the Stockbridge Mission, 1825–48. Notes by William Ward Wight and The Editor. 39 Illustrative Documents: Grant—Of Statesburg mission site, 39. Letters — Jesse Miner to Stockbridges, 41; Jeremiah Evarts to Miner, 43; [Augustus T.
    [Show full text]
  • 2) Economy, Business
    2) Economy, Business : The majority of tribes' economies rely on Casinos. There are a huge amount of Casinos in Oklahoma, more than in any other state in the USA. But they also rely on the soil resources, there are tribes who are very rich thanks to their oil resources. Natural resources After 1905 deposits of lead and zinc in the Tri-State Mining District made the Quapaws of Ottawa County some of the richest Indians of the USA. Zinc mines also left hazardous waste that still poisons parts of their lands. The Osages became known as the world's richest Indians because their “head right” system distributed the royalties from their “underground reservation” equally to the original allottees. The Osage's territory was full of oil. Gaming revenues The Chickasaw are today the richest tribe in Oklahoma thanks to their Casinos they make a lot of profit. On their website you can read : “From Bank2, Bedre Chocolates, KADA and KYKC radio stations and the McSwain Theatre to the 13 gaming centers, travel plazas and tobacco stores, the variety and prosperity of the Chickasaw Nation's businesses exemplifies the epitome of economic success!”. The Comanche Tribe derives revenue from four casinos. The Comanche Nation Casino in Lawton features a convention center and hotel and has a surface of 45,000 square feet. The others are the Red River Casino at Devol north of the Red River, and two small casinos : Comanche star casino east of Walters and Comanche Spur Casino near Elgin. Enlargements of the casinos are planned . There are smoke shops and convenience stores in the casinos.
    [Show full text]
  • Chahta Anumpa: a Multimodal Corpus of the Choctaw Language
    Chahta Anumpa: A Multimodal Corpus of the Choctaw Language Jacqueline Brixey, Eli Pincus, Ron Artstein USC Institute for Creative Technologies 12015 E Waterfront Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90094 {brixey, pincus, artstein}@ict.usc.edu Abstract This paper presents a general use corpus for the Native American indigenous language Choctaw. The corpus contains audio, video, and text resources, with many texts also translated in English. The Oklahoma Choctaw and the Mississippi Choctaw variants of the language are represented in the corpus. The data set provides documentation support for the threatened language, and allows researchers and language teachers access to a diverse collection of resources. Keywords: endangered languages, indigenous language, multimodal, Choctaw, Native American languages 1. Introduction not abundant. The goal of this database is thus to first pre- This paper introduces a general use corpus for Choctaw, an serve a threatened language. The second contribution is to American indigenous language. The Choctaw language is compile a comprehensive data set of existing resources for spoken by the Choctaw tribe, who originally inhabited the novel research opportunities in history, linguistics, and nat- southeastern United States. The tribe is the fourth largest ural language processing. The final contribution is to pro- indigenous group by population in the United States with vide documentation of the language for language learners 220,000 enrolled members.1 The Choctaw language, how- and teachers, in order to assist in revitalization efforts. ever, is classified as “Threatened” by Ethnologue,2 as there are only 10,400 fluent speakers and the language is losing 2. Choctaw tribe and language users. 2.1.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 Maupin Matthew Thesis
    UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE CROSS CULTURAL MEDICAL AND NATURAL KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE ON THE MISSISSIPPI FRONTIER BETWEEN GIDEON LINCECUM AND THE CHOCTAW NATION: 1818 TO 1833 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE By MATTHEW KIRK MAUPIN Norman, Oklahoma 2016 CROSS CULTURAL MEDICAL AND NATURAL KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE ON THE MISSISSIPPI FRONTIER BETWEEN GIDEON LINCECUM AND THE CHOCTAW NATION: 1818 TO 1833 A THESIS APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE BY ______________________________ Dr. Suzanne Moon, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Kathleen Crowther ______________________________ Dr. Peter Soppelsa ______________________________ Dr. Joe Watkins © Copyright by MATTHEW KIRK MAUPIN 2016 All Rights Reserved. Table of Contents Table of Contents ...............................................................................................iv Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………vi Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Narrowing the Focus ....................................................................................... 3 Gideon Lincecum ............................................................................................ 4 Historiography ................................................................................................. 8 Chapter Outline ............................................................................................
    [Show full text]