Indigenous Methodologies in Linguistics: A Case Study of Nuu-wee-ya' Language Revitalization
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Date
2021-11-23
Authors
Hall, Jaeci
Journal Title
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Doing linguistic research for the purpose of language revitalization, academic inclusion, and social justice fundamentally changes the perspective, questions, and goals of the work. Framing this research in a traditional linguistic model does not best convey the point and the beauty of findings for community members. This is partly due to the ‘lack’ associated with archival work: because the archival data is limited and there are no (or limited) speakers to confer with, findings are often incomplete, even minimal, and rarely sufficient to justify a rigorous linguistic analysis. Indigenous knowledge is the idea of relationality, that everything is related (Wilson, 2008). This concept is central to being indigenous and shifts the focus of research from advancing the understanding of science through focus on the abstraction of patterns to advancing understandings of how to support all of creation. Indigenous knowledge is, by itself, a valid and complete way of perceiving and learning about the world. This can be evidenced through the close relationships indigenous people have with the environment and through the rich complexity of ceremonies.
Using an indigenous model, I focus on the relationship between the research and community needs and knowledge. I incorporate indigenous intellectual models to investigate language revitalization, yielding a complex research model that approaches linguistic analysis with a mind to the priority of different components of language revitalization. In this model, the central components are planning, processing, analysis, and use. Within this model, the focus shifts from what is missing to the wealth of the knowledge that is.
This dissertation links the linguistic work done to an indigenous framed research model and illustrates how this approach shifts the perceived ‘lack’ of knowledge to perceived riches. This Language Revitalization approach carries and honors our indigeneity and supports social justice for all indigenous people, including my own ancestors.
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Keywords
Archival research, Dene/Athabaskan, Indigenous methodologies, langauge description, Langauge Revitialization, language variation