Reading and Video Review
Meek 2006
In this article Barbra A. Meek attempts to analyze the injustices down regarding the representation of the Native American communities’ languages. She exemplifies the “Injun” language the white Americans have utilized to portray Native Americans, a language that is full of stereotypes and false features of true Native American languages. Meek uses films such as Con Air, The Last of the Mohicans, and Peter Pan (to name a few) to prove that major falsehoods lie the representation of Native Americans. She agrees that having Native characters in film is a thoughtful move. However, she argues that there is always at least one stereotype being utilized in the writing of these films and other white propaganda. The stereotype completely disregards the true history of the native peoples, and the cultural understanding of the native peoples for white Americans becomes flawed. The “Injun” language created by Hollywood also misconstrues the actual grammatical rules of native languages. The language lacks “tense, deletion, substitution, and contraction (Meek).
Hilton 15 and 16
Diving into the understanding of the names given to certain tribes in California, the main idea of chapter 15 lies in the second page of the reading: “One reason why official names don't match with what people call themselves is that explorers first learned about any groups from other tribes, who had their own terms for them” (Hilton 158). Most of the names given to the peoples of California, are by outside of people. The Yuroks don't call themselves the Yuroks. The Hupas don't call themselves the Hupas. That pattern is consistent with almost every single group in California. Surrounding peoples had different names for tribes around them. Most of the California tribes referred to themselves as their respective word for “the people. (Hilton 158). Names given to the tribes are based off of geographical location or relation to the tribe naming them. If the tribe was named by the Spanish, it was more generalized. A group of tribes could be named as one, if the Spanish saw many similarities between the respective tribes. Fast forward in history, and tires have begun to be identified by the names they gave themselves.
The “Digger Pine” holds some of the best nutrition in the plant world, and the first people to ever utilize this plant were the “Digger Indians.” It may seem appropriate to honor the Digger tribe by naming the pine after them, but this name is completely degrading to the native California Tribe (Hilton 166). The term “Digger” was given to the native peoples in the mid 1800s and the records of it show the derogation of the people. The white explorers thought little of the people for digging out the roots of nutritious plants. This is but one of the racial slurs that Native Americans consider the worst form of epithets. Hilton calls for a change in the term of the “Digger Pine” so that tribe of Native Americans is not reminded of their most horrible racial occurrences in their history.
Video
Language contact is something all humans need to deal with. People develop solutions to the issue of different languages. These solutions involve multilingualism, blended codes, coercion or shift to abandon their language to take on a new language.
There are three different types of multilingualism: ‘ambilingualism’ (mutliple L1 languages), ‘functional multilingualism’ (one L1 language and one or more L2) , and ‘differentiated multilingualism’ (different languages for different social settings). The Vaupés in South America have some of the most complex language systems. The people live in ‘longhouses’ which each have four to eight family groups and have a ‘father language,’ and one or more ‘mother languages.’ Growing up the normal child has three to five L1’s and are fluent in another three to five local languages, that serve as L2’s. They are also fluent in one to four Lingua Francas, which are varieties learned by speakers that do not speak the the same L1. One common example of a Lingua Franca is English in Europe, however a more relevant example to the Native peoples of America is the Plains Sign.
The second solution is the use of blended codes, otherwise known as ‘pidgin’ or ‘creole.’ Those that don't share a language are forced to communicate, so the pidgin evolves to communicate with each other. The ‘pidgin’ is no one’s first language but it can evolve into the ‘croele,’ which was a fully vocabulary, unlimited usage, and can be considered an actual language. These are the linguists’ definitions of ‘pidgin’ and ‘creole,’ so do not trust the general population’s definition, as they can be used offensively. An example of a pidgin which has also served to be a Lingua Franca is the Chinook Wawa, which was used as trade jargon. ‘Michif,’ or French Cree, is an amazing example of a creole. It utilizes nouns and noun like words from French, while taking verbs and verbalize words from cree. The grammatical patterns of the respective languages (french - masc and fem. cree - animate, inanimate).
Sources:
Hinton, Leanne. 1996. Flutes of Fire: Essays on California Indian
Languages. Winnipeg: Hignell Book Printing
Meek, Barbra A. "And the Injun goes “How!”: Representations of American Indian
English in white public space" Language in Society. 26 April 2005.
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