Strategies of Post Colonization Tribal Revitalization, by Pamela Leavey

Every tribal community has struggled and suffered from the effects of colonization, however, they each have experiences unique to their culture and history.  Some tribes have been more effective than others have, in dealing with and changing their conditions, which were imposed by the impact of colonization, and their interactions with the American government, religion and industrialization. As each tribe possesses a unique set of traditions and has a distinct culture, so too, each tribes’ method of effecting change is different as well.

Effective modes of transforming specific tribal communities include the work of the Northwest Coast tribes to sustain their culture through art, as well as the impact the Indigenous resistance movement of the 1970’s, more specifically, AIM and the Wounded Knee Incident, that inspired tribal members across the United States, and facilitated in an Indigenous resurgence in activism on the issues of tribal cultures, traditions and rights. Also of note, are the programs instituted by different tribes that focus on revitalizing tribal languages and finally the efforts of specific tribes in the areas of food sustainability and alternative energy.

The topic of art revitalization in the Northwest Coast draws on the inspirations of tribal mythologies that define the tribes connection to the land as well as “the realm of animals and spirits,”[1] pointing to the dependency of the tribes to all aspects of the Earth as Mother, including their reliance on all of their animal relations. Art and creative expression are integrated in everyday life in the Northwest cultures and is considered “work,” with some aspects seen as uniquely “women’s work,”[2] and other aspects construed as a man’s work, yet these everyday handiworks are viable as forms creative expression. There is a ritualistic aspect of the creation of art, including functional art forms, designed with spirit entities as a form of spiritual and creative expression used in both Northwest Coast traditional tribal art and contemporary tribal art. Examples of everyday and ritual art forms in one Northwest Coast art gallery include bowls, drums, masks, paddles, rattles, clothing and jewelry.[3]

The art of the Northwest Coast serves to link the past with the present, as it maintains the connection of traditions and culture in spite of the struggles the area’s tribes have endured. Also prevalent in the work of contemporary Northwest Coast art is the representation of resistance to acculturation and assimilation through the use of symbology that is evocative of their struggles against governmental, industrial, military and religious oppression. 

The Wounded Knee Incident of 1973 was fueled by a resurgence of tribal resistance by traditionalist members of the Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement (AIM), who also inspired other tribes to activism across the United States in the 1970’s.  The Incident was a 71-day siege on the town of Wounded Knee, located on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which had been the location of the Wounded Knee massacre of Sioux peoples by the U.S. Army in 1890. The plan, devised by the traditionalist Oglala tribal members and members of AIM, to seize and occupy Wounded Knee was an attempt to draw attention to complaints of abuses against the Oglala peoples inflicted by their United States government appointed Tribal Council leader Dick Wilson.[4] The Incident garnered national and worldwide attention in the media, as it drew attention to tribal injustices on Pine Ridge Reservation.

Unfortunately, the Incident at Wounded Knee “did not bring about immediate reforms sought by the American Indian Movement activists,” however the worldwide media coverage of the siege “did succeed to bringing national attention to plight of American Indians and promoting Indian cultural identity.”[5] The Incident also “proved that despite centuries of encroachment, warfare, and neglect, Indians remained a vital force in the life of America.”[6] Although the Incident was a controversial confrontation with the American government, evoking mixed emotions and reactions from tribal peoples, and resulting in little change for the Oglala Lakota, the resistance movement it sprouted expanded the way for future resistance as well as transformation and revitalization efforts for other tribal communities.

As language is a central characteristic of culture and civilization, the efforts to revitalize tribal language among various tribes has been a vital factor in confronting the cultural losses incurred on tribes due to relocation, acculturation and assimilation. Key to the regeneration of tribal languages is the renewal of tribal identity and community individualism amongst tribes working to these ends. The Athabascan of Alaska suffered a significant loss of their language due to the role of both mission and government schools in the region as well as the consequences of disease “during the epidemics of the early 1990’s.”[7] Community involvement in language programs has proved to be critical for working past the previous suppression of the Athabascan language.

Likewise, in the realm of language revitalization, the Cherokee tribe has worked on an early childhood immersion program, which has increased Cherokee language use among families and communities across generations of the tribe’s peoples. The Cherokee people endured the effects of relocation, acculturation and assimilation, which directly affected the use of the Cherokee language. Despite this, the Cherokee language boasts more published literature than any other tribe does, nevertheless, the Cherokee people have struggled to keep their language alive against views of contempt for “the primitiveness of Indigenous languages.”[8] Families involved in the Cherokee early childhood immersion program noted valuable benefits from the program such as, increased self-esteem and pride. Key to the Cherokee efforts in language renewal is their objective to maintain and use their language as opposed to simply preserving it.

Language revitalization programs can furthermore be seen, as a direct result of the previously noted Native American activism of the 1970’s that motivated tribal resistance and instituted a resurgence claims of sovereignty issues, as well as shining a light on tribal human rights and pursuing cultural revitalization activities. In fact, the afore mentioned “Native American activism was successful in gaining legislation to protect and promote Native American sovereignty, including the right to teach and use Native languages, through the Indian Education Act of 1972, the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act of 1975, and the Native American Languages Acts of 1990-92.”[9] These policies initiated a renewed interest in revitalizing tribal languages, and today, thanks to technology, we see further efforts by some tribes to teach, learn and preserve tribal languages.

The Passamaquoddy tribe of Maine has been involved in undertakings to utilize the computer and other tools of the digital age on their Pleasant Point and Indian Township reservations, in an ongoing endeavor to revitalize their language. Those efforts include publishing a Passamaquoddy dictionary in an affiliation with the University of Maine Press, Orono, Maine and the Goose lane Editions, Fredericton, New Brunswick,”[10] and publishing the dictionary on a website, the Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal.[11] The landing page of the Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal pictures a tribal art illustration of dancers along with the message, “Mec-ote npomokahtipon. Mec-ote nuskicinuwatuwahtipon” which means, “We are still dancing and speaking our language.”[12]

Indeed, the Passamaquoddy are quite actively involved in a revitalization program that goes beyond the scope of teaching students in their grade school in this tribal language and publication of their Passamaquoddy dictionary. The tribe is also involved with Language Keepers, a “project of the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities Documenting Endangered Languages Program.”[13] The Language Keepers Project is “an innovative approach combining descriptive linguistics, documentary video, and community outreach to revive speaker groups to use heritage language in traditional and contemporary activities while recording it for language learning, dictionary development, research, cultural transmission, and revival.”[14] Through this project, “a groundbreaking web application developed in collaboration with Speaking Place of Rockland and Northeast Historic Film of Bucksport,” has been created that “links the 19,000-word Passamaquoddy on-line dictionary with over one hundred videos produced by documentarians Ben Levine and Julia Schulz of Speaking Place.”[15] This is a strong example of very recent efforts by a tribe to embrace technology in order to bring about renewed interest in their language. In conjunction with the videos produced by the documentarians, Donald Soctomah, the Passamaquoddy Tribal Historian, also announced the “accessibility of an audio archive, recorded and uploaded to the Portal by community members,”[16] via the use of the web application. This inspiring utilization of technology “adds the dynamic of social media to the mix, making it more likely that this endangered language will survive in a new generation of younger people who were not taught to speak but who want to learn.”[17] The potential for other tribes to embrace the use of technology to preserve and maintain their languages is encouraging, and it mirrors the use of technology in other arenas, being utilized by some tribes.

A final example of tribal efforts to transform their circumstances and communities in the wake of the long-standing effects of colonization is the work Winona LaDuke is doing with renewable energy and food sustainability on her White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Through her non-profit organization, LaDuke has also embraced technology and installed solar panels on homes, which reduce heat bills by 20%. She has also erected a large wind turbine that not only helps to power her community, but also creates extra energy which is sold back to the off reservation power company that is the main source of energy for the reservation.[18] LaDuke’s non-profit organization also works in the matter of food sustainability, which is critical for the health and well-being of her people. In fact, LaDuke believes having a “re-localized, centralized, decentralized strategy for,” as well as energy systems, is “going to be essential for building a durable society.”[19]

Ultimately, the well-being of tribal peoples is directly related to their relationship with the Earth in all aspects of their lives including their cultures and traditions. There is a certain innate power, a tenacity, which has sustained the Indigenous people for centuries in the wake of great injustices and the systematic breakdowns of their traditions and cultures. The source of their “power” is, as John Trudell speculates, “something that emanates from us human beings,”[20]  and it connects with the “natural laws”[21] that human beings are bound to. These natural laws, this power, is embedded in the genetic memories[22] of the tribal peoples, as Trudell explains. This is what inspires persistence among the Indigenous people to keep moving forward while simultaneously striving to embrace their culture and traditions. In closing, I sense that John Trudell sums up the tenacity of the Tribal People in his poem, Look At Us… “Look at us we are embracing earth… Look at us, We are living in the generations… Look at us, We are healing… Look at us, We are children of the earth.”[23]

References

Dementi-Leonard, B., & Gilmore, P. (1999). Language Revitalization and Identity in Social Context: A Community-Based Athabascan Language Preservation Project in Western Interior Alaska. Anthropology & Education Quarterly.

Experience, P. T. (Director). (2009). We Shall Remain: Episode 5: Wounded Knee [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/episode_5_trailer

Food, Energy and Sustainability (2010). [Motion Picture].

Language Keepers: Documenting Endangered Language for Education, Research, and Revival. (n.d.). Retrieved from Languagekeepers.org/: http://www.languagekeepers.org/

Pasamaquoddy Language. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wabanaki.com: http://www.wabanaki.com/language.htm

Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal. (n.d.). Retrieved from PMPortal.org/: http://pmportal.org/

Peter, L. (2007). “Our Beloved Cherokee”: A Naturalistic Study of Cherokee Preschool Language Immersion. Anthropology & Education Quarterly.

Rae, H. (Director). (2005). Trudell [Motion Picture].

Schulz, J. (2014, January 27). Passamaquoddy Language Portal Now Offers Access on Mobile Devices. Bangor Daily News. Retrieved from http://bangordailynews.com/community/passamaquoddy-language-portal-now-offers-access-on-mobile-devices/

The Learning Network. (2012, May 8). May 8, 1973 | Standoff at Wounded Knee Comes to an End. New York Times. Retrieved from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/may-8-1973-standoff-at-wounded-knee-comes-to-an-end/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Townsend-Gault, C. (1994, Fall). Northwest Coast Art: The Culture of Land Claims. American Indian Quarterly, 445 – 467. Retrieved March 2014

Trudell, J. (2008). Dna: Descendant Now Ancestor. Retrieved March 2014

Trudell, J. (2008). Lines from a Mined Mind. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing. Retrieved March 2014

Vizenor, G. (1983). Dennis of Wounded Knee. American Indian Quarterly, 51 – 65. Retrieved March 2014

Welcome to Northwest Tribal Art . (n.d.). Retrieved from Northwest Tribal Art: http://www.northwesttribalart.com/

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[1] (Townsend-Gault, 1994)

[2] (Townsend-Gault, 1994)

[3] (Welcome to Northwest Tribal Art , n.d.)

[4] (Vizenor, 1983)

[5] (The Learning Network, 2012)

[6] (Experience, 2009)

[7] (Dementi-Leonard & Gilmore, 1999)

[8] (Peter, 2007)

[9] (Peter, 2007)

[10] (Pasamaquoddy Language, n.d.)

[11] (Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal, n.d.)

[12] (Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal, n.d.)

[13] (Language Keepers: Documenting Endangered Language for Education, Research, and Revival, n.d.)

[14] (Language Keepers: Documenting Endangered Language for Education, Research, and Revival, n.d.)

[15] (Schulz, 2014)

[16] (Schulz, 2014)

[17] (Schulz, 2014)

[18] (Food, Energy and Sustainability, 2010)

[19] (Food, Energy and Sustainability, 2010)

[20] (Rae, 2005)

[21] (Rae, 2005)

[22] (Trudell, 2008)

[23] (Trudell, Lines from a Mined Mind, 2008)

This research paper was written as a final for Anthropology, Sec 270 – North American Indians, May 4, 2014.

Fair Use Disclaimer: Any use of this paper must be cited as Pamela Leavey – Author.

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