The role of speakers

This past week I attended the 40th annual meeting of the Alaska Anthropological Association in Anchorage. Notable at this year's meeting was a strong focus on Native language. There was an entire session (with 8 papers) on Community-Based Programs and Partnerships for Alaska Native Languages. A session on the upcoming Anchorage Museum exhibit, Dena’inaq’ Huch’ulyeshi: The Dena’ina Way of Living, featured lots of language. And linguist James Kari received a special award. But for me the highlight was Edna MacLean's keynote presentation on Saturday. This presentation was ambitiously titled The Critical Next Step for Alaska Native Languages. The problem with ambitious titles is that they can be difficult to live up to. I've heard umpteen speeches about what we need to do for Native languages. What learners need to do. What teachers need to do. What linguists need to do. What schools need to do. But this was different. Dr. MacLean talked about what speakers need to do. Her speech was a call to action addressed to her own generation.

Though she focused on her own language, Inupiaq, her words ring true for all Alaska Native languages. While we must acknowledge the great trauma and abuse which today's speakers of Alaska Native languages have endured, we must also ask that they move beyond these negative experiences and begin speaking their languages to their children and grandchildren. This is admittedly no easy task. As  MacLean said,

"We are afraid that we will not have the patience to deal with our children struggling to learn Inupiaq."

And yet, without the active participation of the elders the language will struggle to survive. All too often elders choose not to use Native language with the children. Edna blamed herself as much as anyone, freely admitting that she didn't speak Inupiaq to her own children. But that's just the point: this isn't about blame or who did what when. This is about what people, what speakers can do today. Speakers can use their language. Speakers can be models for the language in their communities. That is not to say that other types of language work are unnecessary. Documentation is critical, and Edna's work to document the Inupiaq language is unparalleled, including the soon-to-be-published Inupiaq dictionary. But as MacLean points out, language documentation is an activity which does not require people to actually speak Native language with their children. The same goes for researching language programs. MacLean said,

"People from the North Slope keep going to Hawaii and New Zealand to observe but they come back and it doesn't take."

We can document, research, and model all we want, but in the end the most important part of language maintenance has to be elders using the language. That's the critical next step. Dr. MacLean gave her speech to an audience of anthropologists, and I think it's safe to say that the audience was receptive. Let's hope that her message will also find its way to Alaska Native language speakers who are willing and able to heed this call to action.