American Indian Report - June 2008 - (Page 28)

CU LT U R E Saving the Samala Language The Chumash Indians’ new dictionary ensures its language will never die By Michelle Tirado THERE ARE NOT MANY ExPERTS in Samala, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ nearly extinct native language. Actually, there is just one: Richard Applegate, Ph.D. So when the tribe needed someone to assist in creating a dictionary to revive it, there was only one person to ask. At the dictionary’s unveiling party at the Chumash Indians’ Chumash Casino Reort in Santa Ynez, Calif., in April, Applegate, a non-Native, said in a speech, “My deepest desire is not to be the sole cultural bearer of this language.” The 600-plus-page, 4,000-entry illustrated dictionary will hopefully keep that from being the reality for long. Native American linguistics is not a field that attracts many. Then to specialize in the language of a small tribe with no living natural speakers, what are the chances? The Chumash are lucky, indeed. Applegate said he had always had a strong draw to the Native American way of respecting the earth, which is what led him to learning about tribal languages. The Chumash language, however, kind of landed in his lap. While a graduate student attending UC Berkley in the 1960s, an advisor gave him a box of papers to go through, pages and pages of manuscripts written by John Peabody Harrington (1884-1961), a linguist and ethnologist with expertise in California tribes. Harrington wrote about 10,000 pages in all on the Chumash people and language after spending years observing and interacting with them. It was these pages that 28 June 2008 American Indian Report http://www.santaynezchumash.org/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Indian Report - June 2008

American Indian Report - June 2008 Contents Ethics & Standards of Conduct: Governing Work Habits of Elected Officials Congress: Activity on the Hill Catching Up with the Curve Grants: Police Equipment Assistance from the Federal Government The Pottery Project Neighbors Helping Neighbors Where They Belong Spreading the Word “Poverty is Not a Part of Our Culture” Strategic Planning: Step 1 — An Assessment of Now Saving the Samala Language

American Indian Report - June 2008

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