Saving a language

November 16, 2007

By Adam Madison

Triplicate Staff Writer

KLAMATH — The Yurok language is dying. Only 12 members of the tribe can speak its language, and each native-speaker is at least 80 years old. When the elders die, the language may die with them.

In an effort to save the language from extinction, the Yurok Educational Department and Klamath River Early College of the Redwoods are working together to teach it to the next generations.

"Language and culture cannot be separated," said Geneva Wiki, director of KRECR and Yurok tribal member. "Language is more than just about words, it also expresses the values of a people."

She said learning Yurok is part of the school's curriculum and a graduation requirement.

"First and foremost we want to do our part to preserve the Yurok language," Wiki said.

Annelia Norris, a Yurok member and teacher of the Yurok language added, "Language defines our culture and without our language our culture cannot exist. It's detrimental right now to make sure that the language is passed on, whether it's a Yurok tribal member or not.

"Our culture is based on oral tradition, we've never had a written system until the present time." she said. "All of our culture is described in our language."

She said the Yurok language is difficult, because some words have no direct translations to English.

"There's things that there aren't words for in English that describes the things that we do ... parts of our culture ... our spirituality ... our ancestral beliefs," Norris said.

According to Norris, some of the Yurok language has already been lost—forever.

"There's this language that spiritual people, or the doctors, used to speak," she said. "To this day we don't know anyone that it was ever passed down to."

Norris said the best time for people to learn a new language is when they're young, even before school age.

"The younger the children are, the easier it is for them to absorb it," she said. "I definitely believe we need to teach people from birth. In that aspect it's important to teach people of all ages, so parents can learn the language and teach their children."

KRECR isn't the only campus that offers Yurok language courses; the Klamath Head Start program has one as well.

Norris said promoting the use of the language and using it in her day-to-day conversations with students makes the language easier to learn.

"I encourage (use of the language) as much as possible," she said. "One of my elders and teachers always told me, ‘You have to think Indian'."

Norris said in order to better understand the language, students have to think about how their ancestors saw the world.

"How can we continue to see the world that way with all these modern distractions?" Norris asks. "The biggest hurdle is being able to put ourselves back into that mind set."

In the classroom, students learn from a teacher, while Yurok elder, Archie Thompson, sits in on the lessons as a living dictionary.

Thompson, one of the few remaining native speakers, volunteers his time and knowledge at KRECR twice a week.

"When I grew up, all my grandmother spoke is Yurok ... and that's how I learned it," Thompson said. "If people don't learn it now, it's going to fade away.

"You've got to use it every day, because you forget things all the time," Thompson said.

Thompson said Yurok tribal members need to learn the language if they "want to learn what the tribe was."

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