OSEU Two: Janelle Williams- This Is Who We Are

Explore OSEU Two: Janelle Williams- This Is Who We Are with available transcripts, learning questions and source alignments in the South Dakota and North Dakota Elder arc

Interview · South Dakota · Janelle Williams · OSEU 2

Themes: Language & revitalization, Kinship & family, Identity & belonging, Education & learning, Boarding schools & assimilation, Spirituality & ceremony, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Arts & expression, Listening & observation, Children & young people, Intergenerational learning

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Learn About questions

How have boarding school experiences impacted native people in the US and elsewhere? How are the boarding school experiences of parents and grandparents impacting the education of children and grandchildren today? How has cultural loss impacted lifestyle among native people?

Learn From questions

What “lifestyle” learnings did you get from your parents or grandparents? Are there things you would have liked to learn from your grandparents or parents that you didn’t? What were the reasons those particular things weren’t passed on to you? 3. What was your family’s attitude toward education and schools or colleges? How are your attitudes about those things now informed by those inherited perspectives? What, if anything, do you think YOUR generation might be in danger of losing? How important is that to you?

Transcripts

This is Who We Are - Janelle Williams - OSEU 2

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This is our way of life. This is who we are. The language, the culture…it’s not a religion. It’s something we live every day. It is value. It starts in the home. My grandmother went to boarding school. My grandmother didn’t want that for her children, what she went through. I feel they just never taught…so it just got lost along the way. It just wasn’t taught. She was probably under the assumption that they were going to come and take them. She didn’t want them to be treated the way she was. And so, she just never taught them. My grandmother remembered, so it just wasn’t passed on. I know when I was born, my grandmother knew the language, but she didn’t speak. We did go to sun dance and ceremony and to powwows, but we just didn’t speak. I don’t want to be the generation where it’s lost.

Resource text

OSEU 2: INTERVIEW WITH JANELLE WILLIAMS WoLakota Project From the current WoLakota source page: This is Who We Are Janelle Williams Transcript (deep listening, information) (deep listening, transformation)

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This is Who We Are

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This is Who We Are - Janelle Williams - OSEU 2 This is our way of life. This is who we are. The language, the culture…it’s not a religion. It’s something we live every day. It is value. It starts in the home. My grandmother went to boarding school. My grandmother didn’t want that for her children, what she went through. I feel they just never taught…so it just got lost along the way. It just wasn’t taught. She was probably under the assumption that they were going to come and take them. She didn’t want them to be treated the way she was. And so, she just never taught them. My grandmother remembered, so it just wasn’t passed on. I know when I was born, my grandmother knew the language, but she didn’t speak. We did go to sun dance and ceremony and to powwows, but we just didn’t speak. I don’t want to be the generation where it’s lost.