Educator PD: Stephanie Charging Eagle- Language Pt. 2 Respecting Elder Language Speakers

Respecting Elder Language Speakers - Stephanie Charging Eagle My colleagues and I, you know we talk about in depth, in length, about some of these concerns and challenges and what we're coming up against: the younger generation of the learners, because we're aware they have not grown up with the thought, philosophy, the protocols, all of that- that they are not being respectful and treating these people, the experienced elders, the people with the wisdom, the knowledge. They are not treating them in a way that says we respect you as our elder, as the person with the knowledge, and instead they challenge you to know a lot of what we say. They say that we're holding out the language from them, but we're not, because in a way we are following protocol and that is as you know. You know you opari, or you offer tobacco, or you know and some gesture for that knowledge and when, until that is done, conduct that protocol, then a person is not obligated to share any of that unless they themselves volunteer it. And in the Lakota way, that is not. That is often a taboo, because they say you're pushing yourself on somebody and so we are concerned about you know, this treasure of that being. You know, I don't know how to describe it, but it's like we put it away, we close the lid on it because they're old now they're, you know they've done their time and you know they have some issues that are not our issues. So we're just going to put the lid on that for now. You know, while we go, do what we are meant to do and that's- and we understand where the young are coming from because we've been there teach, learning the language, learning English as a second language, you know, as first language learners of Lakota language, we experienced learning English just like the way they're learning Lakota now. But there were, you know, strategies that were taken for us to learn. It's sometimes not popular, but that's okay because it worked, you know. But for some of us we maintain that language despite some of the abuse. Some of you know the atrocities that you hear about with language loss. So you know we look at that. We understand where these learners are coming from, but we also, unlike English, they have to also know that there's an important part of Lakota language that they have to embrace in here: spiritual people, as people of a nation that think of themselves as a whole rather than individually, and so a lot of these, you know they call all a lot of what I'm talking about old school and so I guess we are old school. But we also know the reason that we know these things and the reason we do what we do, and it's to hold on to the principles of our ancestors, the beliefs, the values, because those are an important part of who we are as Lakota people. So that is where I am coming from. I don't like to correct people when they like. When a woman says a male term in you know, inappropriately. Because they tend to see us as, you know, being this person that is a know-it-all and, you know, and so we don't like to come off, you know, doing that. And so it's, you know, there's a transition somewhere. There's a line somewhere that we have to meet and say, okay, today is a new generation. And there are so many things to relearn, to learn on both sides. How can we do that? How can we come together without losing those values, the principles of who we are as Lakota people through the language? And so that is a challenge that I have to embrace because I don't see too many of our language speakers coming forward because that's just not their way. And I guess I'm old school, but I can be new school also. You say when people today say, hii haani waashtey, that is actually not Lakota thought. That is English thought being said in Lakota because all we did was we took good morning and we said it in Lakota, but it's not the thought. And I remember growing up and people would, upon greeting each other or seeing each other, they would say, hii haani waashtey, you know. Oh, it's so early in the morning, you know, like, so what are you doing this time of the morning? Or they'd say some greetings like, aah, nitaaya he, or toon nika jaa he. Or, you know, they say, you know, it's inquiring upon their well-being, you know, and they don't say good morning because we don't know if it's a good morning for that person. It may be for us. And those are words that we are becoming aware of losing, you know, the thought behind language. And that's really, that's significant because as we have Lakota language teachers who are going into the schools and teaching the language, many of these teachers are young and they may not be fluent speakers or as first language learners. And so they don't have that Lakota thought and philosophy already. So they are taking English thought and turning it, translating it to Lakota. And a good example of how that happens and is being used in the classroom is the Berenstain Bears. Now that's an English story, English children's story, but it's been taken and translated to Lakota. So you have now a Lakota story with English thought. What really should be happening is we tell our stories. Example, the Iktomi story. Tell that in Lakota to our children so they understand why these stories are. What is the purpose of Berenstain Bears, you know, story to our children, to our way of life?