Chikashshanompaat bílli'ya: The Chickasaw language is forever

Drawing on research with Chickasaw citizens committed to Chikashshanompa’ (Chickasaw language) reclamation work, this chapter focuses on how Chikashshanompa’ learners and teachers engage in nation-building as they work to ensure the continuance of Chikashshanompa’ for future generations. Complementing Michelle Cooke’s chapter about teaching university Chickasaw language courses, I draw upon findings of 5 years of research during 2010–2015 with Chickasaws committed to learning, teaching, and actively using Chikashshanompa’. Together, we dedicate our chapters to the life’s work of Jerry Imotichey (1938–2016)—Michelle’s co-instructor and a language teacher to both of us. Jerry passed on in 2016, having inspired many with his love for his first language and passion for teaching others.Ye

#KeepOurLanguagesStrong: Indigenous language revitalization on social media during the early COVID-19 pandemic

Indigenous communities, organizations, and individuals work tirelessly to #KeepOurLanguagesStrong. The COVID-19 pandemic was potentially detrimental to Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) as this mostly in-person work shifted online. This article shares findings from an analysis of public social media posts, dated March through July 2020 and primarily from Canada and the US, about ILR and the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team, affiliated with the NEȾOLṈEW̱ “one mind, one people” Indigenous language research partnership at the University of Victoria, identified six key themes of social media posts concerning ILR and the pandemic, including: 1. language promotion, 2. using Indigenous languages to talk about COVID-19, 3. trainings to support ILR, 4. language education, 5. creating and sharing language resources, and 6. information about ILR and COVID-19. Enacting the principle of reciprocity in Indigenous research, part of the research process was to create a short video to share research findings back to social media. This article presents a selection of slides from the video accompanied by an in-depth analysis of the themes. Written about the pandemic, during the pandemic, this article seeks to offer some insights and understandings of a time during which much is uncertain. Therefore, this article does not have a formal conclusion; rather, it closes with ideas about long-term implications and future research directions that can benefit ILR.Ye

Cultivating Enduring and Reciprocal Relationships in Academia: An Indigenous Mentor-Mentee Model

This article takes form following an exchange of letters in which the Chickasaw and Hopi authors reflected on an Indigenous mentorship relationship in higher education as the embodiment of a carved-out space for Indigenous ways of knowing and being. They begin the story of their faculty mentor-doctoral mentee relationship with the memory of the mentee’s graduation from the doctorate program and the gifting of a shawl. This moment was both a culminating and rebirthing of a relationship, an Indigenization of the institutional university hooding graduation ceremony. The authors privilege an Indigenous gift paradigm based in values of care and notions of kinship. Together, they ask and explore questions of how such a gift paradigm is created, enacted, and sustained in higher education. They reflect on practices which cultivated, nurtured, and sustained the mentorship relationship through the years from admission and leading up to the doctoral graduation ceremony, and beyond.Ye

Teaching from a place of hope in Indigenous education

The Council on Anthropology and Education’s Standing Committee on Indigenous Education has had a presence at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropology Association over the past decade. The CAE Indigenous Education Standing Committee #7 is dedicated to the exploration of anthropology of education from an Indigenous perspective. Member activities focus on engaging in theoretical and methodological discussions central to the field of Indigenous education, particularly those related to power differentials, knowledge, identity, schooling, agency and appropriation, and persistence. Committee #7 is committed to understanding the experiences, perspectives, and epistemological frameworks of Indigenous peoples through their own words, and works to privilege Indigenous scholarship and collaborative research in the anthropology of education. The following article shares key highlights from a session at last year’s American Anthropological Association Meetings that was sponsored by the Standing Committee on Indigenous Education.Ye

Family at the Heart of Chickasaw Language Reclamation

The Chickasaw Nation faces rapid and unprecedented decline of its language, Chikashshanompa'. As a result, community members are growing increasingly aware of the importance of the language to identity and culture, and language reclamation has emerged as a dynamic project requiring commitment from all generations. This article argues that despite the traumas of physical, cultural, and linguistic genocide, contemporary Chickasaw citizens are moving forward and re-envisioning the role of language in the community. In doing so, family has emerged to be at the heart of their efforts. In-depth interviews with community members representing multiple generations illuminated unique perspectives on the importance of Chikashshanompa' to the strengthening of Chickasaw families. The article begins with a personal account of my own experiences as a Chikashshanompa' language learner, followed by a historical overview of Chikashshanompa' decline. I then present a discussion of contemporary Chickasaw language revitalization efforts situated within the theoretical concepts of language reclamation, survivance, and linguistic responsibility. Culturally-grounded research methods frame my analysis of emerging themes, including: (1) elders’ desire to ensure Chickasaw survivance through the language, (2) parents’ responsibility to pass the language to their children, and (3) young peoples’ yearning to speak Chikashshanompa' and developing consciousness of Chickasaw identity. This is a post-review version of the article “Family at the Heart of Chickasaw Language Reclamation” by Kari A. B. Chew in The American Indian Quarterly and available through Project Muse at https://muse.jhu.edu/article/578010. Copyright University of Nebraska Press: https://nebraskapressjournals.unl.edu/journal/american-indian-quarterly/.Ye

Weaving Words: Conceptualizing Language Reclamation through a Culturally-Significant Metaphor

When the Creator called us to our homelands to become a distinct people, Chickasaws received the gift of our language—Chikashshanompa'—with which to speak to each other, the land, the plants, the animals, and the Creator. Chickasaws have held sacred the gift of our living language, passing it from generation to generation for thousands of years. From this understanding of the purpose of Chikashshanompa', I challenge metaphors of language endangerment, loss, and death which pervade academic research. Drawing on research utilizing a culturally-grounded methodology, as well as Chickasaw epistemologies to conceptualize Chikashshanompa' reclamation work, I introduce finger weaving—the traditional Chickasaw art form used to weave sash belts for ceremonial attire—as a culturally-significant and -appropriate metaphor for the process of ensuring language continuance over generations. I identify distinct strands of the weaving as themes emerging from both academic research and personal experience, including: the development of a critical Chickasaw consciousness, an understanding of Chikashshanompa' as cultural practice, and the (re)valuing of language learners. One of the most challenging aspects of finger weaving is ensuring proper tension between strands. To this end, I explore those forces that may also undermine language reclamation, such as persistent and damaging language ideologies. This shift in metaphor and paradigm emphasizes and values the vital roles of Indigenous community members in language research and ongoing reclamation work. Ultimately, I argue that by upholding metaphors for language work which reflect Indigenous epistemologies, we become guided by a sense of hope for the continuance of language.A Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship supported the preparation of this manuscript.Ye

Chikashshaat asilhlhat holissochi [Chickasaws are asking and writing]: Enacting Indigenous protocols in academic research and writing

As Chikashsha [Chickasaw] scholars and Chikashshanompa' shaali' [Chickasaw language learners/carriers], we utilize a dialogic and autoethnographic approach to explore the continuance between ancestral and community protocols for research. An account of the Chickasaw Nation’s language revitalization efforts is followed by a discussion of how Indigenous scholars engage in the writing of Indigenous research, with an emphasis on writing about language and culture revitalization. Focusing on our experiences writing our master’s theses and dissertations, we discuss how we enacted Chikashsha asilhlha [asking in a Chickasaw way] and Chikashsha holissochi [writing in a Chikashsha way]. Arguing that Indigenous research methodologies should account for all stages of the research process, including writing for dissemination, we contribute to a growing body of scholarship which centers Indigenous protocols for sharing knowledge and has important implications for researchers who work at the nexus of academic institutions and communities.Ye

Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa' anompoli katihma: Chickasaws are still speaking Chikashshanompa'

Holisso mako̲ anompa toklo' ishtiiholissochitok, Chikashshanompa' micha Naahollimanompa'. Hopaakikaash Chikashsha mó̲ma'at i̲yaakni' sipokni' áyya'shattook. 1837aash Naahollo i̲naalhpisa'at pomokloshi' wihat kanallichittook. Pomokloshaat Hattak Api'ma' I̲yaakni' onat tahattook. Pomanompa'at impállaminattookookya kaniya'ookya iláyya'shakmat Chikashsha ilittimanompohó̲li katihma. Chikashsha alhihaat ittimanompoli aaissa ki'yokittook. Chikashsha sipóngni'at imanompa' imaabahánchi bíyyi'kanattook. Mako'no imaabahánchi katihma. Pomanompa'at ikshoka'chi imahoobookya ki'yokittook. Anompa'at tibi' kolofa' chohmittook. Ittonchololit ishtayattook. 2007aash po̲minko' Bill Anoatubbyat Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program ikbittook. Sipóngni', anompa' shaali' cho'maat ibaatoksalit ishtayattook. Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa' anompoli katihma. Pomanompaat bílli'yacha bílli'ya. This Chronicle, written in both Chikashshanompa' (Chickasaw language) and English, reflects on the efforts of Chikashsha okla (Chickasaw people) to reclaim and revitalize Chikashshanompa'. Over time and for a variety of reasons—including Removal, English-only schooling, intermarriage with non-Chikashsha, and economic depression—many people stopped speaking Chikashshanompa'. Still, those who cared deeply for the language tended to it, making it possible for future generations to learn and to speak Chikashshanompa'. Because of the Chikashshanompa' revitalization and reclamation work, undertaken by many, Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa' anompoli katihma—Chickasaws are still speaking Chickasaw.Ye

Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa\u27 anompoli katihma: Chickasaws are still speaking Chikashshanompa\u27

Holisso mako̲ anompa toklo\u27 ishtiiholissochitok, Chikashshanompa\u27 micha Naahollimanompa\u27. Hopaakikaash Chikashsha mó̲ma\u27at i̲yaakni\u27 sipokni\u27 áyya\u27shattook. 1837aash Naahollo i̲naalhpisa\u27at pomokloshi\u27 wihat kanallichittook. Pomokloshaat Hattak Api\u27ma\u27 I̲yaakni\u27 onat tahattook. Pomanompa\u27at impállaminattookookya kaniya\u27ookya iláyya\u27shakmat Chikashsha ilittimanompohó̲li katihma. Chikashsha alhihaat ittimanompoli aaissa ki\u27yokittook. Chikashsha sipóngni\u27at imanompa\u27 imaabahánchi bíyyi\u27kanattook. Mako\u27no imaabahánchi katihma. Pomanompa\u27at ikshoka\u27chi imahoobookya ki\u27yokittook. Anompa\u27at tibi\u27 kolofa\u27 chohmittook. Ittonchololit ishtayattook. 2007aash po̲minko\u27 Bill Anoatubbyat Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program ikbittook. Sipóngni\u27, anompa\u27 shaali\u27 cho\u27maat ibaatoksalit ishtayattook. Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa\u27 anompoli katihma. Pomanompaat bílli\u27yacha bílli\u27ya. This Chronicle, written in both Chikashshanompa\u27 (Chickasaw language) and English, reflects on the efforts of Chikashsha okla (Chickasaw people) to reclaim and revitalize Chikashshanompa\u27. Over time and for a variety of reasons—including Removal, English-only schooling, intermarriage with non-Chikashsha, and economic depression—many people stopped speaking Chikashshanompa\u27. Still, those who cared deeply for the language tended to it, making it possible for future generations to learn and to speak Chikashshanompa\u27. Because of the Chikashshanompa\u27 revitalization and reclamation work, undertaken by many, Chikashsha alhihaat Chikashshanompa\u27 anompoli katihma—Chickasaws are still speaking Chickasaw

Centering relationality in online Indigenous language learning: Reflecting on the creation and use of Rosetta Stone Chickasaw

Drawing on the authors’ experiences developing Rosetta Stone Chickasaw (RSC), an asynchronous online Chikashshanompa' (Chickasaw language) course, this article shares examples of how relationality is enacted in online Indigenous language learning. We discuss the RSC interface and ways that it created opportunities and barriers to centering Indigenous and Chikasha (Chickasaw) relational epistemologies in which people are related to one another, the land, the spirits, and to the language itself. Our reflections on relationality in RSC are guided by the following questions: What relationships are required to create an online Indigenous language course? How do people create and strengthen relationships in online education spaces? How can online language work be re-emplaced in off-line relationships? Sharing examples from RSC, we consider relationality in video, audio, images, written instruction, and assessment. We conclude by returning to our guiding questions, offering our reflections and encouragement to others who may undertake similar work.National Foreign Language Resource Cente