Thornes, Tim

eScholarship - University of California

UCLAAmerican Indian Culture and Research Journal TitleLanguage Planning and Policy in Native America: History, Theory, Praxis. By Teresa L. McCarty.Permalinkhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/4951c8jzJournalAmerican Indian Culture and Research Journal , 38(4)ISSN0161-6463AuthorThornes, TimPublication Date2014-09-01DOI10.17953Copyright InformationThis work is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, availalbe at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital LibraryUniversity of CaliforniaREVIEWS 169and Chinese gender practices led to Chinese women prostituting themselves and blamed Chinese women for their tra!cking. Yet Chinese women’s voices appear in court records, so Chinese women at least were able to comment on their unfree status. "e record of California Indian women voices is thin; Lucy Young’s oral history, taken years after her experience as a tra!cked woman, is a rare view into California Indian unfreedom.As elsewhere in the United States, Emancipation and Reconstruction produced uneven freedoms and civil rights. After the Civil War, California ended the apprenticeship system in California, but forced labor endured on reservations run by agents appointed by the Republican Party. Similarly, African Americans and Chinese unfree workers endured only limited freedoms in California. Ultimately, Smith concludes, the e#ort to eradicate unfree labor in California led to the creation of Chinese exclusion in the 1880s. Smith writes a compelling political history of unfree labor in California in which the focus is primarily on debates between Republican and Democratic politicians and resulting legislation. In addition, Freedom’s Frontier examines the machinations of county judges and magistrates to secure unfree Indian workers. Yet, readers lose sight of the unfree workers themselves. One wonders how Betty got from California to Arizona. What were her experiences? What did she think and feel about a life lived, in part, in bondage? Admittedly, this is a di!cult topic on which to write because of the lack of sources, but none-theless future scholarship on captive labor should look for ways to include more California Indian voices into the story. "at being said, this book inserts California Indians into a national discussion regarding unfree labor during the mid-nineteenth century and makes the American West integral for under-standing the Civil War and Reconstruction. William J. Bauer Jr.University of Nevada–Las VegasLanguage Planning and Policy in Native America: History, Theory, Praxis. By Teresa L. McCarty. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2013. 269 pages. Language Planning and Policy in Native America: History, Theory, Praxis is a timely and extensively researched book that provides a thorough overview of issues involved in the support and revitalization of the Native languages of North America. "e author synthesizes an extensive literature on di#erent aspects of language planning and policy (LPP) in North America, not only engaging with the history and sociopolitical context of the languages them-selves and bringing together case studies of language revitalization in practice, AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURE AND RESEARCH JOURNAL 38:4 (2014) 170 à à àbut also developing a theoretical framework for understanding language policy. One of the key lessons of this book lies in the importance of youth and young adults as the main movers when it comes to LPP—playing the roles of teachers, learners, and activists in their communities and among their peers. "e author’s extensive background in indigenous education and experience with diverse Native American communities on language issues gives the work a great deal of authority. "e book is outstanding in the way it blends the truly impressive research that supports it with the vast personal experience that enriches it.Following a foreword by Richard E. Littlebear, the author’s preface spells out a perspective that adopts four key assumptions: (1) “linguistic and cultural diversity is an inherently enabling condition” for all concerned, a value that favors, and supports, linguistic diversity (xviii); (2) LPP must be community-driven, particularly where revitalization e#orts are involved; (3) “schools and educators have a strategic role” in promoting the status and revitalization of Indigenous languages (xx); and (4) “language issues are . . . ‘people’ issues” and that LPP is really about “self-determination . . . social justice, and the restoration of personal and communal well-being” (xx). "e preface’s exposure of the problems implicit in counting remaining speakers and, by implication, measuring language status, is a welcome addition. "e author synthesizes the key problems inherent in such enumeration strategies, not the least of which lies in identifying how speaker is defined by a particular community. "e issue of ranking languages by level of endangerment is further taken up in chapter 1, together with a summary of cultural and linguistic diversity in the United States. Perhaps the most enlightening portions of this chapter appear under the heading “Contemporary Native American language use in public and communal spaces,” in which the author explores language vitality in four broad domains: (1) tribal government; (2) community religious life; (3) literature and other media; and (4) schools. Each of these domains is exempli-fied and brought into focus under the light of tribal sovereignty. "e chapter is rich both in its discussion of tribal linguistic rights and current information on the status of Native North American languages. Chapter 2 lays more of the conceptual groundwork needed to clarify the author’s perspective on LPP in Native America, and, by extension, elsewhere. In it, key terminological and situational di#erences between language revival, language revitalization, and reversing language shift are explored, alongside distinctions in individual and political orientations with respect to language. Key to the chapter is its amplification of “safety zone theory,” which attempts to accommodate and explain the ebb and flow of Native American LPP histori-cally as a matter of resistance and accommodation on the part of o!cial policy. REVIEWS 171What underlies these policy oscillations, the author argues, are changing perceptions of threat and benefit with respect to cultural di#erences. "e third chapter provides a concise description of the political ebb and flow of repres-sion and support of language as a fundamental right of indigenous peoples. "e author outlines a brief colonial history of Native American LPP from the early Spanish mission period to 2010, when the White House drafted and issued an executive order for an initiative on Native American language revitalization.Further contextualizing Native American LPP, chapter 4 o#ers an histor-ical summary and case study of Navajo, arguably the most vital indigenous language in the United States and one with a long and multifaceted history of status, corpus, and acquisition planning. "e overview is fascinating and enlightening in itself while also serving to underscore one of the main points the author makes throughout the book: namely, that LPP is better under-stood from the perspective of the communities, families, and individuals who enact it. Particularly powerful here is the assessment of the demonstration school at Rough Rock, which symbolizes the “20th-century fight for Native-American self-determination” (78). Its groundbreaking bilingual-bicultural program clearly illustrates the benefits for both student achievement and community empowerment."e author refers to chapter 5 as the “heart of the book” (xxv). "is chapter deepens the discussion with the details of work done by language activists in their communities in five distinct contexts. "e first two described, the Myaamia and the Wôpanaâak language projects, have involved e#orts at language regen-esis—that is, work accomplished after the passing of the last known native speakers—and, in the Wôpanaâak case, long after. "ese discussions are followed by a description of the widely known California Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program, developed specifically for contexts where native speakers are few, and usually elderly, as a means of increasing language abilities in the younger generation. Regenesis e#orts are also taking place in California, bolstered by the Breath of Life program, which is also modelled elsewhere in the country. "e last three sections highlight immersion programs, with discus-sions of Mohawk, Hawai‘ian, and Navajo language revitalization. "ese detailed and informative contextualizations of Native American LPP in practice provide the reader with a solid grounding in what is neces-sary for success in language revitalization. Although the programs highlighted di#er greatly in terms of the nature and extent of resources available to their development (number of native speakers, written materials, and institutional supports), at the core of each are deeply committed individuals from within the community who have been instrumental in demonstrating what is possible to their families and communities and in helping to bring about an ideological shift among them. AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURE AND RESEARCH JOURNAL 38:4 (2014) 172 à à àChapter 6, “Language in the Lives of Indigenous Youth,” is coauthored with Mary Eunice Romero-Little, Larisa Warhol, and Ofelia Zepeda and is perhaps the most groundbreaking chapter. It explores the results of a longitudinal multi-site study involving heritage language usage patterns and the perceived impact of language endangerment on youth. Here, the perspectives of the younger generation give voice to the common core of success emerging from the programs chapter 5 describes. "ose voices appear ideologically prepared to have language play an increasing role in daily life, and—once these voices commit to action—bring hope to the entire language revitalization e#ort."e final chapter of the book once more draws on safety zone theory to look at how shifting national ideologies outside indigenous communities can create a backlash that impacts Native American LPP in ways that undermine indigenous rights. "e author clarifies how English-only movements and anti-immigration laws that villify cultural and linguistic “di#erence” impose directly upon the safety zone to the detriment of linguistic and educational sovereignty. However, the book’s tone remains hopeful even here, as again we are reminded that, despite current and historical threats to tribal sovereignty, there continues to be a growing undercurrent of understanding and awareness of the positive benefits of indigenous language and culture programs for students, communi-ties, and society as a whole.Within the context of the general literature on LPP this book is a welcome addition, as it applies LPP principles and theory to a particular group of languages and communities. "at, in my view, is an important part of what makes the work accessible, since Native American languages have by and large been impacted by the same history of o!cial policy and neglect. Further, despite the bleak picture often painted of Native American language survival, the book is infused with a hopefulness that, rather than seeming artificially optimistic, is supported by the facts and buttressed by firsthand testimony. "is book reminds the reader again and again of the indomitability of cultural identity and the tenacity with which grassroots activism serves to sustain language as a vital element in structuring that identity. Although the book is written in a dense style that occasionally, perhaps, is more academic than some potential readers might prefer, this book provides a tremendous service. It is both an exhaustive resource on LPP in Native America and a source of inspiration to those involved in language revitaliza-tion programs at all levels. It is not a “how-to” manual, but rather provides a clear rationale for continuing this important work with clarity and purpose.Tim ThornesBoise State University 

Language Planning and Policy in Native America: History, Theory, Praxis. By Teresa L. McCarty.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

eScholarship - University of California