My question is, who's American development?
For the Indigenous people of this continent, our homelands and laws were already established.
We existed in the places we were born since time immemerable.
We have existed in this so called "America," since we were given life, since the birth of creation stories.
The mentality of Mr.Turner (1893), is that of a foreigner in a land where he assumes himself the center of the universe, so much so, that history did not begin until he arrived to write it.
And so the laws and creation stories of Native Peoples this continent over have been scribed and interpreted by non-native hands, looked upon as disappearing fairy stories, and they are taught today in some diluted version/perversion throught the American public school system (if they are taught at all).
The true histories of contact and its legacy pass on with the death of elders, the death of their stories, and the death of their children assigning value to our own histories- our oral histories...
In Karuk country they've begun documenting elders who speak the language.
25 years ago there were an estimated 250 Karuk Native Speakers, over the last quarter of a century it has dwindled down to 10 (a generous estimate).
The reality of the situation is that 25 years ago the speakers who were around, were elders, and the new generations were emmerging English native speakers (a trend which continues today, for the most part).
As tribal language is a kind of history of thought for tribal peoples, the importance of documentation has arisen in the conciousness of tribal councils & communities.
With the additional pressure of congress talking about requiring language proficiency as a pre-requisite to enrollability for future generations, tribes are taking their language revitalization efforts more seriously then ever.
A bi-product of such documentation efforts is that the stories of Native language speakers are being documented, but what about the stories of everybody else?
It is important for everyones story to be heard in order for tribal histories to be complete. It is important for the truth, and it is equally important for us to recognize everyone's stories as equal in importance or we become hypocrites; creating superficial hierarchies of importance in our oral histories based upon Eastern (and I mean east of the Atlantic) concepts of what Indian stories should be documented/what documentation projects should be funded. As indigenous communities we should not allow the grant cycles to dictate the fundamental nature/content of our cultural revitalization work or we become the scientists trying to capture "dying cultures" on paper, tape, cds... this work is the work of people who don't know any better. It is the work of scientists whose missions are no longer politically correct, despite proclaimed good intentions-
As native knowledge and cultural activists, it is our job to do good work according to the wants and needs of our communities- in accordance with the indigenous laws of the land (not only when its convenient, but always).
I'm excited to say, thats what seems to be happening in Karuk country as we speak!
This weekend marks the first technical training of Karuk youth for an exciting new Oral History project in which the stories of any interested elders can be documented by participating youth.
This creates a three fold documentation:
1) Hours of Interview will be collected on HDV for future archival/historical/tribal/familial use & benefit.
2) Elders and youth will be able to work together, and as the youth are filming- they will also be listening to the stories of their elders, thusly creating a traditional person-to-person transmission of oral history from elder to young person.
3) The several month project will also involve youth participants in editing final short films that will be presented to the greater tribal communities at a community film festival this spring! Thusly educating the greater tribal community to these stories/common histories, and positively rewarding elder & youth participants through the ability to share their work with their friends and families on a larger local scale.
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