Perhaps the lack of success in efforts to reinvigorate the Cheyenne language hinges partly on the fact that non-Cheyennes have been leading the charge, using non-indigenous approaches. This project supports training and workshop involvement for two young members of the Northern Cheyenne community. The experience will provide instruction in language documentation and an opportunity for sharing their experience with other indigenous language students and teachers. With this award, there is the unique opportunity for two bright, focused undergraduates, who have grown up in a very traditional Cheyenne community context, to be the informed bridge from the ancestors to those who are yet to come. They have the potential to be essential keys to the documentation, preservation and reinvigoration of the Cheyenne language.
This project will build on the linguistic documentation and analysis of the Cheyenne language. These students will develop skills and understanding to address the problem of language loss and stabilization, noting especially the need for resources integral to ground the pedagogy for teaching Native American languages within the speaker community.
This project is part of a larger one to document and help preserve the sacred language of the Northern Cheyenne Native American tribe. This project was to support the linguistics training of two undergraduate students who are Northern Cheyenne so that they may develop the commitment and skills related to documentation and revitalization of endangered languages. They were selected by the Chief Dull Knife College Cultural Center as capable young veterans with academic discipline. Both students participated in the American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) where they studied language maintenance, preservation and revitalization as well as multimedia technology for indigenous language and applied linguistics. They also attended the Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium which served, along with AILDI, to underscore the fragility of the Northern Cheyenne language in general and the especially endangered state of the Northern Cheyenne sacred language. Methodology for documentation was learned by the young Cheyenne and inspirational models for revitalization came alive as they were able to meet face-to-face with other tribes who are taking responsibility for the future of their language. One of the students has continued to serve as a research assistant to the larger project and is now considering working for the Northern Cheyenne and preparing for further education in the field of linguistics.
