Today we watched the film, directed by Anne Makepeace, We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân.
Visit www.makepeaceproductions.org
Synopsis from the website:
Âs Nutayuneân tells a remarkable story of cultural revival by the Wampanoag of Southeastern Massachusetts. Their ancestors ensured the survival of the Pilgrims in New England, and lived to regret it. Now they are bringing their language home again.
I find the study of language and culture fascinating. Can one participate in one's cultural reality if one lacks linguistic access? How do we speak about what we know, how do we know what we know and what others in our ethnic group knew or found valuable if we have no way to communicate with them via artifacts left or living history in the elders?
Is such a person culturally inept forever? What happens when languages disappear but the people don't, as is the case in so many indigenous communities?
When we read The Dance Boots,
Linda LeGarde Grover uses indigenous language in the dialogue
characters speak. Note how this language which we are not conversant in
adds to the fullness of said characters who like the Wampanaog people were robbed of their culture.
Think about what the narrator says about converted Wampanaog, "I am pitiful. I loath myself." Why is there so much alcohol or substance abuse in such communities--colonized, assimilated, traumatized people?When I was in JHB, South Africa, I saw so many ads for alcohol and encountered so many inebriated adults, healers and medicine men, who were drunk on the job. South Africa, like America, was stolen from its people.
Think about what the narrator says about converted Wampanaog, "I am pitiful. I loath myself." Why is there so much alcohol or substance abuse in such communities--colonized, assimilated, traumatized people?When I was in JHB, South Africa, I saw so many ads for alcohol and encountered so many inebriated adults, healers and medicine men, who were drunk on the job. South Africa, like America, was stolen from its people.
Essay Assignment
In
a 250-500 word essay, look at a theme such as language and culture and
discuss how its presence or absence affects a community either
positively or negatively. Introduce the film in the introduction and
then state your thesis after a brief summary. The essay should be
minimally three paragraphs. How are Jesse and Artense similar?
How is film a great storytelling medium. How
well does the director tell the story. Does her personal involvement in
the story affect the product or enhance it?
Link to my interview with director: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks/2012/01/27/wandas-picks
Homework: Respond to a classmate's essay and extend and expand the discourse.
8 comments:
Rosetta Egan
Professor Sabir
English 1B
2 September 2012
Wampanoag
This documentary hit home with me because my native language of Irish or Gaelic was almost lost and has recently gone through a revival. It is presently taught in schools in the Republic of Ireland after hundreds of years of being banned by the government. Jessie's quest to restore her language is awe inspiring. Restoring a language that is no longer used is an enormous task especially for one person. Fortunately Jessie found linguist Ken and gets encouragement from Noam Chomsky. But Jessie did most of the work to revive the Wampanoag language. Language is crucial as it is the glue that bonds a society and is the method for passing on the culture and traditions of a community.
When the English came to the Wampanoag land they immediately began to use the laws and written documents of England in everyday communication. The Wampanoag were quick to adapt by creating a written version of their native language in order to survive day to day with the English. The English were not going to change their ways to get along with the natives because they believed that their culture was superior and the natives were savages. Eventually Wampanoag became a dead language since no one was speaking it.
Fast forward to the present time and we find the Wampanoag still living in New England and their language is English. Jessie, a Wampanoag, realized that losing their language only fragmented Wampanoag people further and ultimately they would lose touch with each other completely. Eventually after much effort Jessie began to teach Wampanoag to the children as well as the adults of the Wampanoag tribe.
Dung Le
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
2 October 2012
We Still Live Here
We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân is a documentary by Anne Makepeace, which talks about the revitalization of a lost Indian language known as Wampanoag. The revitalizing process was proven to be a difficult task because of a missing native speaker. However with hard work and determination, Jessie Little Doe was able to revive her native language Wampanoag and in the process earned herself a master degree in linguistics, “…lead Jessie to earn herself a master degree in linguistics at MIT, and result in something that had never been done before – bring a language alive again in an American Indian community after many generations with no native speakers” (PBS 3).
What I found interesting within this documentary are the tools that were used to convert and assimilate the Indians to Christianity, to be specific the Bible. The Bible was written in Wampanoag as a way to speed up the process of converting Indians to Christianity. As of today, it is one of the tools used to revive the Wampanoag language,
“Through researching documents, including the Bible - which had be translated into Wampanoag, Jessie began to develop the first Wampanoag dictionary. When words didn’t exist in historical texts, she pulled words from other native language and used a formula to develop what the Wampanoag words may have been. (Gluckmann 4)
We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân is a documentary that describes the importance of a culture and their language. It shows that language can define the history of a culture and the way they speak can also tell how they thought, “This film is an exciting new educational tool. It illustrate the power of language and how we learn aout a people’s culture and history though it” (Glucmann 5).
Works Cited
GLUCKMANN, MISSY. " We Still Live Here – Âs Nutayuneân." Melibee Globa.l Web. 3 Oct. 2012. .
"We Still Live Here - As Nutayunean." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. .
Caitlin Rockwell
Professor Sabir
English 1B
Film: We Still Live Here
In the documentary, “We Still Live Here” the narrator in the film talks about the Wampanoag Native American community and language that’s still being discovered. The film talks about how their culture is slowly deteriorating and how the community is trying to uncover and make it grow again. As the English came to America they quickly took over Wampanoag land and eventually were forced to learn English instead of their native Wampanoag language. As the narrator, Jesse tries to discover the Wampanoag language she learns that she wants to teach it to others in her community. This is important for Jesse because she wants her family and community to amerce in the language to experience their culture that was once lost.
The director uses stories in the film to show how important story telling is and how it passes down their culture and their way of life to new generations. Jesse tells a story about how she had reoccurring dreams that lead her to discover her language and how her community could learn the language. She said in my dream the people told me to ask my community if they were interested in learning their language. Jesse found out that they wanted to and were interested in discovering their language once again. She had people come in to help they but she did not think that any of them could teach them so she decided to go to school for linguistics herself. Language is essential to help you feel closer and learn more about your ancestors.
Teaching this language can help Jesse’s generation and the ones after her learn more about their culture. The film, “We Still Live Here” is similar to the story “The Dance Boots” because Jesse and Artense are learning about their Native American culture through stories from their family and also through language. They both are learning who they are and more about their cultures. This documentary shows that even as time goes on and thing change that language hold a strong bond between families and culture that can’t be erased completely.
Matt Dillon-Guerrero
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
3 October 2012
The film We Still Live Here is a film detailing a woman’s quest to revive a dying language. The woman’s name is Jessie Little Doe Baird she is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Cape Cod. This long journey all begins with recurring dreams. In this story she becomes frustrated with the fact that the characters in her dreams are unable to speak English. Later she comes to the realization that the language they are speaking Wampanoag a language unused for over a hundred years. She begins a journey that would lead her to a Masters degree in Linguistics at MIT, which would lead her to accomplish an unaccomplished feat: bring back to life a dead language after many generations without native speakers.
It is very important to be familiar with one’s own culture. It works even better when you understand the language. For instance, imagine if there is a culture that utters chants and one is unfamiliar with the language. What if one could understand exactly what the words mean. It would make the experience that much more exciting. For instance in Italian culture, to wish someone well at the table one would say “Cent’anni.” Essentially what this means is may your family prosper for a hundred years. If a situation such as this were to occur, one might make a grave error that could put a real damper on the day.
On the other hand I believe that not having knowledge of one’s own culture can be very devastating. Nowhere is this more obvious than a Native American reservation. For instance, alcoholism and drug use are rampant. In We Still Live Here, one can see the change in the community. Life is once again vibrant and has meaning. One can see the joy in the faces of the community while they are learning the Wampanoag language.
Works Cited
GLUCKMANN, MISSY. " We Still Live Here – Âs Nutayuneân." Melibee Globa.l Web. 3 Oct. 2012. .
John Sung
English 1B
Professor Sabir
10-2-12
The Wampanoag Language
As stated in dictionary.com language is, “a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition”. Having a lot of immigrants in The United States, many Americans are able to observe different languages in their everyday life even if the observation was not intention. “We Still Live Here” by Anne Makepeace is a documentary that shares a story of the lost Wampanoag language being revived by non-native speakers. The main character, Jessie Little Doe was a social-worker who began to have dreams of people speaking the Wampanoag language. Not knowing what they were saying, Jessie gathered others from the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag communities and began searching for original documents around their hometown. Although rebuilding the language was there main goal, Jessie and other members in the Wampanoag community began learning about their ancestor’s mentality and history. Language has a huge impact on a culture because it unifies people of that language and helps those individuals to have a greater understanding about their culture through the language.
In their pursuit of rediscovering the Wampanoag language, Jessie and her supporters began learning more about their history. Generations after generations have not spoken the Wampanoag language. When the Native Americans tribes were forced to reservations, the government began taking away their children and sent them off to boarding schools across the country. By doing this, the Native American tribes were not allowed to pass down their culture to their own children, which made so many cultures die. During their search of original documents, Jessie and her team were able to hear their families and ancestors stories about historical times instead of reading it from history books which were written by the white perspective. The more they dissected the language, the closer they began to feel with one another. The presence of their original language gave the community a positive affect by unifying them after generations, and giving them a sense of pride about the Wampanoag community.
Growing up in a Korean home, I was taught Korean at a very young age. Through the language I learned Korean customs, culture, and built a connection with my parents. I could not imagine how my life would be in America without my foreign language to unify me with my own people. Although I was born in The United States I am still an immigrant to most people’s eyes, so having my own language with my own people brings a sense of comfort and unification.
Javier Mendez
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B
2 October 2012
How language is used as a Social Divider
How has language played a role in keeping humanity divided all thru history? Why is it that some people separate themselves from and judge other people based on what language they speak? What is the true meaning that we can find in the existence of some many languages? How should the Wampanoag use their language and culture to bring themselves closer to society, rather than a way to create more distance between them and everyone else.
If we try to look at the source of all languages, from the unlikely point of view that the Bible has, it says that the people of the Earth used to be one people with one language after the great flood and, that they came to the land of Shinar to build a great tower that would reach the heavens lest they be scattered across the face of the earth. Then that the Lord came down to see the tower and said:
"If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do. Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says.” Thus the Lord scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. (New American Bible, Genesis. 11.6-8).
Aside from the fact that it sounds like a messed up thing for God to do, it clear that this action was intended to divide humanity. No matter what the story it is clear that human beings are one species with many races that once came from a single origin. Some migrated in different directions and adapted to living in different conditions and in time created different cultures and languages.
And ever since, humanity has divided itself, by nationality, language and race. Those that can’t understand each other, resort to violence to achieve their needs. After consecutive victories and losses, supremacist ideologies begin to surface, and hatred is bred between cultures, and then used by those with authority to further distance us from other just so they can justify their actions and fulfill their own agendas. That is why in the US people are fed the mentality that this country is superior and that certain other countries are inferior, and then we relate those countries to the languages spoken in them. And its why when i go to other countries I end up speaking Spanish rather than English, so I don’t get judged as an ignorant American when people have their first impression of me.
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continued by Javier Mendez
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Now that so many languages exist, it is easy for each person that has grown up in their own culture to learn to appreciate the one they speak. No matter if your from the US, China, India, Brazil or Zimbabwe, the words you grow up speaking with your friends, and use to express yourself end up meaning something to you. If you come to the US from a different country at a young age, it’s natural to want to find comfort in making friends with people that can speak your same native tongue and look like you, that’s why especially in high school, where people leave behind the carefree mentality of children and become more aware of the fact that they’re are physical differences between them and others, that you see so much more division by race.
You see what most people don’t understand is that the root our division isn’t caused by our lack of similarities, it’s caused by our lack of understanding of each other. A person that has never been discriminated against can’t understand what it’s like to be mistreated simply because of the way they look and speak. And those that have been discriminated resent their counterparts, for their lack of understanding, and carefree lives, blind to the abuse received by them or their ancestors. That’s why even when people supposedly speak the same language we find local jargon, that further separates the United States into different social groups. Do people think it is a coincidence that a majority of white, black or hispanic people regardless of how many generations spent here, tend to speak in a certain way.
While the spoken language is a beautiful phenomena that has appeared within the human race, and has countless meaning and interpretations, that have ended defining the course of history. It shouldn’t be used to divide us further. Don’t be mistaken though. I’m not advocating a universalization of language or culture across the earth, but rather an attempt at understanding. Anyone that says that their culture is perfect and that others or pointless is a fool. It is foolish to see something meaningful and useful in front of you and, not to try to understand and adopt it’s better qualities into your own. While the Wampanoag, that were seen in the movie during class, were making the right first step in trying to revive their language and remember their culture. They don’t try to open themselves to the rest of the world. I don’t mean become like what it is to be considered a classic american, but take your culture to the world. Show others what you find meaningful and let them do the same for you. That can be the only true usefulness of humanity being so divided and diverse, that we can have so many different points of view and ideologies and later bring them together again to make the human race whole again.
Sareth Chhoth
Professor Sabir
English 1B
2 October 2012
We Still Live Here Response
Today we watched the film “We Still Live Here” directed by Anne Makepeace. The film follows the Wampanoag community and the people of that community talks about how their language is lost. They make great effort into restoring their lost language that was lost for hundreds of years and their efforts had paid off, reviving the language and getting others to speak the language. Jesse Little Doe realizes that the language should be brought back home and follows a career in linguistics at MIT, hoping to revive the Wampanoag language. Language and culture is an important thing for communities or families that can have a positive influence.
I believe that language and culture can bring the community together. When my family moved to Oakland, my parents were lonely. They had no other adults to communicate with or get help from. Sooner or later they found a community that shared the same language and culture and had a positive influence on them. My parents speaks Khmer and barely speaks English so the Cambodian community was a big help to them. From the community, they received help for the U.S citizen test. The Cambodian community brought many Cambodians together and they all helped each other.
I did not know that losing a language could be possible. Trying to revive the language would be a difficult struggle to bring the language back. I cannot imagine my culture and language being lost. Finding out that a language can be lost scares me. Children in my culture learn to speak Khmer by others speaking to them in that language. My older siblings and relatives all learned how to speak Khmer by parents and elders speaking to them. For me, I do not speak much because as I grew up I was spoken to in English by all of my older siblings and relatives. As a result, I barely speak any Khmer. I noticed the younger generation in America are the same as me and that could result in even younger generations not speaking the language. I am afraid that in the future, my children would not know how to speak Khmer. After finding out a language could be lost, I am now trying to speak more in Khmer to learn more, so my language could not be lost.
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