A Community-Based Re-Analysis of Narratives in Jicarilla Apache, a Native American Language

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

The Native American Languages Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990, recognizes the unique status and value of Native American languages. The Jicarilla Apache language, a Native American language of the Southwestern U.S., is known to be endangered. With the loss of their heritage language, the community's customs and traditional practices are equally endangered. This project is designed to address both linguistic and cultural knowledge by developing new transcriptions and translations of Jicarilla Apache texts gathered in the 1890s to 1930s by James R. Mooney, Pliny A. Goddard, and others. A team of native-speaking Jicarilla Apache elders will undertake the process of examining the texts, retranscribing them into accurate Jicarilla Apache, and then translating them, both in English and Apache. Scientific understanding, based on materials collected in earlier decades by Western academics from indigenous language speakers underwent changes. Translations and interpretations were unduly influenced by Western perspectives and prioritizing academic audiences; this process of essentially multiple "translations" did not always capture accurately the intent of fluent speakers in Jicarilla Apache and other indigenous languages. Misunderstandings may also have been introduced through imperfect translation into English. Revisiting this challenge, project activities will achieve greater linguistic and cultural accuracy for a key set of texts and associated traditional knowledge. The community-based efforts for documentation of the Jicarilla language are designed to foster inclusion and training of both learners and fluent speakers. Community youth will receive an introduction to the Jicarilla language and to the study of anthropological linguistics, in addition to an introduction to the computational methods involved in archiving and preserving language data. Broader impacts also include increased participation by Native Americans in fields where they are underrepresented: linguistics, computer science, and other STEM fields of study at the university. This project also received funds from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). These historical Jicarilla Apache narratives contain a wealth of information about the material culture, history, and traditional practices within the Jicarilla community. This project will produce a new body of literature, increasing indigenous language literacy opportunities for community members and others. The project will use the early texts as a basis for this body of Jicarilla literature, but enhance these retranslations with new information on culture and history. The aim is to focus on the broader meanings and socio-cultural import of Jicarilla discourse; this represents a top-down approach to language revitalization, looking at discourse first, rather than a bottom-up approach, from grammatical pieces to sentence structure. The goal of this project is to use community-driven perspectives to lead to a re-analysis and reinterpretation of the narrative record. The project is designed to maximize collaboration within the community by inviting Tribal leaders and community members to participate in the work sessions and comment on the process and the products. This project will also be of great benefit to the community of academic scholars who work on Dene (Athabaskan) languages, as it will provide transcriptions and recordings relevant to the analysis of phonology, lexicon, and grammar of this particular Apachean language. Additionally, for other communities with endangered heritage languages, it can provide a model for the reclamation of archival material and for the development of new and effective pedagogical materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.