Robert Miller: Preserving American Indian Languages and Cultures. (APS Native American Conference.)

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This part of the conference “Building Partnerships Between Archives and Indian Communities,” held at the American Philosophical Society (APS) in Philadelphia, May 2010.

“Preserving American Indian Languages and Cultures.”
Robert Miller, Prof. of Law at Lewis and Clark School and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Grand Ronde Tribe.

“This is an historic moment, a chance to truly share materials together to preserve Native languages and cultures.

Robert Miller. / Lewis and Clark Law School

“But last week, at a lecture in San Antonio someone asked me, ‘Shouldn’t you just join the Melting Pot and become a regular American?’ My answer is: Absolutely not! Native Americans do not want to lose their language and culture, which makes them separate from Americans and the Melting Pot. But many feel like they are living in two worlds – one of speaking English and being American, and the tribal pull.

“Preserving language is absolutely crucial – language is the key to a separate existence and distinct culture. The English language does not reflect the meanings, ways and degrees [in Native languages]. This is not an academic exercise – it’s about keeping the culture alive for the next generation, and the next 1,000 years.

“When Columbus stumbled into the Caribbean in 1492, there were 300 Native languages. In 2000, there were 175 alive in 29 states. But of those 175, only 11 percent were still spoken; of those still spoken, 40 percent were only by the grandparents, and 17 percent only by the parents. In 10 years (this year), it was predicted that 75 percent of the languages would be extinct. The remaining languages are in a precarious existence.

Ink sketch of Delaware Indian pictographs with English translations, simple signs found in the Linapi (sic) Wallamolum. C.S. Rafinesque, 1833. / APS: C.S. Rafinesque Correspondence and Writings

“For the Navajo, in 1980, 90% of 6-year-olds could speak the language, but in 2000 it dropped to 30%. Did television rob them of their language and culture? On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, there are 29,000 people but only 5-15% of them are fluent, and of the speakers, 60% are 50 or older. For the Pawnee, in 1965 there were 200 fluent speakers, but the last died in 2006. The loss of language directly leads to the loss of religion, culture and ceremonies.

“How did that happen? This was the goal of the English, French and Spanish. Though the first Bible was translated [into Native languages], soon after they taught English to assimilate the Indian people. From 1819-1873, Congress supported the Civilization Fund that provided schools on and off the reservations. These schools took children away from 5-18 years old, punishing them when they spoke their own language. In 1869, the schools required them to practice Christianity, and in 1875 all Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools required all communication to be in English. In 1868, the BIA decreed: ‘Sameness in language leads to sameness in thought and sentiment.’ In 1877, there were 170 BIA schools, while in 1909 there were more than 300. Now there are 85 schools.

Thomas Jefferson's manuscript of a vocabulary of the Unquachog Indians, 1791. / APS American Indian Vocabulary Collection

“Thomas Jefferson wanted to prove where the Indian people came from. He collected vocabularies from all of the tribes east of the Mississippi, and told Lewis and Clark to collect vocabulary lists. The vocabularies were unfortunately lost when Jefferson moved to Monticello in 1809. Lewis and Clark also collected a questionnaire of every tribe, including military intelligence. Jefferson was the father of the ‘Removal Era.’ Lewis and Clark found out which tribes would be willing to move west, and also which tribes in the west would accept tribes moving from the east.

“What are the tribes doing? Some are in business development, such as by building casinos. Some languages are being revived, for example Chinook Jargon is being taught, even though it’s a trade language with French, English and Spanish words.

Sioux boys as they arrived at the Indian Training School, Carlisle Barracks, Oct. 5th, 1879. / Frank Speck, APS Speck-Choate Photograph Collection.

“Tribes must teach younger children their language. The Blackfoot’s Piegan Institute practices language immersion, which is the only way to teach, especially for the first five years in a child’s life. Tribal schools have low attendance and high dropout rates. But if they taught the tribal languages in high school, who would be the A student then? It validates the minority people who do not read about themselves in American history textbooks.

“What is the federal government doing today? In 1972, the Indian Education Act supported bilingual education for Indian schools. But 36 states have English-only curricula, and Arizona recently banned ethnic studies programs. In 1990, the Native American Language Act (NALA) said that the United States has a responsibility to act together with Native Americans, and awards special status to Native Americans, including recognizing that separate identity and language are integral to the survival of Indian culture. Student achievement and school pride are tied to the first language of the child. Indian languages should be taught at the elementary, secondary and higher education levels.

Indian boys (from 16 different tribes) at the Indian Training School, April 20th 1880. / Frank Speck: APS Speck-Choate Photograph Collection.

“Oregon passed a law letting the tribes certify who can teach their language, and that it can’t require any certification or bachelor’s degree. Washington state passed the same in 2007. Since 1992, NALA has awarded only $13 million in 166 grants, only about one-fifth of the $63 million requested. A Senate report showed that this was only policy, and not required by the United States. This shows that the 50 states are not dependable. Tribal people can’t wait another 200 years for U.S. to help them.

“Indian students who see themselves in the curriculum helps reduce the dropout rate, just like how a recent Oregonian article showed the same for Latino and African-American students.

“This is an historic opportunity for tribes to work together with the APS. In order for tribes to have separateness and a unique culture, language is the most important aspect.”

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Pat McPherson, Introduction; Regna Darnell, Native American Languages as a Core Tradition of the APS (APS Native American Conference)

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This is part of the conference “Building Partnerships Between Archives and Indian Communities,” held at the American Philosophical Society (APS) in Philadelphia, May 2010.

“Introduction.” APS Executive Officer Pat McPherson.
“This language archive is vitally important when many of these languages are in danger of extinction. We are here to celebrate the archive and work together to make it available to Native Americans and scholars.”

“Native American Languages as a Core Tradition of the APS.”
Regna Darnell, Director of the First Nations Studies Program at the University of Western Ontario.

“As the founding director of the First Nation Studies Program, I can tell you that universities are reawakening the protocols of collaborative partnerships. APS is pivotal for the study of Native American languages and to some extent, of Native Peoples.

Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States. He recorded Indian vocabularies. / APS Prints Collection.

“[America’s] Founding Fathers classified the indigenous population as a ‘cabinet of curiosities,’ categorizing them in the natural science field as part of Enlightenment thinking. They also amassed data on the languages of the peoples of America. The Founding Fathers prized something ‘American’ over the Old World, and identified with Native Americans such as by dressing up as them for the Boston Tea Party.

“Early APS Members who were anchored in philosophy did not conduct anthropological fieldwork, though Wilhelm Van Humboldt called for the need to have accurate data numbers on the languages.

“In the book ‘Jefferson and the Indians,’ it tells of Jefferson admiring the freedom of native people living outside of civilization. He thought of the Indians as noble but disappearing, and thus needed records to be available for study of them. Jefferson’s Indian vocabularies was lost in 1809 when he moved to Monticello, but there are remnants at the APS. He recognized the diversity of the Indian languages, and thought that they were the key to the affinity of nations, though he collected mostly Algonquin vocabularies.

Jefferson's Indian Vocabulary List. List of words, in English, with space for listing the Indian equivalent, 1792. / APS American Indian Vocabulary Collection.

“Jefferson’s vision of science is at the core of the APS. Jean Duponceau classified Indian languages on grammar rather than vocabulary, but Jefferson rejected that. But both were mistaken. John Pickering designed a uniform orthography. Albert Gallatin created a map of linguistic groups and a vocabulary. Henry Schoolcraft made Ojibwe narratives. Lewis Cass advised Jefferson on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Daniel Brinton transcribed the Iroquois Bill of Rights, made migration legends and kept Philadelphia on the map for professional anthropology.

“Brinton became the first anthropology professor in the country at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1894 he presented at the World’s Fair, and was the first to include South American languages, drawing the hemisphere into a single fold. Franz Boas, whose base remained in academia, wrote the 1911 “Handbook to American Indian Languages.” Through the 1920s, he developed and catalogued based on fieldwork, demonstrating that each language has its own structure.

“APS kept the manuscripts safely, and now with partnership is establishing communication, respect, collaboration and continuity that lasts across centuries.”

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Philadelphia’s Colonial-Era Portraits were the Facebook Profile Pictures of their Time

Read the related Skyline Stories post on Verplanck’s presentation.
View The Library Company’s exhibit on daugerrotypes.
Browse books on early American photography at partner Diane Publishing.

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OLD CITY, Philadelphia — When was the last time you had your portrait taken? I don’t mean by a cameraphone or digital camera, but actually sitting down, in a pose and wearing a suit or dress. College graduation or high school prom?

Miniature of Isaac Newtown, ca. late 1700s. / American Philosophical Society.

But in colonial-era Philadelphia, portraits in the form of miniatures, silhouettes and early photos were popular, especially among the wealthy to maintain group identities, said independent scholar and curator Anne Verplanck at her recent lecture co-sponsored by the American Philosophical Society and The Library Company of Philadelphia. (Disclosure: I manage the APS’ Facebook page.)

From 1790-1810, miniatures were fashionable in Europe and the newly formed United States, she said. Artists such as James Peale, Charles Wilson Peale and Benjamin Trott painted tiny portraits, mostly of the “mercantile elite,” who put these in lockets, bracelets and necklaces.

“Miniatures needed proximity for viewing, so they expressed private sentiments,” Verplanck said during her lecture “Philadelphians’ Uses of Silhouettes, Miniatures and Daguerreotypes, 1760-1860” on February 24. “Some were embellished with a signature or locket of hair.”

Silhouette of Thomas Jefferson, ca. 1800? / American Philosophical Society

Wealthy, urban Quakers tended to separate themselves from other groups, usually buying silhouettes and photos instead of miniatures. “Quakers preferred plainness and not having to interpret an artist’s work,” Verplanck said. “Physiognomy was popular too, it was being able to tell a person’s character by their body or face.”

In contrast to miniatures, silhouettes did not require an appointment or a long sitting time, as the images were not exposed. A small machine traced the person’s outline.

In the early 1800s, as the United States celebrated its founding and French General Marquis de Lafayette visited the country, Quakers collected one another’s silhouettes. “Quakers preserved and interpreted their identity and role in early United States history before genealogy became popular in the 1850s-60s,” she said.

After an early photo method called the daguerreotype was invented in France in 1839, Philadelphia (along with Boston, New York and Wilmington) became hubs of professional and amateur scientists experimenting with the new medium.

One of Philadelphia's first daguerreotypes, of Dr. Paul Beck Goddard, 1839. / American Philosophical Society

Daguerreotypes provided an exact likeness, and were novel and inexpensive, Verplanck said. It took only 10-15 minutes to sit for a daguerreotype, and the top galleries in Philadelphia were on Market, Chestnut and Arch Streets. While miniatures cost $100-200, daguerreotypes cost $3-6.

Colonial-era sitters had to choose options that are familiar to anyone who changes their Facebook profile picture: what outfit should I wear? serious or fun pose? for a background, do I want the mountains or space lasers?

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Read the related Skyline Stories post on Verplanck’s presentation.
View The Library Company’s exhibit on daugerrotypes.
Browse books on early American photography at partner Diane Publishing.