Language Loss

As we increasingly meet that our induce self-destruction is inevitable in the destruction of the planet, the insular notion of western sandwich modernness as the height of human progress is fin eithery being questi singled. However, the final result paradox is that although we realize the resultant flaws of depending on one form of progress, the solitary(prenominal) alter internals that we could turn to atomic figure of speech 18 dying off of the face of the earth. thereof the humanness-wide trend of nomenclature loss is an issue incredibly worthy of recollective everyplacedue attention it may in fact be our last-place meaningful alternative to rescue the plight of humanitys survival.As a repository of k in a flashledge, an expression of socialization, and a symbolic embodiment of a charge of carriage, the loss of a wording speaks for itself. Although virtually prime nomenclatures argon on the brink of extinction in Canada, regrettably, not many wad are liste ning to the last cries of the voices that are quickly vanishing. I will search the reasons why this is the case. Firstly I will delve into the roots of actors line, as a vehicle by which the essence of each partitioningicular culture comes into coherence in the stuff and nonsense solid ground and how its cultures train of conceit that sustains its insularity.The history of Western culture, as a product of European compoundism and industrial capitalism, clearly exemplifies that its essence and more importantly its arrogance, is fundamentally at odds with a harmonical relationship with the inhering innovation, currently leading(p) to its make detriment. With this colonial mentality in mind, a second thought I will explore is the raw alternative to this one bureau of thinking that is exemplified the in the culture of the Squamish pack of Vancouver.Thus thirdly, the colonisation, industrialization, and current urbanization transforming Vancouver, is arguably augmenting the break up between both ways of being, perpetuating the self-destruction of all masses who are at the mercy of the dominant cultures conceit. Thus I will argue that in contrast to Vancouvers central flocks way of life, the current level of arrogance sustaining the addiction on Western modernity will ultimately, inevitably be the last of humanity. It is undeniable that manner of speaking, like all things that humanity has created, is ultimately an invention of innate world.As a watershed of imagination, voice communication tries to take aim sense of the world and may be soundless as the symbolization of the human thought in trying to grapple with the reputation of globe. Although these symbols were created in tell to mediate and make sense of humanitys place in the universe, since their universe of discourse they engage transformed and pervaded human cognition to such(prenominal) an extreme extent as to actually replace uncomprehensible nature of existence with a dishonorable sense of rational reality. Symbols, now meaning speech, are a heathenish phenomenon fundamental to encompassing what define polishedization (Zerzan diction 237).As such(prenominal) as symbols in any culture try to grapple with their reality in a complex scientific, or rational sense, due to their inherent insularism from the natural world and intrinsic reductionist nature, all attempts to find the answers of the universe, to stand for harmoniously with fix earth will ultimately be at odds with what is in fact, incomprehensible. The seemingly rational is ultimately irrational. The layers of complexity now sustaining the process of symbolization account for an ongoing need to label and then check over what ultimately could never be comprehensively defined. SOURCE). An important grammatical constituent in this process of symbolization is the man-made conception of time. Time is one the earliest layers of symbolizations complexity that enhanced a constructed nat ure of reality. John Zerzan notes that times fruition accounts for the need to define a sense of progress that would dominate mans sense of history, barely alienating him away from the natural world. In a cycle of their own creation and perpetuation, the purpose of civilization has therefore, alone been to reinforce itself.The perpetual anatomical structure of this notion of progress has ultimately led to the self-induced domestication of the mind, enhancing mans estrangement from the natural (Zerzan Book 25). Instead of surrendering to mans harmonious tie-in to the inexplicable cosmos and olibanum accepting his own nonrational nature, this false notion of progress has been perceived as an inevitable part of human start fall outment. Progress is now out of human control and thus alternative ways of existence are seen as backwards and illogical. emerging Primitive PAGE). The zenith of this sense of progress, is encompassed in the current notion of modernity as it is both the height of this civilization and yet the worst reality that the natural world has yet to wear. The sense of progress has always been subjected to the dictatorial exercise of arrogance and economics, what Williams calls the inherent dominative mode of thinking(SOURCE). Economics narrates mans conception of berth in an alchemical mix of human childbed on the earths soil in the pursuit of material riches.Excessive material wealth superficially bolsters the sense of privildege, evolving to be better understood as their hubris. The Western cultural lineage that has pushed humanity forward depends harsh on this mentality, and now there exists a common belief that as Westerners run aways diligently towards the height of modernity, in some way opposite cultures in the world drive home become intellectually idle (Davis 2009 166). Progress is mostly perceived as a rushing current of vim and vigor, with an unstoppable impulse carrying all of us in its wake.Upon arrival in North Ame rica, with transcendency imbued in their mentality, European colonialists brought a sense of progress to the New ground. As both a by-product of their amalgamated colonial imagination and their as delusional scientific minds, Canada became a laboratory to be poked, measured, defined and wide-awake for extraction back to get over the fervent industrialization of Europe (Rigney 1999 109). The colonial mentality is highlighted in their sense of property. Colonialists commitd that property had to be enacted it is as much a physical reality as it is constant aspiration to control.In their minds, property is a verb that must be put to work in regulate to define it (Blomley 566). This is in accordance of the influential perspective of John Locke, who helped to transfuse the belief that if the get was not being used, it is being wasted. Thus the comprehend commons was rendered private property, Eden sank to grief and our natural world was at the mercy of mans endless attempt to co ntrol and strike all that they could from their surroundings (Blomey 561). Just as run-in is a creation of the natural world, it is the architect of sustaining meaning for a culture.Therefore in its use, lyric poem is in like manner a system of power that allows the meanings imparted by cultural hegemony to endure and endure themselves (Focault 22). Although this cultural lineage now dominates the worlds sense of progress, not all people believe in this once sense of reality. On the margins of modernity, some peoples resilient existence stands as tribute that this one insular mode of thinking is not be the only way of being, nor is it the best way for humanity to survive (Davis PAGE).Such people do not feel the need to subjugate and try to feebly control the wonders of the natural world, but sooner their existence is at the will of what they realize they targetnot control. Instead of feebly trying to control the world nigh them, they would or else be spiritually submerged in natures all-encompassing, inexplicable power (Davis Page). The Coast Salish indigenous people that obtain historically incubateed in what is now defined as the urban center-limits of Vancouver are just one shell of such a people whos underlying purpose in life is arguably not at odds with the natural order of the universe.Coast Salish is there common name, however within this label are a number of different cultural inheritances that are uniquely defined by both their geographic location and correspondingly, their language. In Vancouvers major reservations today, such identities as the Musqueam, Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh peoples gloss over dwell in a miniscule margin of their antique homelands. Although their lands are being encroached on from all sides, they try to impact the ways of their ancestors as a more visceral reality, that was once so harmoniously in balance with British Columbias ecosystem (Baloy 520).Because of their ancient history of being so intimately tied with their surrounding terrain, these peoples distinguishable cultures, embodied in their in their oral traditions and expressions of art, encapsulate their belief in humanitys divine connection with the land. Living adjacent to the Pacific, what is mentioned in more than one of these peoples creation stories is the belief that the land around them sprung from the luxuriant expanse of water on which they heavily rely (Blomey). In stark contrast to the Europeans colonial conception of the property as Terra Nullius, or that it was there for the taking.The resultant boundaries that Europeans created in this percentage are deeply embedded cultural experiences that had specific meanings for colonist. The concept to divide territories on the ground set limits marking distinct social groups and erect a mental template for categories of control (180). In contrast, Coast Salish peoples believe that the land that they gratefully depend upon came into being for a higher purpose. It w as not inanimately waiting for humans to define it or bring it to life, but rather its very existence would be what defined them.Following the creation of land from the begrime of the ocean, the Squamish Coast Salish speak of an extended period of silence that enveloped the earth, in which humans, if they existed at all, only touched lightly on the land (Hill-Tout 1978 20). The world in their sense was pure and if humans were there, they did not leave any traces of their settlement along the coast nor did they turn on their environment to accrue a sense of history via material wealth. Their ancestors quietly followed the nomadic paths of existence, dictated by the rhythms of life (566). Territorial connections are underwritten by heir relational epistemology- a way of knowing the world through relations. Their knowledge, use, control and even self-control of the land is ground on complex relationship with ancestors and spirits which go to the heart of indigenous experiences of dw elling in that place (Thom 2000 179). Today anthropologist abide by on the sophistication of the Coast Salish economy, political structure and way of life. Virgina Crawford attributed their civil aptitude to the security of their marine substance, as it allowed them to develop a mingled social system based on inherited or acquired grade rank (299).Although Crawfords perspective gives credit to the Coast Salish peoples intelligence, it is expressed as both a novelty for Indigenous peoples and is tinged with Western lens of progress as if Coast Salish resource extraction was differentiate to their efforts to civilize their society. Ultimately this perspective actually reduces the true intelligence of these peoples, which is beyond what Western science can coherently understand. Due to the fact that their existence is imbued with a spiritual instinct of the cosmos, every aspect of their daily lives revolves around ritual (Crawford 299).Their devout survival is perhaps best capture d in their most visible expression of culture, their art. In correlation to the Coast Salish creation story, their sufficient motifs are an attempt to imbue the awesome aura of the natural world into an implicit design. .. The main thrust behind the degradation of human mixed bag is the crude face of privilege. The sense of superiority that some cultures have over others because they see world through a monochromatic lens, and persist in interpreting what their perception through a single cultural paradigm, their own (WF-Davis 6).Vancouvers Indigenous Community Squamish History, Creation, Art, Knowledge, Colonial adjoin Colonial Encounter Mentality, Property, Language, ProgressSignificance of Urban environment Each word of even the most inappropriate language is the a resounding examineimony of cultural personal identity operator, and serves to act as a link connecting people with their past, their social, emotion and spiritual vitality (Norris 12). (Norris 1998 8) way of li fe of communication, but a link which connects people with their past and grounds their social, ruttish and spiritual vitality. Norris 1998 8) Although loss of language doesnt necessarily lead to the end of a culture, it can severely handicap transmission of that culture. Modernization vs. Language vitality Without doubt, the forces of dominant languages and modernization exert a strong wreak on any minority language. In the case of original languages, historical events such as the prohibition of indigenous language use in residential schools have also contributed to this process. In addition, the fact that most Aboriginal languages were predominantly oral may also have diminished, in an already difficult environment, their chances of survival. Norris 1998 8) Facts as of 1996- The current 50 languages of Canadas indigenous peoples live to 11 major language families- 10 first Nation and Inuktitut. some(prenominal) major dialects within them. (Norris 1998 9) boastfullyst Langua ge in Canada is Algonquin- 147,000 people geographics contributes to size, dispersion of Aboriginal Languages Research M. Dale Kinkade 1991 The Decline of Native Languages in Canada Root of Language- Geography of Canada- Plains accommodate a large group of people.Soaring mountains and deep gorges tend to flash back settlement to small pockets of isolated groups in B. C- small languages. Salish, Tsimshian, Wakashan, Haida, Tlingit, Kutenai- could not develop as large a population as dispersed Algonquin. (Norris 1998 9)- isolation can also play a part (Indigenous Issue) Mother saliva population those people who first language learned at home, and still understood is an Aboriginal Language. (Norris 1998 10) Index of ability (Kn/MT)1 compares the number of people who compensate being able to speak the language as a nonplus tongue.If for every deoxycytidine monophosphate people with a specific Aboriginal mother tongue , more than 100 person in the overall population are able to sp eak that language, some clearly learned it as a second language either in school or later in life. This may indicate language revitalisation. (Norris 1998 10) (Stat) Because unlike other minority groups, Aboriginals cannot rely on new immigrant to maintain or subjoin their population of speakers, passing on the language from parent to children is critical for all indigenous languages survival (Norris 1998 11) (Indigenous issue)Canadas Aboriginal languages are amongst the most menace in the world- significant numbers of languages have either already disappeared or are close to extinction (Norris 1998 15). Among the languages spoken today 2 out of 50 are viable with a large population base- Large or small viable languages (Norris 1998 15) (Stat) Research How the English Language Became the Worlds Language- Robert Crum Globish. Revival- Sacred Ways of Life Knowledge. Chelsea Crowshoe- crowshoe consulting Inc.Everyone is a community or culture, hold traditional knowledge because it i s collective- WHO defines traditional medicine- the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as the prevention diagnosis, rise of treatment of physical and mental illness Traditional knowledge is dual-lane through ways of exchanging cultural and traditional information such as storytelling- (Crowshoe 2)Language and culture are the foundation of nationhood of First Nation, Inuit, and Metis people. Canadas cultural wealth is not merely its official bilingualism- or its multicultural tapestry- Aboriginal languages re part of the our mosaic- A number o Aboriginal languages have died (WHICH ONES? ) and more are at risk- 29% of First Nations people can talk in their language- only a few are flourishing Cree, 85,000 speakers, Ojibway, 30,000 speakers, Anishiimowin 12,5000- Montagais0Naskapi 11,000.Most Inuit can speak one of the dialects of Inuktitut but statistic Canada report a decreasing number using it as the main language at home- Michif- traditional language of the Metis These values are associated, amongst other things, with economic reductionism, mechanistic modes of thinking, aggressive individualisation and the destruction of community. (Bennett 2010 9) The residential school system, mobility and more recently, television, internet are prudent for the loss of language. Canada does well on Global Standards- All of Caribbean languages are extinct- half of the indigenous Central and South American languages-Last ten speakers of Nitinat (Ditidaht) or Comox spearks of Vancouver Island 100 Seneca Cayuga or Onodaga speakers of the nearly 4,000 in south Western Ontario Baloy, Natalie J. K. We Cant Feel our Language Making Places in the City for Aboriginal Language Revitalization Language Revitalization efforts are overwhelmingly located in sylvan environment despite the fact that native Australian people are increasingly choosing to live and rasie their families in urban settings. Youth are vehement to learn language (Baloy 2011 515) Emerging language ideologies of urban aboriginal peopleStrong Aboriginal identity and urban lifestyle are mutually exclusive Land, language and identity- how can this be fostered and nutured in urban spaces (Bayol 516) The sduy of language ideology-has emerged as a mediating link between social structures and forms of talk. Language ideology refers to the social connection people make with the own or others languages, dialects of language variations. The fate of many minority language is likely determined to a large extent by ideology (Baloy 2011 517) Language ideology- rich possibilities for understanding how people think about and value language.Identifying how language ideologies are constructed, retained and contested can meaningfully inform strategies for language documentation, planning schooling and revitalization in contexts of language loss. Ide ological clarification (Baloy 2011 517) Contemporary language ideologies evolve out of historical experiences and are shaped by mainstream attitudes towards language, brass policies and demographic changes (Baloy 2011 517) Government policies perpetuated mainstream ideologies that position English as a hefty international lingua franca and aboriginal languages as outmoded.Aboriginal languages are often unrecognised, unknown, unrewarding by non-aboriginal society. Sensitive to multingualism- most highly educated and politically influential, largely ignorant of the sheer mixture and complexity, the cognitive and cultural richness of the native languages of the First Nations peoples (Baloy 2011 517) Historical policies and processes have contributed to the devaluation of aboriginal languages in Canada- continue to light upon today.Residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, galvanizce gnificanation of aboriginal- (Baloy 2011 517) As a result, many aboriginal parents refrained from sp eaking their heritage languages to their children in efforts to boost their chances for success in mainstream society- a generation of fresh Aboriginal children grew up monolingual in English- drop after residential schools. (Baloy 2011 518) Angered by the loss of language, community leaders seek therapeutic as the loss of language has become a symbol of government oppression and assimilation policies. Baloy 2011 518) Reclamation of Native identity, pride, decolonization, assertion of sovereignty (Baloy 2011 518) atomic number 1 Davis stated If you talk to anybody on the reserve, the chiefs will stand up and swan two things of utmost importance language and land Dual importation What bout about Urban Aboriginals? (Baloy 2011 518) Urban vs. Remote comparison, similarities, contrasts Urban exemplar Vancouver Diversity of British Columbia- Western Canada Vancouver is located in the traditional lands of the Musequea, Squamish, Tsleil-Watuth. The Katzie, Kwantlen, Stolo, Tswassan- recognized as local anaesthetic First nations.Umbrella Coast Salish- Squaimish and Musqueam have urban reserves- Musqueams language Henqeminem- no fluent speakers though there are some semifluent speakers- efforts to restore and revitalize language- Squamish Skwxwu7mesh Snichim- some fluent speakers, working toward language revival (Baloy 2011 519) From beginning Vancouvers development aboriginal nonlocal aboriginal people have made the metropolis for temporary or long-term settlement. Great diversity of aboriginal people living on traditional Coast Salish homelands. Vancouver jobs, culture and services. Baloy 2011 520)There are over thirty five First nations groups represented in the city. First Nations groups are represented in the city in spare to Metis and Inuit peoples. There are now over forty thousand people who come upon as aboriginal in the Metro Vancouver area. 1/5 of the total aboriginal population in the province. (Baloy 2011 520) The number of Aboriginal people has risen in Vancouver- 30% since 1996. Aboriginal peoples living in the city continue to grow- (Baloy 2011 520)In the early 1950s 7% of aboriginal people in Canada lived in urban settings- Today approximately 54% of aboriginal people now living in cities. 0% in B. C sorrowful back and forth between city and reserve. Though many identify with a particular Native heritage and homeland, their aboriginal life is situated in city life (Baloy 2011 520) Despite urbanization- language revitalization work has maintained mostly an on-reserve focus- reflects wider trends in social science research on aboriginal people as well as mainstream understandings of aboriginal identity (520) Cities or places that had the potential for economic development Why the city has been treat for so long? Rural aboriginal homelands- rural bound up in colonial histories- Themes of genocide, dispossession of land, and aboriginal government relations try these geo-demographic patterns Reserves are native space- Co lonial practice placed reserves in their favor. By interrogating these processes scholars can avoid reifying colonial practices that have contributed to trop of rural aboriginal homelands. Peoples from communities across B. C and Canada have ow moved to Vancouver to live dwell on Coast Salish homelands an urban environment (524) negotiating cultural protocol in such diverse context can become somewhat impler when local people are emphaisized. Outsiders still honor the Coast Salish homelands and attempts to rvitalize language. Some people believe that the world would be a better place if we all spoke the same language. If this is true, and the worlds sole language somehow ended up being Arabic for instance, I wonder what life would be like not being able to converse with soulfulness else in my mother tongue.My world would be inevitably enveloped in silence, I would not be able to coherently articulate stories of my heritage nor loose linguistic communication that could cohesively encompass the full expression of who I am. It is undeniable that this would mayhap be one of the loneliest states of existence imaginable. Unfortunately, such an unthinkable condition is in fact a stark reality for some peoples in the world. This phenomenon has chiefly tightened its grasp on to weakened Indigenous communities whose dying tongues have been consistently forced to the edge of extinction on a global scale.As languages continue to disappear from the face of humanitys cultural diversity, the need to manner of speaking this issue becomes increasingly more pertinent. Unlike learning French or Spanish, within Indigenous communities, learning a language is ultimately a spiritual process. It gives peace, a sense of reality, a sense of peace. In an urban setting, learning an aboriginal language can enrich ones links with other people from the same nation or tone connections to ones aboriginal heritage on deeper personal level. concussion these language goals requires approac hes different from long-term language learning.The most intensive projects for language workers and learners aim to develop conversational, everyday use of language. (530) New words in the urban setting- like the internet, or the elevator that are not right away at hand for aboriginal peoples. This fast pace, changing the modern world is almost impossible for English to keep up with. (530) Many of their words are obsolescent. Conversely, words that aboriginal langues do have in abundance, such as vocabulary related to local food procurement and specfic land features have limited relevance in the urban setting. Language is obsolete in that sense. 530) Its now up to the community to change language to fit the city-dwellers needs. Thus making IDEOLOGICAL places for language in the city involves identifying how aboriginal languages can fit into urban peoples lives, combine how aboriginal languages (531) What is offered in the inclusion of Native Languages in the lives of urban aborig inal people. Research participants suggest that urban language learning can have wide-ranging effects it can strengthen individuals bonds with their own identity and their test to homelands, community building efforts.We cant feel our mother, we cant feel our language. Being down from the land they are literally cut from all meaning language. (537) Musqueam, Squamish and other local nations- resilience, connections between land, language and identity remain strong and resilient. The close connection between language and the land. shake developed by geography. Getting out in the wilderness is where language makes sense- where language is manifested. Noting that sounds emulate the land. The diversity of languages in BC- physical geography of B. C (324)