DENVER – Language as the lifeblood of the people was a key theme in the 2009 Cheyenne-Arapaho Studies Conference held March 19.
The conference was part of the second annual “Cheyenne-Arapaho Revisited” reunion of members of northern and southern bands of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal nations in Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming and elsewhere.
Language learning has “got to be oral,” said Dr. Richard Littlebear, president of Chief Dull Knife College, Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Lame Deer, Mont., a key presenter.
Too many times Native people intent on language revitalization have “totally bought into the English way of learning the language,” he said, referring to an emphasis on grammar rather than a “coherent cultural context.”
Littlebear said he was grateful that his grandmother, only one generation removed from the buffalo culture, “had the strength, power and determination to continue with this (Cheyenne) language.”
Marlin Spoonhunter, president of Wind River Tribal College, Wyo., talked about the need to “fill the gap” in fluency between youngsters in language immersion programs and accomplished elders.
To illustrate the point, he asked one elder and one youngster to stand separately on opposite sides of the room, urged attendees willing to try to attain fluency to fill the space between them, and then found that about 50 people stepped forward to meet the challenge.
In two or three years the fluency gap can be closed and “people are going to know who we are,” he said. “We’re the first ones here and we’re going to be the last.”
Before a presentation by Wind River Tribal College students, Spoonhunter’s daughter, Tarissa, a Ph.D. candidate in Native Studies at the University of Arizona, prepared her son, Ricky, 6, to perform an “Oklahoma-style” Fancy Dance for conference participants.
Samuel Iron Cloud and his family sang veterans’ honor songs, including one composed for Wind River veterans of the Iraq War.
Among students asked to speak were Randy Iron Cloud, a recipient of scholarships from the American Indian College Fund; Linda Washakie, one of the first graduates in Northern Arapaho Studies at Wind River Tribal College; and Brandon Culbertson, who spoke in Arapaho as he gave the speech delivered in the 1800s by Arapaho Chief Left Hand concerning the restoration of tribal ways.
Other scheduled speakers at the conference were Dr. Henrietta Mann, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribal College president, Weatherford, Okla.; Gordon Yellowman, a traditional Cheyenne leader; and Craig Moore, of the National Park Service.
The annual event, begun last year, was initiated by Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribal College officials, including Quinton Roman Nose, who helped organize this year’s session.
The impetus behind the reunion was to bring together northern and southern bands separated in the mid-19th century as white settlers moved into the West and the U.S. military became more aggressive.
The meeting was held in conjunction with the Denver March Powwow.
