Preserving the Native American languages

Preserving the Native American languages

By Clara Caufield,

NSNT Correspondent

 

The preservation of their Native tongues is challenging many indigenous groups around the world, many of those languages in danger of extinction. This problem faces every Tribe in America. This series is looking at the various strategies Native American tribal people are using in the desperate struggle to save their languages.

This segment was suggested by Jim James, a decade long NSNT reader from the Santee Sioux Tribe, Nebraska. “Various churches on Reservations have been trying to preserve the language for over a century through gospel music and other materials,” he explained. “Even through the Santee Sioux dialect was outlawed when the Reservation was established in 1863, the government allowed the Episcopal Church to translate gospel into the Sioux language. That was an especially important contribution to saving our language.”

The next section of this series will describe that effort, which continues today, next issue focusing on the Santee Sioux Episcopal Church.

The same type of effort took place on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Montana through the Mennonite Church, Busby, Montana. The Busby District is named White River Cheyenne because the band of Cheyenne who settled in that area, in traditional times favored the White River Country, often camping with the Miniconjou Sioux who lived there.

Pastor Willis Busenirz and his wife Nadine have lived on the Northern Cheyenne Mennonites more than 50 years, both fluent Cheyenne speakers and are intimately involved with the Cheyenne language preservation effort conducted by the Northern Mennonite Church. He provided the primary background information for this article.

The Mennonite Church first began mission work in Oklahoma with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho in 1880. In 1890 Rudolph Petter, who grew up and then was living in Switzerland dreamed about preaching to a group of Indian people. He took that as God’s call on his life. He went to school and met Marie Gerber and they later married.

The couple came to American in 1890. Petter, called a ‘natural’ linguist knew seven languages, quickly learning English. In Oklahoma, the Petters camped with Cheyenne people, starting to learn the language. Over the years, he completed a Bible language translation into Cheyenne, that still a primary tool for language students. Petter relied heavily on elderly Cheyenne speakers to incorporate correct translations of words, many of which did not have an exact parallel in English.

During that time, Petter also began translating songs from English and German into Cheyenne called “translated songs.” After his wife died in Oklahoma, Pastor Petter came to Montana visiting in 1899, 1901 and 1903. At request of Mission Board, he finally moved to Montana permanently. Tribal members were amazed that he spoke fluent Cheyenne which endeared him to them and helped the Mennonite congregation to grow as the older Cheyenne loved to sing the hymns in the Cheyenne language and hear the Gospel in their own tongue. The Montana Mennonite Church started in 1904, among the White River People.

He spent time in State of Washington with his two children. He and his son then typed up Cheyenne dictionary, Valdo Petter In 1916 he moved to Lame Deer, continued to work on Bible translations and more songs – some sixty songs in total. The Mission Board supported him, with money from the outside.

During the 1920’s and 30’s, Pastor Busenitz explained that God began to give Cheyenne spiritual songs to Cheyenne Christians which were first sung in Oklahoma and then came up North.

In the mid 1970’s, David Graber came to the Busby school as a music teacher under leadership of Ted Risingsun, esteemed tribal leader, dedicated to education and language preservation.

Graber became extremely interested in indigenous sons.  Various tribal elders such as Maude Fighting Bear and James Shoulderblade received these songs. Former missionary, Malcom Wenger, began to work with Gravber at transcribing these indigenous songs, sometimes called Cheyenne spiritual or gospel songs.

Under Ted Risingsun, the NC Mennonite Churches invited invited Wayne and Elean Lehman,

linguists to come in 1975. The Lehmans are still active in this good effort, Wayne having recently started a “ZOOM” Cheyenne language class which is appealing to many students, Cheyenne and non-Indian alike around cyberspace. Graber continued transcribing indigenous Christian songs and recording them, 1984, a new new Cheyenne song book put together: “Tsese’ Maheo’o Heone-Nemeototse” – Cheyenne Spiritutal Songs.

After that song book was completed, a group called “Cheyenne Singers” was developed including Pastor and Nadine Busenitz, Gladys Old Mouse, Marie Little Wolf, Maretha Charette, Floyd and Louise Fisher, Jeannie Strange Owl, Leonard Littlewolf. This group was called to sing at many funerals.

Pastor Joe Walksalong, a Northern Cheyenne and fluent speaker became the first full-time pastor at the Lame Deer Mennonite church. He served for fifty plus years as a pastor, beginning in 1961, during that time also elected as Tribal President. He delivered his messages and encouragement in both the Cheyenne and English languages. He was the first Native pastor of Lame Deer Mennonite Church, and the Cheyenne songs were used at every service.

The Busenitz were called to Busby in 1971, starting to use those Cheyenne spiritual songs in the services and the good Pastor incorporates the Cheyenne language into his messages. In the meantime, the Church has also developed a repository of Cheyenne language learning materials, including traditional stories recorded from elders, developed by Northern Cheyenne people with the assistance of Northern Cheyenne elders and fluent speakers.

That is a summary of 120 years of tribal language preservation on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation by the Mennonite Churches. Happily, now the schools and tribal colleges continue that effort in many other ways. However, acknowledging the contribution of the Mennonite Church and its many dedicated tribal members is in order.

The Northern Cheyenne language still exists, in daily coinage, but the estimated number of fluent speakers has dwindled down to the hundreds, the danger zone for a ‘living’ language.

As Pastor Busenitz commented “To the Cheyenne – the ‘heart” language is their own.”

 

(Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com)

 

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