| "There are at least 5,000-6,000 languages on the world scene today," said Ada Deer, the director of the UW American Indian Studies Program (AISP). "Many of the languages have been lost. It's estimated that at this point in time, at this rate, many, many of the world's languages will be lost. And that will be very sad for all of us." It will be sad because with these languages come nuances of the human experience handed down for centuries that are imbedded in the texture, the sounds, and the meanings of the native words that are lost in the translation. When these languages disappear, so too does a deep understanding of the life and world that surrounds us. Many American Indian and other indigenous nations around the world are trying to preserve the languages and the stories that are expressed by them. For the past 10 years, AISP has sought to support and celebrate these efforts and to expose the larger Madison community to the stories and the languages in hope that it too will support efforts to preserve this rich cultural heritage. On February 9-10, AISP and its partners hosted the Annual Evenings of Storytelling at the Wisconsin Union Theater during the cycle of the seasons when traditionally the stories were told around warm fires. The mission of this event has always been to honor and respect the stories of wisdom and the people who relate them in their first languages, native languages. "We wanted a place where people could come and dress the way they wanted to dress and be comfortable and listen and hear stories that they would never hear anywhere else in their lives," said Michelle Greendeer Cleveland, a UW Law School graduate and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation who helped establish the program. "We wanted to bring in storytellers without disrespecting them or insulting them. And most importantly, we did not want these stories to be abused in any way. " According to Cleveland, it was also important to recognize the responsibility of the storytellers who carry within them a distinct understanding of native cultures. "We had to bring in the storytellers and remind the listeners of the responsibilities that these storytellers carry; the burden they have in retaining the stories of the struggle and the survival of their people," she said. After the preliminary speeches and the welcome song by the Madtown Singers, one by one, the storytellers got up before the crowded theater and told their stories, first in their native languages and then in English, their second language. The storytellers were Oneida, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk. Each told their stories in their own styles and rhythm, from the reserved to the animated. Larry Beardy, a Severn Ojibwe, dramatically told a story about curiosity, about how before curiosity had killed the cat; it had certainly led some ducks to become the dinner of a clever Ojibwe. And as Dr. Roberta Hill reminded the audience, the stories did connect the audience and, indeed the community, to the world around them in a way that only the stories told in their native languages could do. "They synchronize us with the creation with the earth, and with the sky and they bring harmony among us," Hill said. "They help us to be aware and sensitive to the relationships between ourselves and all things in the world. They create peace after we hear the stories. We can acknowledge each other. We can see how human we are. And we can understand how we depend on all of life and all of the things around us. When we think about all of life, we think about trees and wind and volcanoes and stars and flowers. And we take all of these energies in and exchange those energies with ours. Our every breath depends upon the health of the trees. And our bones depend upon the health of the stones. And our bellies depend upon the health of the earth. And as we are only here for a very brief period and we all pass on, we then think about all of the ancestors who when we tell stories, we remember them. We remember how they spoke to us." If the stories are lost, so too, will a part of our humanity and our understanding of the world around us. |
| 10th Annual Evenings of Storytelling Retelling words of wisdom By Jonathan Gramling |
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| (Above) Ada Deer, the director of the UW American Indian Studies Program (third from left) with storytellers Billy Daniels Jr. (l-r), Josephine Mandamin, Vicky Schenandoah, Earl Otchingwanigan, and Helene Lincoln |
| The Madtown Singers perform |
| The words flowed around me like a cool wind, ruffling my senses with their rhythm and vibrancy. I could not see them and only vaguely knew from whence they came. And my greatest fear was that this wind would pass, gone forever, leaving only the bent reeds of the tall grasses in its wake. / Many native languages are receding into history as English and other languages of commerce and the mass media penetrate deeply into native communities around the globe. |
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