Linguist Hopes To Preserve Nakota Language

Linguist Hopes To Preserve Nakota Language

Monday, September 21, 2009 at 14:38

 

 

The Carry The Kettle First Nation will soon be receiving a visit from a linguistics professor hoping to save the Nakota language.

 

Linda Cumberland, an American linguistics expert, says she thinks ceremonies and cultural activities are the key to preserving Nakota.

 

Cumberland and two other researchers from Indiana University were recently granted $250,000 to study the language.

 

Nakota, which is also known as Assiniboine, is spoken by half a dozen First Nations in Saskatchewanm, as well as by some tribes in the U.S.

 

However, according to Cumberland, only about 50 people are still fluent in the language.

 

For the past decade, she has recorded words and phrases from Nakota elders, and then transcribed the information into books.

 

She is currently compiling a dictionary with about 20,000 entries, and recording the voices of elders on tape.

 

Cumberland says she isn’t sure Nakota will ever be used again in day-to-day life like it used to be, but she believes it can stay viable if it’s used in cultural ceremonies.