Tech anthropologist Jeff Williams is working to salvage the few remaining remnants of the Comanche language so he can try to teach it in a college classroom. (Provided by Artie Limmer)
Posted on 12/19/2009 6:35:04 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The language of the Comanche people, a lifeline of its culture, is fading fast. Its muted vowels and sapient cadence once echoed throughout the fenceless grasslands of the South Plains, but today it can muster barely a whisper... With a recent $215,000 two-year grant from the Administration for Native Americans, they'll shoulder the task on modern technology and a new generation of Comanche students eager to learn their ancestral tongue. "Its important for any language to have its say, to be documented," Williams said. "It's interesting for Comanche because it rose to dominance on the South Plains so quickly, then to have it so quickly go into a state of complete demise." ...Their dominance over the area's trade led their language to thread together teachers, traders and travelers from neighboring tribes and, eventually, from Europe... Today, about a dozen generations after its prime, the language endures only through a handful of native speakers -- as few as 25 out of the Comanche Nation's approximately 15,000 registered members -- but they are dying off and taking the legacy with them... If the program finds success at Comanche Nation College, it could find a new home at Tech, Williams said, but the program has other, more immediate, aims. The language likely will go extinct as a spoken language if more isn't done to save it, he said. Even this new effort doesn't come with any guarantees. Most of the approximately 1,000 original Native American languages are disappearing along with Comanche, Williams said.
(Excerpt) Read more at lubbockonline.com ...
Tech anthropologist Jeff Williams is working to salvage the few remaining remnants of the Comanche language so he can try to teach it in a college classroom. (Provided by Artie Limmer)
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Fort Benning, Georgia, 1941
Front Row, left to right: Roderick “Dick” Red Elk, Simmons Parker, Larry Saupitty, Melvin Permansu, Willie Yackeschi, Charles Chibitty and Willington Mihecoby. Back Row, left to right: Morris Sunrise, Perry Noyebad, Ralph Wahnee, Haddon Codynah, Robert Holder, Albert Nahquaddy, Clifford Ototivo and Forrest Kassanavoid. (not pictured: Elgin Red Elk and Anthony Tabbitite)
The Comanche Code Talkers were an elite group of young men who were fluent in the Comanche language and used that knowledge, along with the training they were given by the Army, to send critical messages that confused the enemy during World War II. Seventeen young men were trained in communications, but only fourteen were deployed to the European theater.
What’s wrong with English? Some of my ancestors spoke Yiddish. think I give a damn about learning it?
Where’s a modern Sequoyah when you need one? He created his “syllabary” of the Cherokee language back in the 1820’s.
With that kind of attitude, you could also ask the question — why should anyone learn a foreign language? Language has value, in and of itself. Languages die, yes, but we should retain as much understanding of them as we can, so we can understand history.
I would love to learn to speak Comanche. And I would do it just for the heck of it.
You have a variety of sites on the net that will teach you Ladino. There are fewer teaching Yiddish.
You can also learn Aramaic, and best of all, MINGO!
Mingo has the conjugations for "OK" including "okily dokily" which is feaured prominently in the cartoon patois of the Simpsons.
Comanche would be well served with a website devoted to its instruction.
probably more people speak klingon than commanche. hell, i have HAMLET in english on one page and klingon on the facing page.
“Ahalani cha.”
Nobody’s got a gun to ya head.
What "attitide"? I don't expect taxpayer funds to fund my study. These folks got half a million bucks from you and me.
The Mingo Indians were once native to western PA until they were driven west in the mid eighteenth century.
Most Indians want to benefit from the good things in our culture and yet hang onto the best of their culture. Since the Fed Govt made the deal to take care of them forever; they don't have to live by our rules; no matter what people who have lived the American Culture think.
They don't think like we do, different world view, different concepts toward right and wrong. Most are pretty decent, sharing, nonjudgemental people; but it took me being the only White Boy in a village as a teacher for a year to begin to understand and respect their culture. Bottomline, I don't judge them like I'd judge another White guy nowadays. I get along with them fine, hunt, fish, go to all their potlatches/dinners, and even doing the Santa Claus thing on Christmas eve out the village hall.
They all use Indian English but also nice to see them retain their original language. I even know Republican Indians who want to retain their Native Culture.
Once white teaching at another Indian Village, I had a 16 year old kid tell me why they wanted to keep Whites outta their villages. He said, you guys come in take over, build lodges & package stores and Us Indians (with our alcohol problems) spend all our money there. Pretty soon you surround us and negatively impact our villages and we disaappear as a people he said. It's about right too, but you wouldn't understand it to be the truth unless you lived in Nativeland. No different than German being spoken in homes in North Dakota.
Probably lots of things you don’t give a damn about. A lot of others do.
Interesting. The hospital I work at has had some Commanche Indian patients on occasion and they were speaking Commanche to each other. Should of paid more attention.
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