Language of the Earth - Proposed
“Languages arise from the earth. They are born in the earth. Languages are a gift from the earth to the people who live there.”
Leo Omani, former chief of the Wahpeton Dakota Nation of Canada and accomplished Dakota scholar, tells us that languages come from the earth. As people move from one area of the earth to another, the languages change. Dialects and accents are a direct result of our relationship with the earth upon which we live, according to Dakota teachings.
The earth in the Bdote area (the Minneapolis-St. Paul area) gave rise to the Dakota language. This language of this earth is in grave danger. Experts tell us that only 30 fluent speakers live in Minnesota. Losing the Dakota language is more than losing a quaint artifact from the past. The traditional knowledge, the wisdom that is not easily translated to English could inform current and future decisions by human society.
“Worldwide, the preservation of biological diversity is inextricably related to the preservation of cultural diversity. For native peoples, culture and environment are deeply interwoven. They are one in the same because everything comes from the Earth and the land is often where ancestors reside. Particular plants, animals and landforms are religious symbols, sources of food and healing materials, and characters in myths and stories. When the land loses its nature and the plants and animals that enliven it, the stories and the songs live in shadow, and ways of life disappear.”
http://www.pbs.org/circleofstories/
"The importance of stabilizing endangered languages is analogous to preserving the biodiversity of plant and animal species which supply medicines, foods, and the sustainability of ecologies." - Turtle Island Native Network
Dr. William Harjo Lonefight, former president of Sisseton-Wahpeton Community College, explains that languages are actual beings, living beings that deserve honor and that are nourished by our recognition and use of them.
The vision (from which there is no turning back, according to Lame Deer) is an honoring of the language of the earth of this area.
Expressing the idea that languages come from the earth, motion detection speakers will be installed in the earth where people walk. Walkers’ movements will trigger recordings of the Dakota language. That which is spoken in the recordings will be chosen by elders, Dakota speakers, and language students, perhaps with the aid of ceremony, with the site and potential listeners kept in mind. Perhaps, if the site is a traditional Dakota site, the voices will make reference to traditional events, rituals, people who lived there. Perhaps if the site is alongside the Mississippi River the Dakota words will talk about the role of the river in Dakota history, in all human life, in the future of the continent. Perhaps the words will change seasonally, reflecting the cyclical nature of life. Although translations to English or other languages will not be part of the audio installation per se, the sounds of the language will resonate, and depending on the site, informational materials will be created and made available nearby.
Costs for “Language of the Earth” are highly dependent on the site(s) chosen. For example, if electrical powering must be within a self-contained speaker unit, the cost is on the higher end, if cabling can be installed, the cost is lower. If a more temporary installation is developed, costs will also be affected.
4720 32nd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55406-3816
