By ABIGAIL SNOW
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Band of Paiutes was one of the hosts at the Language & History Symposium held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Jan 24. The symposium is held for tribal adults, youth and educators to discuss the importance of Paiute language preservation. Other hosts for the symposium included the Nevada Department of Education and UNLV.
Education Programs Professional for Indian Education at the Nevada Department of Education (NDE), Fredina Drye-Romero said the Language & History Symposium (nu-wu-ung upaikavi/ The People Will Talk) is a meeting between various stakeholders throughout the Southern Paiute tribal communities to discuss the importance of tribal language revitalization. The Symposium honors the traditional knowledge and practices of the Southern Paiute people, and recognizes the realities and needs of indigenous communities to provide a foundation to revitalize the Paiute Language.
“At the Symposium, tribal communities can collaboratively engage with one another to identify strategies for specific outcomes for language revitalization,” said Romero. “They also discuss the history of Southern Paiute tribal people, provide resources that can be incorporated into tribal communities, and develop strategies for their tribal communities.”
Romero said that tribal languages were lost throughout the country, due to the assimilation process in the 20th century, mostly during the Indian boarding school era. Because of this, the Paiute language is not widely spoken in the 21st Century.
This symposium is one of many events to assist the NDE in developing curriculum to teach the language and history of Nevada’s Indian tribes in public schools throughout the state. Elders from the
Moapa Band of Paiute tribe who are certified in the Paiute language and knowledgeable of the traditions, songs and ceremonies of the tribe took a primary role in the effort to revitalize the Southern Paiute language and prevent it from becoming lost.
The event brought individuals, young and old, mainly from the Southern Paiute tribes in Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
W Mack Lyon Principal, Ken Paul attended the event. Paul is very supportive in aligning tribal history and current issues with the school’s curriculum, Romero said.
“The American Indian experience and relationship with the United States is different than any other culture,” said Paul. “They are a sovereign people, a nation within a nation. With that comes the right to make their laws, choose their judges, hire police, provide healthcare, etc. At the same time, most reservations, colonies, or other tribal populations are not self-sustaining for a wide variety of factors from within and without.”
Paul said many of the youth from our area, and specifically from the Southern Band of Paiute Reservation, attended the Symposium. At last year’s Symposium, the youth put together a video of why preserving their language was important to each of them.
When Paul was principal of Ute V. Perkins Elementary, one of his staff development activities had teachers travel to the reservation and sit with tribal leaders to discuss various issues.
According to the NDE, the most attended statewide event is the annual American Indian/Alaska Native Education Summit, in partnership with the University of Nevada, Reno’s Cultural Diversity Center, and the Nevada Indian Commission. This event began in 2007 and continues to bring educators from across the state to discuss issues of Indian Education in Nevada.
“Mary Scialabba, current Ute V. Perkins’ principal, and I will be attending the 2015 American Indian/Alaska Native Education Summit in Reno this next month,” said Paul. “At this Summit, Dina has asked me to share strategies, successes, and challenges I have faced in helping the Southern Paiute students of our area feel valued and successful in reading for post-secondary goals. This is both a unique opportunity and humbling experience.”
In the final session of the Symposium, the youth gave presentations expressing what tribal language means to them.
“I am thankful for the Moapa Band for seeing the importance to uphold their traditional values,” said Romero.
