Thread: Grumpy Old Men

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Originally Posted by deighaingeal

Umm...I don't know about the natives elsewhere, but locally the majority cannot speak more than a handful of their native words, the majority that are "fluent" can barely speak it more than a few memorized phrases and if I'm correct here the majority of Native American languages have no written form; nor were they ever converted to any of the more common alphabets (sorry the term eludes me at the moment).

Back when I was an ironworker years ago I worked with quite a few Mohawks. Many of them were brothers,or fathers and sons. Family members. Anyhow, some of them spoke their native language amongst themselves. I recall working with a couple of brothers and one of them, yelling at his brother, would frequently exclaim. "Hooksa. hooksa !!" I asked him what it meant and he said, "hurry up."

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

Umm...I don't know about the natives elsewhere, but locally the majority cannot speak more than a handful of their native words, the majority that are "fluent" can barely speak it more than a few memorized phrases and if I'm correct here the majority of Native American languages have no written form; nor were they ever converted to any of the more common alphabets (sorry the term eludes me at the moment).
I think its great to see multiple languages on packaging, I personally find it fun to read while I'm eating. What I don't like is if the english is difficult to find on a package or written so small its difficult to read, but I would expect it if I purchased an item from my local greek market or any of the such. In fact I shop almost half of my groceries at a mexican market. The food is fresher than most, I have a taste for mexican cuisine and it is owned by a dut
ch family I grew up with instead of the money being sent to a large corporation it helps our local (dwindling) economy.

I also must comment on Dora the Explorer or as she is known in our house "Dora the Devil." First off we don't watch much television, our daughter even less so. We decided to watch this show once to see if it were acceptable for our daughter. I saw a lot that I liked and some I didn't. I then was seriously offended when I saw Dora basically ask someone what was wrong with them for not knowing Spanish. I proceeded to send a letter and have recently found out that the specific episode was pulled after showing it once and I received an apology letter. I still won't let my daughter watch it. Besides, if we wish to stay in this valley there is very little chance of our daughter leaving the school system without a basic understanding of the language.

Back when I worked with Rosetta Stone I had the pleasure of assisting the Endangered Language Program with one of their projects with the Chitimacha tribe in Louisiana. The white folks had broken the tribe up in the '20s and punished people who spoke the language so it was all but lost. Until the late '80s or early '90s when someone stumbled upon recordings and writings that a linguist had done in the late '20s or so. The tribe was trying to resurrect the language and had put together a program that had been in the school for a while but they got some grant money and contracted with RS to put something together to distribute to the tribe.
A few other first people's have done that as well. Mohawk, Navajo, and a couple of the tribes up in AK. Pretty neat to see people coming back to their roots.

Originally Posted by bharner

I've gotten used to it but here in the States (other than on the Canukian and Mexican borders) it has been rare to see packaging in anything other than English.
In Europe you have a bunch of countries.with relatively small landmass (but large population) smooshed together so it has been common for you for years.
Before so much production moved out of the US everything was English only. We may not have as many people but we only have two borders.
/not trying to sound xenophobic but that's just how it used to be here and what most folks remember. Even more disconcerting when you pick up a package and three sides of the cube are in Spanish and you have to keep turning the package to find the English side. In the middle of the country.

Ya I live in the desert...sometimes its hard to find anything thats not in spanish. Doesnt help that Im marrying a mexican who doesnt speak spanish...

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Back when I was an ironworker years ago I worked with quite a few Mohawks. Many of them were brothers,or fathers and sons. Family members. Anyhow, some of them spoke their native language amongst themselves. I recall working with a couple of brothers and one of them, yelling at his brother, would frequently exclaim. "Hooksa. hooksa !!" I asked him what it meant and he said, "hurry up."

Originally Posted by bharner

Back when I worked with Rosetta Stone I had the pleasure of assisting the Endangered Language Program with one of their projects with the Chitimacha tribe in Louisiana. The white folks had broken the tribe up in the '20s and punished people who spoke the language so it was all but lost. Until the late '80s or early '90s when someone stumbled upon recordings and writings that a linguist had done in the late '20s or so. The tribe was trying to resurrect the language and had put together a program that had been in the school for a while but they got some grant money and contracted with RS to put something together to distribute to the tribe.
A few other first people's have done that as well. Mohawk, Navajo, and a couple of the tribes up in AK. Pretty neat to see people coming back to their roots.

I think this is awesome. Rebuilding and using old, forgotten languages and even using traditional languages is awesome. But writing in most native languages was quite rare, I think this is more common in nomadic cultures world wide.

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

I think this is awesome. Rebuilding and using old, forgotten languages

Awe: reverential fear or wonder. Perhaps we are turning English into an old forgotten language.

It is a similar story in Australia with many indigenous communities having lost, or in the process of losing, their native languages. I was only reading the other day how the only person in the world who can now speak a certain Aboriginal language is a Japanese linguistics professor who did his PhD here in Australia sometime in the '80s I think. Luckily for us he recognises the broader importance of his knowledge and is actively working to bring the language back to the communities - if it were not for people like him and others as mentioned above, I think the world would be a poorer place.

That sausage gravy sounds interesting, but would never work on a pikelet. Sugar and lemon juice, or perhaps golden syrup, is really the only thing worthy to caress the velvety skin of the noble pikelet.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

That sausage gravy sounds interesting, but would never work on a pikelet. Sugar and lemon juice, or perhaps golden syrup, is really the only thing worthy to caress the velvety skin of the noble pikelet.
James.

It's best on what we Yanks call a biscuit but is also amazing on buckwheat or sweet potato pancakes.
However, I did find a recipe for your pikelets online and plan on making them sometime this week. I just got in a batch of Grade B dark maple syrup that one of my father's friends makes so it needs something tasty to try it out on.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I was only reading the other day how the only person in the world who can now speak a certain Aboriginal language is a Japanese linguistics professor

James.

And you have to take his word for it.

In Ireland their is a movement to restore Gaelic to prominence and IIRC it is spoken by a majority in some parts of the country. I remember seeing an independent film on Navajos who were teaching the young folks their almost forgotten language that was famously used during WWII by Navaho radiomen so that the Japanese couldn't break the code.