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Indigenous languages make inroads into public schools

(Source: www.newsela.com)

James Gensaw is a California high school teacher. He teaches the Yurok language. This is the language spoken by the Yurok people. They have lived in California for many hundreds of years. Colonization by white settlers almost destroyed their culture.

Gensaw also advises his school's Native American Club. For years, the school asked for the same thing every November. It asked him to have students from the club perform Yurok dancing. The performances took place outside.

Image 1. James Gensaw is one of 16 advanced-level Yurok language-keepers alive today. An enrolled Yurok tribal member, he is also part of the tribe's Yurok Language Program. Photo: Mneesha Gellman

"It was nice that the school wanted to have us share our culture," Gensaw says. But "it wasn't always respectful. Some kids would make fun of the … dancers." They would imitate war cries and call out "chief."

"Other cultural groups … would sometimes perform in the gym," Gensaw says. That way, teachers could make sure students behaved. "I thought, 'Why didn't we get to have that?' We needed more respect for sharing our culture," Gensaw says.

Yurok Language In Schools

Today, four high schools offer the Yurok language. All are in Northern California.

The Yurok language almost disappeared. During the 1800s and 1900s, boarding schools tried to wipe out Indigenous culture. Indigenous children were taken from their parents. They were forced to attend boarding schools. If they spoke Indigenous languages, they were beaten. Today, things are very different. Young people are encouraged to study Indigenous languages.

Language As Resistance

Image 2. Lucy Thompson, a member of the Northern California Yurok Tribe, was born in 1856 and named Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah. In 1916, she published "To the American Indian," which explained the customs, traditions and stories of the Yuroks. Learning more about Yurok history and culture could expand understanding as teaching the language does. Photo: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

The Yurok Tribe is trying hard to increase the number of Yurok speakers. Victoria Carlson is the Yurok Language Program manager. She teaches the language at various schools. She is also teaching Yurok to her children.

"When we speak Yurok, we are saying that we are still here," Carlson says. It is a way of fighting back against all the "things that have been done to our people."

One Step At A Time

Most of the students who take Yurok language classes are Indigenous. But some are not. There are white, Asian and Latinx students, too.

These kinds of courses are good for everyone. Students learn to respect people who are different from them. Gensaw is helping this happen. One year, when he was again asked if he could have students dance, he gave a different answer than before. He said yes, but not outside. He asked for an indoor space where student behavior could be better controlled. The school agreed. The students then danced without being made fun of. Such steps are small. But they help. They start to undo the terrible harm caused by colonization.