Examines how ancestral and contemporary stories, oral and written, continue to represent the thoughts, values and life ways of Native people. Explores oral tradition’s relationship to language change and reclamation efforts among Native communities.
Oral traditions expressed through Indigenous languages and cultural practice have been critical components of the foundations of life for Indigenous Peoples. Throughout the periods of colonization, Indigenous Peoples of the US and Americas have challenged agendas of language eradication. This course provides students with knowledge about the connections of language to a community’s worldview, how language is tied to cultural and oral traditions, how it ties into personal identity, and how it has been changing over time. It ends with a review of Indigenous movements for language reclamation, which have taken place through diverse forms, methods, and uses of technology.
Examines Indigenous language change from the boarding school era to current trends in language planning and revitalization. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of language to culture and on current community renewal efforts by Indigenous people.
This course will emphasize t’áá dinék’ehjí yá’áti’go oonish which includes learning through other modes such as naaltsoos wólta’, na’adzoh, and ak’i’dii’tįįh. The following genres of language will be central to this class: songs, narratives, conversations, and stories. Through the exploration and study of these genres of Diné bizaad we will learn how the Navajo mind organizes and uses language. We will gain insight into notions such as language variation, language change, frequency of terms, and the grammatical function of understudied words. This work will be achieved by comparing and using our own knowledge as Navajo speakers as well as by studying how language has been used in these other genres. All assignments and participation will be completed in Navajo.
This course is an introduction to Navajo linguistics, the scientific study of the Navajo language. The first half of the course is devoted to the core sub-fields of linguistics – phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, word class, syntax, and discourse. These core subfields are areas of research and are prerequisites to working in a number of other subfields of linguistics. The second half of the course is dedicated to the functional aspects of language – sociolinguistics, language change, language contact, and first language acquisition. Students will gain an understanding of how the field of linguistics is applied to the Navajo language, therefore answering questions about what language is to the Navajo mind.
LLSS 493/593: Issues in Navajo Language and Education
This undergraduate and graduate level topics course provides an overview of historical and contemporary educational issues related to Navajo (Diné) language and education. The course will refer to theoretical/empirical studies, federal/state/tribal policies, historical/cultural artifacts, books, guest speakers, and videos to examine structural and endemic aspects of racial/ethnic/social/linguistic inequality and ongoing colonization related to the struggle of Diné and other Indigenous peoples to maintain, revitalize, recover, and sustain their languages with a focus recovering traditional ways of knowing (i.e., pedagogy, theory, and philosophy). This class is designed for educators (school and community based) who are interested in community advocacy, language revitalization, and working with Diné communities for community healing.
LLSS 493/593: Issues in Navajo Language Curriculum Development
This undergraduate and graduate topics course is an overview and examination of historical and contemporary issues related to Navajo language curriculum development. This course will address issues of curriculum development within Diné language revitalization and sustainability efforts happening across Navajo communities. Additionally, the course will examine the socio-economic, cultural, and political factors that impact Indigenous languages such as the hegemony of English, lingua-racism in schools; and challenges to the perpetuation of Diné language as well as the promises of developing and implementing Indigenous language revitalization models. Students will be required to read and engage in critical dialogue during class meetings. It is a class designed for Indigenous (Diné) language teachers, advocates of Indigenous language revitalization, and anyone interested in contemporary Indigenous/American Indian Education topics.
LLSS 493/593: Teaching Navajo Language in Community and Immersion Settings
3-credit hour course
Summer 2022
5 hours a day
3 days of applying immersion techniques
LLSS 493/593: Navajo Language Pedagogy and Community Engagement.
This undergraduate and graduate level topics course provides an introduction to historical and contemporary educational issues related to pedagogy and community engagement in relation to Navajo language and education. The course will refer to oral tradition, historical/cultural artifacts, books, guest speakers, videos and theoretical/empirical studies and federal/state/tribal policies to examine the cultural strengths of Diné communities and their efforts to maintain, revitalize, recover, and sustain their languages and educational practices with a focus on recovering traditional ways of knowing (i.e., pedagogy, theory, and philosophy). This class is designed for educators (school and community based) who are interested in language advocacy, pedagogy, and community/language revitalization while working with Diné communities for the goal of community healing. Special attention will be paid to Diné-centered pedagogy and politics as well as critical multiple literac(ies) informed by Diné critical thought.
