The Algonkian Language: A Window into Indigenous Culture
I’m delighted to announce that I will be presenting another Berkshire OLLI course focused on the culture indigenous to this region. As indicated in my headline, the discussion will be centered on the Native language. The course will be offered via Zoom in the Spring 2023 Semester, which begins April 10th.
I welcome your comments and questions.
Here is a preliminary description of the course:
The language we use reveals our values, and the words we hear help to shape our beliefs.
This Berkshire OLLI course will examine the Algonkian language, which provides a window into the mindset of the people indigenous to this area. The language reflects a worldview that is very different from that of the dominant Colonial culture.
Algonkian language co-evolved with the internal structure and cultural practices of a vibrant and sophisticated social system. Its many dialects reflect the diversity as well as the connectivity of the people of our region (and beyond).
We will also discuss the history of language suppression by the Colonial powers; a policy that ended only recently. Despite efforts to eradicate it, Native culture has endured as a sophisticated and complex alternative way of understanding and relating to the world.
The newly vibrant revitalization movement is opening our eyes to the richness of Native culture, and revealing the wisdom of a way of being that held sway in this area since time immemorial.
And here are some of the topics that will be covered:
The Algonkian language belongs to the Algic language group. The languages in this group can be mutually unintelligible because their vocabularies have evolved separately over thousands of years, but they all share the same structural elements, and account for 70% to 80% of all the languages in North America.
Examples will be given in the Western Abenaki dialect (spoken in Vermont and surrounding areas).
Rich vocabularies reveal the traditional importance of such things as kinship ties, beavers, and snowshoes.
We encounter values of cooperation and responsibility, in contrast with Colonial values of competition and ownership.
This Native American language reveals a dynamic view of the world not found in Indo-European languages
The word for “chair” literally means “a stiff thing you sit on”
One word for “beaver” means “the cutter”
English nouns are simply labels; in Algonkian, such words reflect dynamism and purpose.
Two podcasts provide additional information about the 2022 Berkshire OLLI initiative:
In these recent podcasts, Julie Adler interviews several people who participated in the year-long University Days program. I think you will find these two sessions interesting whether or not you attended any of the OLLI events. The audio clips provide additional information about the art exhibits, book groups, concert, guided walks, and online lectures that made up this ambitious set of programming.
A description of, and links to, the podcasts can be found at the beginning of this page: https://berkshireolli.org/UniversityDays2022
Here are the direct links:
https://living-well-into-the-future.castos.com/podcasts/38822/episodes/were-still-here-part-1-november-26-2002
https://living-well-into-the-future.castos.com/podcasts/38822/episodes/were-still-here-part-2-december-3-2002
Future Posts
I plan to continue posting, at irregular intervals, on this (Substack) platform. Not all of my posts will concern indigenous matters, but many will. I find that even when I consider such topics as philanthropy or homelessness I end up referring back to lessons I have learned from my studies of indigenous culture.
Some posts will be more directly related, such as my detective work into the meaning of the name of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. It turns out the name is not spelled correctly, but its meaning is quite clear (to me, anyway).
I will also look into other local names that trace their origins back to indigenous roots.
Stay tuned! and, as already mentioned, I always welcome your feedback.