Abstract:
This study documents thick-description single-source
data from the life and experiences of a Native
American / Native Canadian language worker. The worker,
raised and educated in the United States, was separated
from his ancestral village until his thirties. The
worker, with a Masters degree in education from Oregon
State University, returned to live in his village in
Canada in 1993, dedicating his life to assisting with
preserving and revitalising his people's language and
culture. As such, the socio-psychological parameters of
his life from birth until the present provide vital
insights into the lives, the problems and the angst
typically faced by First Nations language workers. The
purpose of this study is twofold.
1. Through the traditional genre of Aboriginal
autobiography, the dissertation provides crucial
insights and primary-source data regarding First
Nations realities. The intent is to encourage
further studies of the plight of the few existing
First Nations language workers, many of whom leave
their work due to becoming overwhelmed and
discouraged.
2. The author advocates for the founding of an
international Aboriginal Peace Corps, a proposed
coalition of First Nations communities, national
governments and the private sector. The goal of the
Aboriginal Peace Corps would be to put skilled
workers into indigenous communities to work alongside
community members. In view of the high rate of
deaths among elders, the last language speakers in
most communities, immediate assistance is urgently
needed. While time remains, only through an
Aboriginal Peace Corps can communities obtain
sufficient expertise in accelerated language learning
and in resource technologies to revitalise and
perpetuate their languages.
