The Smithsonian launched it’s prize jewel, the National Museum of the American Indian last month in Washington. Joy Harjo was there: Sitting outside the National Museum of the American Indian after a reception and viewing of the museum, the day before the opening, I run into Carlos Nakai, one of Indian country�s finest musicians. We admire the lily-filled pond, the grounds rich with native plants. It�s idyllic. We both agree that what�s missing are the junked cars, chickens, skinny rez dogs, kids running around, dried meat racks�.and so on. Yeah! But I will say one thing for that museum. They …
I back from a week in Orange County, California. The hotel I stayed at, the Ayres Country Inn and Suites featured a room that opened on to a French country-style courtyard on one side and a California suburban parking lot on the other. Every ten minutes a plane streaked 100 feet overhead on it’s approach to John Wayne Airport, which lay across the street. Within the hotel itself, were photos of Newport beach and environs in the 1920s. One telling shot showed the Pacific Coast Highway in 1920. It was four lanes even then packed bumper to bumper with Model …
In reflecting on some thoughts by Steven Biko, Brian Alger has this to say about the role of language in learning: “Language is often a tool leveraged in cultural warfare, but it also represents a battle for the mind. The preservation of a language is frequently viewed as a means to preserve both cultural and individual identity. By imposing a language on people that is not native to their intelligence they are disadvantaged. But this is not to say that they are not intelligent, it is merely a way of placing them at a disadvantage. Language and learning are intimately …
From Jim Lehrer’s comments at the opening of the presidential debate: Tonight?s will last 90 minutes, following detailed rules of engagement worked out by representatives of the candidates. I have agreed to enforce their rules on them. The umbrella topic is foreign policy and homeland security, but the specific subjects were chosen by me, the questions were composed by me, the candidates have not been told what they are, nor has anyone else. For each question there can only be a two-minute response, a 90- second rebuttal and, at my discretion, a discussion extension of one minute. A green light …
Nushu text which reads “Beside a well one does not thirst, beside a sister one does not despair.” From Intersol Nushu, a secret language of Chinese women, has lost its most accomplished and perhaps last surviving writer and speaker. Yang Huanyi was a well known speaker and writer of the language which evolved 400 years ago as a secret script used exclusively by women to communicate with each other usually about initmate and domestic issues. Many Nushu songs and poems were composed and the written legacy of the language survives in letters and embroidered handkerchiefs. Some Nushu resources: Yang Huanyi’s …