Many native cultures are defined not by the tribal names we use today, but by the languages or even dialects spoken in their small groups, sometimes as small as a few families. Mountain Mama Parenting is based what is now called Portland, OR, on the ancestral lands of the Clowwewalla Clackamas, who were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to the Grande Ronde reservation in the 1850’s where the last surviving native speakers of their languages passed, and their culture intermingled with and became part of the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde. This land is also home to Chinook speaking people, now part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. The Kalapuya speakers are represented in both Confederations. Also present on this land are the Cowlitz, who call themselves the ‘Forever People’.
As early childhood educators it is our work to support a generation of children becoming ‘people of their time and place’. We believe that all children belong to the land they are born and raised on, but we as adults must do the work ourselves to unpack and make reparations for historical wrongs, so that the children we educate and support can grow up to be citizens of the world and honor those who were Native before them.
What all of these communities have in common, aside from their native lands, is a commitment to their separate and distinct languages, many of which have been lost to the ravages of colonization. Efforts are being undertaken to bolster these languages and encourage a new group of native speakers. One of the primary skills acquired in birth to three is one’s native tongue so, in honor of the children we guide and our own children and their promise for the future, we make ongoing monthly financial contributions to The Language Conservancy, an organization partnering with communities all over the world to restore lost and dying languages. Specifically in our community this spring they partnered with the Coastal Cowlitz to release two picture books, an app, an alphabet book and dictionary for the Coastal Cowlitz Salish language, with hopes of rescuing the language from obscurity and engaging a new generation. Plans for more children’s books are in the works.
Language is just one of the many facets of humanity that makes us people of our time and place and it is up to us as the adults to honor the languages of those who came before, and to provide environments rich in diverse language for those who are coming now.
