Although it has been entirely too long since my last post, I am now in a place to start blogging again! The last semester of my undergraduate career was emotionally, physically, and intellectually exhausting (not unlike every other semester), but the past few months after graduation have been quite healing. I will be posting some…
Howard Hill visit
Here is an excerpt from my last visit with Howard and Bernice. I had been asking him questions about teaching Tuscarora and the entire recording is about 45 mins long. But if you work with elders, you know that the juicy details come as soon as recording devices are turned off! I felt it important…
Kačihé:tyeh minus the birds
So, I was looking though the English-Tuscarora potion of Blair A. Rudes’ dictionary the other day (like any normal college student) and I noticed the descriptive language used in the dictionary and found some terms that seem oddly current (if that makes any sense). Let’s see A,B,C, ok diabetes, dinosaur, dishwater, all here! E, F,…
Howard and Bernice
For the past two years, I have been going to the home of Howard and Bernice Hill to visit, share stories, and listen to Howard speak in Tuscarora. Prior to my language-based interactions with Howard and Bernice, Howard had been working with various community members and scholars for many years. When I asked him how…
American Anthropological Association Conference
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the 110th American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec. The title of the meeting was Traces, Tidemarks and Legacies, and scholars from around the world came to present on various panels. I was most interested in a panel forged together by Maliseet ethno linguist and anthropologist,…
We Still Live Here
This week, I had the opportunity to watch a documentary called, We Still Live Here, Âs Nutayuneânby, which detailed the story of a Wampanoag woman and her mission to revitalize the Wampanoag language. The film details the road that Jessie Littledoe took in an effort to bring the Wampanoag language out of the archive and back…
Songs and Language Revitalization
When I went through the elementary Tuscarora school program, my teacher, Betsy Bissell had made songs in Tuscarora for us to remember and use certain vocabulary words in Tuscarora. I still sing these songs when I need to remember how to say body parts, fruits, or even colors. They use the tunes of other children’s…
Seneca Encouragement
Here is an e-mail that I received from Nancy Napierala about my blog and her relationship with the Seneca language. I met Nancy when I attended Seneca Language classes at the University at Buffalo in 2009 and 2010. There is a core group of engaged Seneca language learners who come together to practice, learn, and…
Imaginative 2010
Last fall, I had the opportunity to attend the ImagiNative Film Festival in Toronto Ontario. Since this annual event is happening today, I felt it appropriate to post on my experiences with the festival. The festival is sponsored by the Canadian government through various programs intended to encourage “young aboriginal artists and performers”. Entry into…
Youtube Videos Part II
Here are two more videos that were included in the language program dealing with counting and clans. The male puppet is dressed in a ribbon shirt and the female puppet is dressed in a calico dress. They are both adorned with beadwork and are both wearing me’me’ or moccasins. These are outfits that would be…
Tuscarora Elementary School Language Youtube video
Since I grew up on the Tuscarora Nation, I had the opportunity to attend the Tuscarora Elementary School from Pre-K until 6th grade. During this time, I (along with my peers) was able to take language and culture classes taught by Betsy Bissell, Joanne Weinholtz, and Vince Schiffert. The program really helped me to gain…
Conceptualizing Tuscarora?
Blog set up: Based on my personal experiences within the my Tuscarora community and my current work at school, I am attempting to rethink or reimagine the placement of language and culture as compartmentalized structures within the academy. Back ground picture: taken on the Tuscarora Nation which resides within the political borders of the United…
Conceptualizing Tuscarora 