D. Baldwin discusses Myaamia language and well-being

Summary

The speaker, a director of the Meow-Meow project at Miami University, discusses the importance of their heritage language and its connection to the Mia Mia people's evolving life way. They emphasize that the language is not just for preservation but is a living expression tied to their identity and knowledge system. The project aims to revitalize the language and culture, positively impacting youth identity, cultural competence, and community engagement. The speaker highlights that language reclamation efforts have profound effects on the community's health and sense of belonging.

Takeaways

• 📚 The speaker has dedicated over twenty years to studying their heritage language and serves their community through the Meow-Meow project at Miami University.
• 🌐 The Meow-Meow project is a tribal initiative within an academic setting aimed at addressing the language and cultural educational needs of the Mia Mia people.
• 🌱 The speaker views their heritage language as an evolving lifeway rather than a static object to be preserved.
• 🔗 The language is connected to a knowledge system that defines the Mia Mia people's identity and binds them to their ancestral lands.
• 🌟 The language is not just historical but is relevant to contemporary life and can inform current ways of being.
• 🌿 The concept of health in their language, 'now Hemet asana wingait,' translates to 'living well' or 'living properly,' emphasizing a holistic view of well-being.
• 💡 The term 'Nicolo' in their language signifies awareness, wisdom, and knowledge, underscoring the importance of seeking knowledge for personal and community health.
• 🌱 Since the 1990s, language and cultural revitalization efforts have led to improved youth identity, cultural competence, and community engagement.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Learning about their ethnic identity has a positive impact on young people's self-esteem and prepares them for life success.
• 🌟 The restoration of the Mia Mia identity has profound effects on community health and the ability to actively participate in a global society.
• 👥 Speaking the Mia Mia language strengthens personal connections to the community and helps interpret the world to better serve the community and family.

Q & A

What is the Meow-Meow project?

The Meow-Meow project is a tribal initiative within an academic setting at Miami University, aimed at addressing the language and cultural educational needs of the Mia Mia people.

How long has the speaker been studying their heritage language?

The speaker has been a student of their heritage language for approximately twenty years.

What does the speaker believe the purpose of their language is?

The speaker views their language as an evolving life way, tied to a knowledge system that defines their people and their perspective on the world, rather than just an object to be preserved.

How does the speaker's language relate to the concept of health?

In the speaker's language, health is expressed as 'now Hemet asana wingait,' which translates to 'living well' or 'living properly,' indicating that well-being is more than just physical health.

What is the term 'Nicolo' in the speaker's language and what does it signify?

The term 'Nicolo' has multiple meanings and generally evokes the notion of awareness, wisdom, and knowledge, emphasizing the importance of seeking knowledge to improve one's condition as a human being.

How does the speaker's language and cultural revitalization efforts impact the community?

The efforts have led to improvements in youth identity formation, cultural competence, community engagement, and strengthening of intergenerational kinship bonds.

What benefits does learning the Meow-Meow language have for the youth?

Learning the Meow-Meow language as an additive feature of education helps build a young person's self-esteem and prepares them to succeed in life by feeling good about their ethnic identity.

What challenges has the Meow-Meow community faced historically?

The Meow-Meow community has experienced forced relocations, loss of homelands, oppression of their identity, and generations of cultural shame.

How does the speaker believe language reclamation efforts contribute to the community's health?

The speaker believes that language reclamation efforts have created a pathway towards collective health for the people by restoring their identity and allowing them to become active participants in a global society.

Why is speaking the heritage language important to the speaker personally?

Speaking the heritage language connects the speaker to an ongoing human experience that is generations old, strengthens them on a personal level, and helps them interpret their world and respond to the needs of their community and family.

What is the broader goal of the speaker's language and cultural revitalization work?

The broader goal is to enhance the general well-being of the community by reconnecting with their knowledge system and way of knowing, which positively affects their identity and sense of belonging.

Outlines

00:00

🐾 Language as an Evolving Lifeway

The speaker discusses their long-standing dedication to learning their heritage language and their role as the director of the Meow-Meow project at Miami University. This project is a tribal initiative within an academic setting designed to address the language and cultural educational needs of the Mia Mia people. The speaker views their language not as a static object to be preserved but as an evolving lifeway that is connected to a knowledge system defining the Mia Mia people's identity. This system is tied to their history and provides a perspective on their place in the world. The speaker emphasizes the importance of language in contemporary life and its role in defining a collective identity, with terms like 'now Hemet asana wingait' (living well or living properly) and 'Niccolo' (awareness, wisdom, knowledge) highlighting the connection between language, knowledge, and overall well-being.

Keywords

💡Heritage Language

A heritage language is a language passed down through generations within a particular cultural or ethnic group. In the script, the speaker does not view their heritage language as something static to be preserved but as an evolving lifeway that is integral to their identity and culture. It is not merely an old way of knowing but informs their current way of being.

💡Evolving Lifeway

An evolving lifeway refers to a dynamic and developing cultural or traditional way of life. The speaker emphasizes that their language is not just a relic of the past but is an expression of an evolving lifeway that continues to shape their community's identity and interactions with the world.

💡Knowledge System

A knowledge system encompasses the collective understanding, beliefs, and practices of a community. The script mentions that the language is tied to a knowledge system that defines the community as a distinct people, suggesting that language is not just communication but a carrier of cultural knowledge and values.

💡Cultural Competence

Cultural competence is the ability to understand and interact effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds. The script indicates that the revitalization efforts have improved youth identity formation and cultural competence, preparing them to succeed in a diverse world.

💡Community Engagement

Community engagement refers to the active involvement of community members in activities that affect their lives. The script highlights that the language and cultural revitalization efforts have led to increased community engagement among the youth, fostering a stronger sense of belonging and collective identity.

💡Intergenerational Kinship Bonds

Intergenerational kinship bonds are the emotional and social connections between different generations within a family or community. The script suggests that the language revitalization efforts have strengthened these bonds, allowing for the transmission of cultural knowledge and values across generations.

💡Language Revitalization

Language revitalization is the process of restoring or maintaining a language that is at risk of disappearing. The script discusses the efforts since the 1990s to revitalize the Mia Mia language, which has had profound positive effects on the community's identity and well-being.

💡Well-being

Well-being in the script is described as a holistic concept that goes beyond physical health to include emotional, mental, and social aspects. The term 'now Hemet asana wingait' from the language captures the idea of living well or living properly, indicating that well-being is closely tied to the community's cultural practices and values.

💡Nicolo

Nicolo is a term from the Mia Mia language that conveys the idea of awareness, wisdom, and knowledge. It is highlighted in the script as a term that emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge as a way to improve one's condition and contribute to the community's well-being.

💡Forced Relocations

Forced relocations refer to the historical practice of moving people from their ancestral lands, often against their will. The script mentions the community's experience of forced relocations and the loss of homelands, which has made the work of language and cultural revitalization particularly significant for reclaiming their identity.

💡Cultural Shame

Cultural shame is the feeling of embarrassment or guilt associated with one's cultural identity due to external pressures or negative perceptions. The script discusses the community's experience of cultural shame and how the language and cultural revitalization efforts have helped to restore pride and a positive sense of identity.

Highlights

The speaker has been a student of the Mia Mia language for approximately twenty years.

The speaker serves as the director of the Meow-Meow project at Miami University.

The Meow-Meow project is a tribal initiative within an academic setting.

The project aims to respond to the language and cultural educational needs of the Mia Mia people.

The speaker views the heritage language as an evolving life way rather than an object to be preserved.

The Mia Mia language is tied to a knowledge system that defines the people's identity.

The language binds the Mia Mia people to the places they've occupied over time.

The language provides a perspective on how the Mia Mia people understand themselves in the world.

The language is more than just talking about an old way of knowing; it can inform a current way of being.

The concept of health in the Mia Mia language is expressed as 'now Hemet asana wingait,' meaning living well or living properly.

The Mia Mia language has a term 'Nicolo' that evokes awareness, wisdom, and knowledge.

Seeking knowledge is presented as a way to improve the overall condition of human beings.

The Mia Mia community has been revitalizing their language and culture since the early 1990s.

Language and cultural revitalization efforts have improved youth identity formation and community engagement.

Learning about Mia Mia identity builds self-esteem and prepares youth for success in life.

The work to restore Mia Mia identity has had profound positive effects on the community.

Speaking the Mia Mia language connects the speaker to an ongoing human experience.

Language reclamation efforts have created a pathway towards collective health for the Mia Mia people.

Transcripts

ayuh can wall inicio lanes of ani

Neela meeow meeow meeow meeow honey I've

been a student of my language for

approximately twenty years and I

currently serve my community through my

work as director of the meow-meow

project at Miami University the Mia Mia

project is the tribal initiative that

exists within an academic setting that

was put in place to respond to the

language and cultural educational needs

of the Mia Mia people I think for myself

I I don't see my heritage language as an

object to be preserved in other words I

try not to over objectify my language

when I think about why I would invest

time learning to speak instead I feel

that my language is an expression of an

evolving life way this life way is tied

to a way of knowing or to a knowledge

system that to some degree defines who

we are as a distinct people it binds us

to the many places that we've occupied

over time and provides a perspective on

how we see and understand ourselves in a

world of others all of these attributes

of our knowledge system are still very

relative to our contemporary lives today

and so our language is more than just

talking about an old way of knowing but

instead can inform a current way of

being that is the real value that drives

me to want to continue learning my

language and the knowledge system that

it reflects the notion of health is more

broadly expressed in our language as now

Hemet asana wingait could be translated

as living well or living properly this

expression attempts to capture the idea

that general well-being hinges on

something more than just physical health

we also have a departing term in our

language which is Nicolo this term has

multiple meanings depending on how it's

used but it generally evokes the notion

of awareness wisdom and knowledge this

term is important because it preserves

the notion that what we must seek to do

in life is simply to know seeking

knowledge is how we improve our overall

condition as human beings and so knowing

has direct

impacts on our health as meeow meeow

people our ability to connect to this

knowledge system or way of knowing can

positively affect our general well-being

as a community since we began our

language and cultural revitalization

efforts in the early 1990s I've had the

opportunity to witness the effects of

this effort on my community and

especially the youth through our work

we've seen profound improvements in

youth identity formation cultural

competence community engagement and a

general strengthening of

intergenerational kinship bonds learning

what it means to be meeow meeow as an

additive feature of education builds a

young person's self-esteem when our

young people feel good about being

Nyonya and are knowledgeable about their

ethnic identity then they are better

prepared to succeed in life for a group

like us who have experienced - forced

relocations the loss of homelands the

oppression of our identity and

generations of cultural shame the work

to restore the very essence of who we

are as meeow meeow people has had

profound positive effects on our ability

to serve our tribal nation and become

active participants in a global society

we all seek to belong and to feel safe

and so for myself speaking my language

connects me to an ongoing human

experience that is generations old

I'm strengthened on a personal level

when I share this experience with other

members of my community speaking my

language helps me interpret my world and

better prepares me to respond to the

needs of my community and my family so

that we may all succeed in life I

believe that our language reclamation

efforts and all that is required of that

work has created a pathway towards our

collective health as a people nay we

pace and AH we equally

you