D. Baldwin discusses Myaamia language and well-being
Summary
TLDRThe 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
🐾 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Heritage Language
💡Evolving Lifeway
💡Knowledge System
💡Cultural Competence
💡Community Engagement
💡Intergenerational Kinship Bonds
💡Language Revitalization
💡Well-being
💡Nicolo
💡Forced Relocations
💡Cultural Shame
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
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