folks:
i remember when i was in the service and the many trips we made to foreign countries where we had to speak another language in order to communicate with our peers over there, if we wanted something to eat, or drink, or just seeking directions. i found it interesting to do this and i found the people engaging. i never thought it was a bother to learn some expressions to make myself understood and when i made subtle mistakes speaking a new language, no one made fun of me, but patiently corrected me and taught me to say it the right way. i never felt threatened in any way by anyone i met.
it is my beleif many american politicians and people who favor the”english only policy” the government wants to adopt feel threatened in some way by having all these foreigners among us, and having to learn some new words and customs to interact and communicate effectively scares them a little. they are no longer in control. i have traveled in some places where the american was considered “ugly” and “controlling”. i have also felt at times, that i didn’t want to be identified with americans, and did not want people referring to me as an american indian. i used to tell them i was neshnabe, not american, and that iwas here in america before america ever was.
the whole concept of america and democracy is a borrowed policy and the american writers of the constitution could rightly say they borrowed their whole idea of democray and freedom from the native people they met, especially the haudenoshaunee people. benjamin franklin and many others were very much impressed with the league of the iroquois and they had many meetings with these folks, as well as with other native nations, whom they emulated, in terms of framing their new democratic government.
why did they keep slavery?
why did they take so long to give their women the right to vote?
why did they not allow free trade and commerce to the common people too, these framers of the constitution?
and now they want to foist an “english only” policy on the rest of the country?
i love my language. it is the tongue given to me by the creator and he/she expected me to use it. why else did he/she give it to me? i do not want to lose my language. i don’t know about others among our rank and file, but if we don’t do something to learn our language, we are not going to have it much longer. i am going to be 68 years young this year and it will not be much longer before i go the way of all flesh. what will happen to our language if my children and the folks i so courageously teach today, if they don’t learn the language of their forefathers, after i pass from this scene? it does make one wonder, eh?
hang in there and learn all you can while there are still people alive who can teach you……..
neaseno ndesh ne kas, iw enaj moyan ngom……..
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