[Stones] Some stones in Vermont, USA

[David Shugarts]

The point about language is also dead-on. I was in contact with one college
staff who are in the habit of going out and saving languages. That is, they
have found cases where, say, the last remaining 30 speakers of the language
are being over-run by a more dominant culture, and they go out and record
the lexicon of the language, just so that scholars will have something to
work with. In some cases, this may also be the first time the language has
been written as well. Invariably, though, the languages themselves face
certain extinction in their own cultural context. This page tells more:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/dharris2/endangered.php

--Dave Shugarts


On 11/28/06 5:49 PM, "Ric" <megalith6 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> hi,
>   
>  
>   
> there are very few Native American cultures which emerged from European
> contact relatively unscathed and in one piece - the Ojibwa have largely
> retained their culture, lands and language. the Delawares worshipped a 'Living
> Stone Face' in their 'Big House' temples, but the details of their pre-Contact
> culture are fairly obscure, unfortunately. the last fluent, native speakers of
> the Delaware language have passed on - i think: when the language goes, i
> don't believe the finer details of a culture can be transmitted adequately -
> culture is hugely complex - language is the key to any culture - and scores of
> languages go belly up with each passing year, which is an absolute disaster
> for us all
>   
>  
>   
> urban life is an experiment all the way back - for example - to proto cities
> like Catal Huyuk ~ and the jury's still out, last i heard?
>   
>  
>   
> ric
>   
> 
> 
> The Wissers <wissers3 at enter.net> wrote:
>   
>>   
>> ric,
>>   
>> 
>>   
>> Most still have not emerged from their long secrecy, but descendants of
>> eastern woodlands peoples have been reared in the old ways, surreptitiously
>> performing rituals and teaching what remains of the old knowledge. The
>> opposite of the numerous 'wannabes' one now meets with, these people try not
>> to seem like Indians outside their groups and don't brag about their
>> knowledge. I met a few during a brief period when one Lenape group was toying
>> with going public completely, and happened to be present when the chief of
>> that group sat down with Paul Nevin, the man who studies and has helped
>> preserve the Susquehanna petroglyphs. I heard him say to Paul, "Do you want
>> to know what they mean?" and they sat together off to the side of the group
>> for some time. 
>>   
>> 
>>   
>> While much has been forgotten, some knowledge has been retained. Whether it
>> will be passed on to youth increasingly disenchanted with the very idea of
>> being Indian I can't say. I don't think many of the hidden groups will come
>> forth to share that knowledge widely unless society makes large gestures
>> toward improving our relationship with the earth and living things, The
>> chances of that on this side of the ocean are slim to none.
>>   
>> 
>>   
>> It seems a shame but my impression was that many would rather let the
>> knowledge die than let  those who don't understand their ways of seeing have
>> any advantage from it.
>>   
>> 
>>   
>> Nancy
>> 
>>   
>>   
>> On Nov 27, 2006, at 5:23 PM, Ric wrote:
>> 
>>   
>>>   
>>> hi,
>>>   
>>>  
>>>   
>>> yes, Abenaki or 'Easterners', name borne by several NE Woodlands tribes but
>>> has stuck with the Abenaki's. There are also, potentially, Lenape (Delaware)
>>> petroglyphs - recorded in Kraft p 171, 1986, 'The Lenape'. Unfortunately,
>>> the initial-contact Europeans took little interest in the established
>>> cultures they encountered, so not a great deal is known about this rock art
>>> -  the same is true for a great deal of prehistory in America?
>>>   
>>>  
>>>   
>>> general list note: if you want to know what NE Woodlands tribes looked like
>>> - see erroneously titled 'Last of the Mohicans' film - a very accurate
>>> period piece!
>>>   
>>>  
>>>   
>>> http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo06063.html
> 
> 
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