Takic Language Project
THE TAKIC LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION PROJECT
Description of Problem
Of the surviving 100 tribal languages of California, 50
languages are close to extinction
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Language extinction has accelerated rapidly in the modern period.
Scholars now estimate that 90% of the world's languages are
spoken by only 10% of its population, that 6000 languages are
endangered, and only about 600 "safe." Unfortunately,
for many American Indian populations in North America, the native
or ancestral language has been lost. 80% of the native Indian
languages are no longer being learned by children. Even languages
strong two decades ago now seem endangered. Of the surviving
100 tribal languages of California, 50 languages are close to
extinction. Almost no California children are learning their
language in the home as part of everyday life.
"With the death of ancestral languages, the process
of comprehending one's own history and describing the landscape
is changed," says Gary DuBois, Director of Pechanga Cultural
Resources. "The intimate descriptions of nature and human
relations, which were once locked in the native language,
no longer exist and must be translated through the dominant
language. Therefore, it becomes impossible to transmit fundamental
cultural ways of knowing across the generations."
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“We’re actually trying to reverse
history and make history by revitalizing the Luiseño
language here. That’s one reason the university is so
intensely involved is that if we can learn how to do
that here in this critical situation, we might be able
to help other American Indians and indeed other folks
around the world.”
– Joel Martin
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Description of the Project
This project presents "A Language Teaching, and Teacher
Training Model for Revitalizing Tribal Languages" which
has the potential for documenting, rescuing, and revitalizing
tribal languages.
The project blends the interests of the Pechanga
Band of Luiseño Mission Indians in revitalizing
its tribal language, Luiseño, and its cultural history
with the teaching and scholarly expertise of professional
language educators, linguists, and anthropologists at the
University of California, Riverside.
(UCR has the largest and most successful TOESL program in
the state and is proactively pursuing the longstanding goal
of creating a center
of cultural interchange between the California tribes and
the University community at UCR.) Moreover, the project builds
on the extraordinary work that has been done by Dr.
Eric Elliott in documenting the structure
and usage of Takic languages. (Dr. Elliott's doctoral dissertation
at UC San Diego was a 1,800 page bilingual Luiseño
dictionary, the result of thirteen years of research on the
Luiseño language.)
Objectives and Significance of Project
- Primary Objective: This project has as its immediate object
the development of a teaching model that will revitalize
the Luiseño language among tribal members of the
Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians. The model
includes the following:
- Record, Document, and Preserve the Luiseño
Language to the fullest extent possible
- Teach the Luiseño Language to Luiseño
children, adults, and seniors
- Stimulate Dormant Fluency of elders and others
- Secondary Objectives:
- Produce new Luiseño Materials for
use by Luiseños
- Train tribal members to be teachers in Luiseño
- Unite in new and useful ways the research,
teaching, and community service missions of the University
of California by focusing on a project of importance
to California Indians
- Develop Language Revitalization Expertise
and create appropriate institutional, communal, and
educational support networks to sustain, spread, and
deepen revitalization
- Ultimate Objective: The final goal of this project is
to develop a comprehensive Takic Language Revitalization
Model that is nationally recognized and can be adopted by
other peoples interested in preserving their tribal, ancestral,
ceremonial languages.
*Languages in the Takic family include Luiseño, Cupeño,
and Cahuilla as well as Serrano and Gabrielino (more distant
cousins include Hopi, Paiute, and Shoshoni).
Pechanga/UCR Luiseño Language Retreat
The Lodge, Great Oak Ranch, Pechanga Reservation, December
6, 2002. Meeting Minutes...
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