Pressure rises for Oswego State’s Endangered Languages Lab in their race against time to preserve a Native American language, Kiowa, that is facing extinction.

In charge of the lab is Taylor Miller, a visiting assistant professor of linguistics at Oswego State. Miller explained why the Kiowa language is currently taking precedence over the other endangered languages studied in the lab. 

Kiowa is a Native American language spoken fluently in Oklahoma by only nine Kiowa elders, all of which are nearly 90 years old and one of whom, Juanita Ahtone, recently lost their battle against pancreatic cancer, Miller said. 

According to the United Nations, two-fifths of the nearly 7,000 indigenous languages spoken globally are at risk of becoming obsolete. 

Kiowa is a language of verbal exchange with no formal writing system mutually agreed upon within the remaining speakers. The ELL is tasked with transcribing all stories and words into four systems. In no preferential order, they are the Gonzales Phonic System, the Original Parker McKenzie Orthography, the Modified McKenzie Bracket and the Modified McKenzie Strikethrough, according to kiowadictionary.com. 

Those interested in learning Kiowa can find a story where a student may study the audio files associated with the translations in all four systems, as well as a full linguistic analysis at the “Kiowa Dictionary” website.

Molly Bogart and Gabriel Pirrone-Alers, two students and active members of the Oswego State branch of the ELL, explained their role in preserving and transcribing Kiowa into written, online forms. Group members are continuing their joint efforts this week as Pirrone-Alers mentioned that, each member would be given an individual assignment varying from either transcribing single words in all four systems, or segmenting audio files from a story to correspond to a word. 

Both Bogart and Pirrone-Alers evoked passion as they stated the pride they feel as a result of being a part of saving this dying language, despite the pressure and stress that it entails. 

The systematic oppression of Native Americans evolved in 1838. Included was the institution of The Trail of Tears, which brought many Native American tribes who rarely made contact with one another into close quarters. Forcing them to choose languages and leave others behind, thus prompting the decay of Native American cultures and languages, Miller said. 

In addition, the U.S. government sent young Native Americans to boarding school, in which the indigenous children were forced to cut their hair and were given English  names. The teachers at the schools would beat the children for speaking their native language. The school’s philosophy was, “kill the Indian, save the man,” Miller said.

Many Native American children did not survive the American boarding schools, and those who did were unable to reconnect with their families for they were apart for many years and could not speak their native language, or engage in traditional ceremonies. Miller said it was “an irreparable loss.”

The impact of this governmentally imposed displacement has been vast and lingers still today. Many Native Americans experience discrimination that stems from stereotypes that often act as a roadblock in Miller’s fieldwork. 

Miller explained that she does not blame the tribes she works with for being protective and not always welcoming, considering how they have been treated by those in power.

Over the course of Miller’s studies with the Kiowa tribe thus far, they have overcome the barrier of language and stereotypes to established strong bonds. 

Miller showed her progress on the online Kiowa dictionary to Kowa Elders during a trip to Oklahoma in August.

“It’s a very powerful trip to show them what could happen and that we were working really hard to make it happen, and that even though they don’t know all the students here … There’s this tiny army of people who are growing to love Kiowa and [the Kiowa elders] and hear their voices all the time and really want to make this thing happen,” Miller said. 

Miller said she hopes to have the website established enough to be used in the classroom by the end of the year.

 Photo provided by Taylor Miller