šawaš IlI?i-šawaš wawa -- 'Indian country--Indian language' : A Participant Observation Case Study of Language Planning by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

An abstract of the thesis by Gregry Michael Davis for the Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages presented July 10, 1998. Title: sawas IlI?i-~awa~ wawa 'Indian country-Indian language': A participant observation case study of language planning by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. The Kwelth Tahlkie Culture and Heritage Board (KTC&HB) of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Corrununity of Oregon (CTGR) have made it a priority to revitalize one of the languages which historically has been associated with being a Grand Ronde Indian-Chinook Jargon, referred to as cznok wawa 'Chinook talk' or simply cinuk. The purpose ofthe present study was to observe the language planning process as executed by the KTC&HB. Initial guiding questions were: (i) What stages is the KTC&HB going through in the process of planning for tmukrevitalization? (ii) How do these efforts compare with theory and actual practice in other settings? (iii) How will the KTC&HB achieve their goals, and how successful will they be? The researcher participated in the language planning process, functioning as a linguistic consultant. From January through May 1998, over 150 hours were spent on location in Grand Ronde, working primarily with the Tribe's language specialist to develop materials on cinok. The language planning efforts have resulted in the production of a variety of language materials which are, at this point, still in draft form. They include an orthography-developed to increase readability and learnability of the language, a grammar-including both syntactic and phonological descriptions, and a dictionarybased on a wide variety of sources on cmok. Participant observation reveals that there is support for the language planning efforts in GR at a number of levels: the Tribal Council, the KTC&HB, and the cznok Iurlu, a group often to fifteen tribal members committed to learning the language. This group will assist the language specialist in future language planning decisions. The success of the early stages oflanguage planning in this case can be attributed, at least in part, to the Native locus of control which has been established. Clearly defined and articulated relationships with outside linguists will also contribute to the success of this case. The cinok lu ?lu is off to a good start, as well, with highly motivated community members striving to learn the language quickly. sawas Ih?i-sawas wawa 'INDIAN COUNTRY-INDIAN LANGUAGE': A PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION CASE STUDY OF LANGUAGE PLANNING BY THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE GRAND RONDE COMMUNITY OF OREGON. by GREGRY MICHAEL DAVIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS III TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Portland State University 1998