Aug 31 2024 45 mins 1
The Zuni language has been an enigma for anthropologists and linguistics ever since the people of Zuni Pueblo, located in western New Mexico, first had contact with Europeans and Africans in the 16th century. Zuni is related to no other language in the region, in the country, or in the world. Arin Peywa is a native of Zuni Pueblo and a native speaker of the language, though her fluency was reduced if not eliminated early in life by punishments she endured while enrolled at a Catholic school at Zuni Pueblo. Later, as an adult, Arin revived her fluency with fervor. Her efforts to revive the language for herself ultimately transformed into efforts to revive and preserve the language for others. She accomplished this in two ways. First, by spending four years painstakingly digitizing pre existing linguistic and cultural curricular materials, written in Zuni by and for Zuni educators. Second, by becoming an educator in Zuni Public Schools. In this episode, Arin describes these epic endeavors, while also pulling back the curtain on this beautiful and noble language. Also, we discuss the difference between language loss and language shift.
The Zuni Language Materials Collection: https://nmdc.unm.edu/digital/collection/zla
Zuni Language Revitalization website link:
https://zunireawakeningawebplatformofr.godaddysites.com/
Zuni Traditional Waffle Gardening website and video link:
https://sites.google.com/zpsd.org/zuniwafflegardening/home
https://youtu.be/ikdHxroOiCw?si=zCaXE3ZxGl0eAFut
The Wooly Warriors video link:
https://youtu.be/L7PgEVVE53E?si=br-byCdimnuwQ8Ca
Zuñi: Selected Writings by Frank Hamilton Cushing
My Adventures in Zuñi, by Frank Hamilton Cushing
A Zuni Life: A Pueblo Indian in Two Worlds, by Virgil Wyaco
The Account, by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca
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