Ichishkiin/Sahaptin (yak): Language Documentation of Natural and Cultural Resources

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This project is a collaboration between programs of the Yakama Nation and the Northwest Indian Language Institute at the University of Oregon. Each elder of the Yakama Nation holds unique and irreplaceable knowledge of the language, and about specific places and the natural and cultural resources found there. Elders will be recorded speaking to the broad themes of places and cultural and natural resource management and preservation. To Yakama tribal members, land is not just ground, dirt or soil, it is tiichám. Water is not H2O, or merely something to be adjudicated, it is chiish. Salmon is not just a fish, chinook or Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, it is núsux. The greater importance of these resources, and all that their Yakama names represent, is expanded upon and reinforced in the Yakama language by elders through recollections, stories, songs and ceremonies. The Ichishkíin language, also called Sahaptin (Sahaptian, Plateau Penutian) is highly endangered, thus this documentation work will not be possible much longer. Products and results of the project include (i) a collection of audio and video recordings of narratives, procedural texts, interviews and conversations related to themes of resources and places that are transcribed, translated and archived; and an annotated subset; (ii) a database of the above recordings and associated analysis; (iii) a catalog of the natural resources of the Yakama Nation -- culturally significant plants, animals, fish, birds, and insects, with text in Ichiskíin and English, and associated recordings and photos; (iv) an archive of all recordings and products; (v) training of speech community members in audio and video recording, text transcription, and data management. The data collected will enrich not only the field of linguistics, but also that of natural and cultural resource identification, use and protection. Training will enhance the community's ability to continue documenting their language and cultural activities.