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Tennessee is the Original Homeland of Many Tribes. This page contains instructional and learning material regarding languages and other cultural continuance & preservation.
 
Language information, instruction and links to learning languages is presented to further the development of the Tennessee Indian community. The Cherokee Language is not the only language spoken by Tennessee Indians, and more resources on those other languages will be presented here on this site.  Check back often for new additions to this page.
 
Notice/Warning
TAIDA is dedicated to the furtherance of authentic and traditional information, resources and Links to sites. All sites linked to by TAIDA are authentic sites, however, once you get to those sites, you may be directed to other links that might not be as "authentic" or "traditional" as what TAIDA supports. Please be warned that when you go to various links from sites on the web, you do so at your own discretion.

Official Choctaw Nation Language Site Chata Anunpa Internet Classes

Click Here for Native American Indian Languages Information & Resources

Click Here for Cherokee Publications, Info and Much more from Cherokee, N. C. Site, Great Link

Click Here to View Cherokee Syllabary and Hear Sounds

Click Here to Translate an English Word Into Cherokee and to view a Cherokee Dictionary

Link to article below. More articles and information on languages and cultures follow this one. Scroll down to view more information.
 
 
This is a great proposal that talks about how we can make use of modern technology to help our Indian communities develop today. The internet is a great tool that can be used to link up families and learners all across Indian Country. It is about learning today and maintaining and regaining our sovereignty as a People by continuing our cultures.
 

The Seventh Generation Community (7GC) Initiative;

A Concept Paper for Native American Electronic Sovereignty

 


 

Many tribes share the prophesy

that the seventh generation

will lead a new day of sovereignty.

That day has come,

brought by an electronic wind

of new possibilities...

 



 
Contents

 

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

METHODOLOGY

THE SEVEN PROJECTS WILL BE:

   
1. CLEARINGHOUSE
    
2. A COMMON MEETING PLACE
         
THE MINI-GRANTS COMMUNITY NETWORK INCUBATOR PROGRAM

    
3. TEACHER TRAINING IN INSTRUCTIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
         
TEACHER INSERVICE TO DISPEL STEREOTYPES

    
4. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
         
INTERGENERATIONAL MENTORING COMMUNITY

    
5. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PROBLEM-SOLVING
    
6. INSTRUCTIONAL ENTREPRENEURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
    
7. WIRELESS MOBILE CLASSROOMS
CONCLUSION

PARTNERS

 




    ABSTRACT

    The 7GC initiative begins by bringing together a mainstream university known for a decade of rural connectivity innovations; Western Montana College of The University of Montana, and one of the most
progressive tribal colleges in the country; Salish Kootenai College.

    Seven main projects will be conducted simultaneously to create economies of scale and high visibility as a sophisticated collaborativemodel. This partnership will grow quickly by inviting additional tribes who
wish to participate in this collaborative effort to jointly learn about the needs for diversity of the telecommunications 'innovations diffusion' process necessary to be successful in their culture and across cultures.

    A minigrants program and clearinghouse of existing projects will assurethis initiative builds on existing projects, resources and expertise and avoids duplication.

    Five million dollars, over five years, will be required for this project to be successful.

    BACKGROUND

    The Congressional Office of Technology (OTA) report, "Making Government Work; Electronic Delivery of Federal Services" correctly states "The diversity of applications required for a successful National Information Infrastructure can only come from the citizens themselves."

    This is doubly true regarding Native American applications, due to cultural and economic issues, and is the core goal of this project. The need is to discover which instructional and process elements translate well across cultures, and which do not. This focus relates directly to the challenges faced by rural communities, nationally and internationally.
 

    This OTA report specifically suggests federal minigrant set-asides to generate innovative applications of networking; hence this initiative hosts a minigrants model inspired by this report. Canada has adopted this model and is supporting 1,500 minigrants for rural communities.

    The nation's 540+ tribes need a culturally relevant way to understand what it will take to realize the benefits of Internet access, noting that basic access is initially the key issue for most tribes. Process elements incorporating 'Active Learning Theory' and the 'Experiential Learning Cycle' must be tested to create a 'Teaching and Learning Model' approach which can be properly adapted for indigenous people, globally.

    The Internet's multimedia teaching and learning potential for Native Americans can mean;
 

    1. Self-directed lifelong learning

    2. Enhanced access to extended family members and those

    within the local community, including peer mentoring in a social familial model.

    3. Self-publishing globally for cultural expression and entrepreneurship,

    specifically through teaching these skills to other indigenous peoples.

    4. Enhanced participation in the democratic process, and self-determination

    in a rapidly changing, increasingly technological world.


    METHODOLOGY:

    The Seventh Generation Community Initiative must be a long term project, and large enough in scale to warrant national attention in order to attract significant partners from all sectors. This grand alliance will include the following seven integrated projects, designed to produce results, particularly anecdotal evidences of success, both in the short term and on an ongoing basis.

    A authentic assessment model (collaborative constructivism) will be created through which Native Americans will themselves evaluate the potential of Internet multimedia tools for instruction and community-building with the intent to teach other Native Americans what they've found most effective;
explicitly exploring the entrepreneurial potential of offering similar instructional services to indigenous peoples worldwide.

    The 7GC will create the capability to demonstrate how the Native American concept of extended family can join with the collaborative potential of the Internet to meet their shared needs by creating a peer "open learning community" with an intergenerational emphasis lead by K-16 youth.

    Conducting multiple projects at once will create economies of scale, and will allow for participation of multiple tribes simultaneously demonstrating diverse applications of online training, coordination, and innovation. The high visibility of this initiative will be sustained as a key component required for success.

    THE SEVEN PROJECTS WILL BE:
 

    1. CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ONGOING AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT AND DISSEMINATION

of the culturally appropriate benefits of existing and emerging collaborative tools gained through direct experience themselves or by other Native Americans.

 

   Storytelling via multiple mediums will be ongoing, with emphasis on video, as the means of choice for helping non-technical tribal leaders conceptualize the potential for their own tribes. A series of CDROM's will be created for instructional purposes, particularly for those without Internet access. These CDROM's will include the main contents of the clearinghouse, with emphasis on clarification of the options for Internet access for those not yet connected.

 

    Through authentic peer assessment of the collaborative and educational potential of Internet multimedia technologies, a clearinghouse of best practices will result as a service to all tribes, nationally. This clearinghouse will assure that the 7GC builds on existing resources, projects, and expertise to avoid duplication.


    2. A COMMON MEETING PLACE ON THE INTERNET WILL BE CREATED
to provide direct experience as to how other Native Americans are effectively using collaborative Internet tools and realizing the empowering capabilities of online learning communities.

   This state-of-the-art Internet Community Network will be created with direct technical support from multiple technology partners to allow tribal members to preview the best collaborative tools available and directly implement community innovations of their own through a centralized "Explorations Incubator" mini-grants program.

   THE MINI-GRANTS COMMUNITY NETWORK INCUBATOR PROGRAM will offer tribes the opportunity to initiate their own explorative innovations using software available on the central system. Grant-writing and policy awareness assistance is fundamental and must be readily available because expertise is not uniformly available for all tribes. Physical relocation locally of these new community networks will be an option if the additional costs can be met.
 

    3. TEACHER TRAINING IN INSTRUCTIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS

WMC/UM and SKC have already agreed to work together to bring an elementary education teacher-training program to SKC, where students representing 23 tribes are enrolled. A model program to create more Native American teachers will be created with emphasis on teaching the best teaching and learning technologies  available. Due to the accelerating rate of software and hardware product cycles, tomorrow's technology must be taught today if teachers are to have the necessary skills once they graduate.


 TEACHER INSERVICE TO DISPEL STEREOTYPES 
   Cultural and historical Internet multimedia courses for recertification credit will be created by Native Americans as a means of educating non-indian teachers how they can avoid perpetuating racial stereotypes. Courses on Native American language utilizing the Internet's ability to deliver audio via web pages will be created. These courses will begin an entrepreneurial model of offering authentic histories and authentic cultural learning globally.


    4. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS;
    EVERYONE BOTH LEARNER AND TEACHER

will provide an ongoing intergenerational online support model, in an informal 'train the trainers' format, to help meet the need for local face-to-face assistance by individuals able to socially encourage the exploration process and personally train tribal members in a culturally relevant manner. It must be acknowledged that Native American youth are often the most effective societal change agents regarding use of the Internet.

  

   THIS INTERGENERATIONAL MENTORING COMMUNITY OF EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT for Native American teaching and learning will emphasize expanding the number of Native Americans able to teach via the Internet. Internet Multimedia course creation skills will be taught while exploring the potential for international entrepreneurial delivery via Internet.

 

    Courses on use of technology for self-empowerment, self-directed lifelong learning, community building, and electronic democracy will be created and offered internationally to other indigenous groups.

  

    5. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PROBLEM-SOLVING

    K12 students will evaluate multiple collaborative technologies, in partnership with their communities, to validate their potential benefits for community problem-solving, access to extended family, and mentoring effectiveness via remote educational support in partnership with ATT Research and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. A problem-solving methodology based on a successful three year pilot project recently conducted with three tribes will be adapted to include communications technologies.


    6. INSTRUCTIONAL ENTREPRENEURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
    A Professional Guide Institute is already under development at WMC/UM to increase the quality of wilderness outfitter programs and environmental practices. Ecotourism, and similar educational experiences, combined with traditional outfitting, hold great promise in the world's number one growth industry; tourism. K12 youth will be involved with environmental monitoring using current technologies through existing K12 math and science curriculum programs, recognizing their historical role as stewards of these natural resources. Cultural and historical online courses will be created as a core activity of this program.

  

    7. WIRELESS MOBILE CLASSROOMS

    Mobile wireless classrooms, using laptops, have already been successfully demonstrated in Montana as a portable training computer lab. This mobile classroom would provide on-site training along with awareness presentations sharing how other tribes are benefiting from innovative uses of collaborative technologies.

    Loaner laptops will be needed to link selected resource persons and mentors where connectivity and equipment is not yet available.

    The need exists to thoroughly address the inherent benefits wireless technologies offers to remote tribes. Successful, replicable wireless models need to be thoroughly explored and the results widely disseminated through on-site demonstrations. Ex. Galena, Alaska, is the first remote Alaskan village to receive two-way Internet via satellite, but wireless technologies are necessary to bring Internet into their homes.

    CONCLUSION

    Within ten years, inexpensive laptops and emerging satellite technologies will allow high-speed two-way Internet connectivity from any point on the globe. More specifically, 15,000 cultures will soon have the potential for access. Who and what they will find waiting for them is the purpose of this timely, necessary, doable, Seventh Generation Community Initiative.

    PARTNERS

    Western Montana College of the University of Montana (WMC/UM) and the Salish Kootenai Tribal College (SKC) have the breadth of quality partners, and the cultural expertise, to be successful in realizing the full potential of the Seventh Generation Community Initiative; on a sustainable basis.
 

    This project represents the cumulative expertise and vision of ten years of innovations by the Big Sky Telegraph (BST) network, cited for excellence by four Congressional OTA reports and the White House. The full range of contacts from the BST project will be leveraged in support of this timely project.

 

    ATT Research is already working with Western Montana College and is planning to involve the Salish Kootenai College in a project exploring the use of object-oriented collaborative environments to create sustained community interaction.

 

    The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) is planning to work with Western Montana College and the Salish Kootenai College to research use of visual collaborative environments for K-100 education and community building.

    USAID and UNESCO have expressed specific interest in this project in regards to their multiple initiatives for international educational and community networking with indigenous peoples. The potential exists for Native Americans to deliver online instruction to indigenous peoples as an instructional entrepreneurial activity.

    Dr. Janet Poley, president of A*DEC, (Agricultural Distance Education Consortium), with experience working in 25 countries, will serve as a key advisor.

    The emerging Association for Community Networking will provide consulting and organizational support for the incubator component.
 

Back to the table of contents...

 

More Good Info on Native American Languages http://www.native-languages.org/iaq.htm

Setting the Record Straight

(Infrequently Asked Questions)

There is a lot of very good information about native peoples of America and their languages out there on the Internet. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of garbage. Some of it poses as scholarship.

We have strived to include links to as much useful information as possible on our website. However, we are trying to present a correct resource here. Though we have linked to websites which take different positions on legitimate disagreements of theory or history (Was Michigamean a Siouan language? Did Pocahontas really save John Smith's life?), we have not linked to anything we know is substantially incorrect, nor to claims which are unsupported by any fact.

Instead, we would like to correct some of the myths, mistakes, and just plain made-up stories of the Internet on this page.

1. Aren't all Amerindian languages related?
2. These 'languages' are really dialects, right?
3. Are Amerindian languages related to Mongolian?
4. Are Amerindian languages descended from Hebrew, Ancient Egyptian, or Scandinavian languages?
5. Are Micmac, Cree, or Mayan hieroglyphics descended from Egyptian hieroglyphics?
6. Were Micmac, Cree, or other Amerindian writing systems invented by European missionaries?
7. What about Cherokee?
8. Why is the word "squaw" so offensive? Does it mean woman, prostitute, or vagina?
9. Why do Indians in the movies say "How"? Is this a real Native American word, or a Hollywood thing?
10. Somebody I know serves in the army and says that "Opahey" is Cherokee for "This is a good day to die." Is that true?
11. Does the Sioux word for white people, "wasicu," really mean "steals the fat"?
12. Is "Namaste" really a Native American word? How about "shaman"?
13. Why do people shout 'Geronimo!' when they jump off something high? Is there a real Apache origin to this?
14. You said a language I was looking at was undergoing "language revival." I thought it was impossible to revive a language once it was dead.
15. If American Indian kids are raised with their traditional languages, will it disadvantage them by making them speak English more poorly?
16. Are Amerindian languages simpler and more primitive than European languages?
17. Is it true that Amerindian languages have no word for time, love, honesty, etcetera?
18. Do Amerindian languages come from outer space, the spirit world, or the lost island of Atlantis?
19. Is it true that all Amerindian languages [insert verb phrase here]?
20. How did Indians get to the Americas?
21. Is it possible they migrated to America recently, like 700 or 1000 years ago?
22. If Native Americans migrated from Asia, then they're not really 'Native' at all, right?
23. Are Native Americans a lost tribe of Israel, Ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, or any other people mentioned in the Bible?
24. Did a lost tribe of Israel sail to America and join the Indians, maybe?
25. But aren't there special similarities between Aztec/Mayan culture and ancient Middle Eastern cultures, such as hieroglyphs, pyramids, symbology, traditional religions, and ethical laws like the Ten Commandments?
26. Did Viking explorers settle in the Americas? Did Native Americans descend from them?
27. Is interbreeding with Vikings or lost Israelites why some tribes are lighter-skinned than others?
28. I heard that there was a tribe called the "blue-eyed Indians" because Norse or Celtic explorers intermarried with them. Is that true?
29. I heard that a Welsh prince founded the Mandan Indian tribe and that they even speak Welsh today. What about that?
30. Did the Blackfoot Indians ever live in the South (Georgia, Virginia, the Carolinas, etc.)?
31. Did Native Americans come from outer space?
32. Did aliens build various Native American monuments? If not, then how did Indians build things that relied on advanced astronomical knowledge, why did they build things that made patterns visible from the sky, and why did the natives of Mexico and Guatemala build monuments that were so much more impressive than things in North or South America?
33. Why do people believe these things?
34. Who invented scalping? My history book says it was the Indians but the tribe who lives near me says the colonists used to scalp them.
35. Were Native Americans cannibals?
36. Did Native Americans really kidnap white children?
37. Hey! You called Battle X a massacre or Massacre Y a battle! Are you a politically correct panderer/a Nazi?
38. Isn't it true that before Europeans got here Native Americans never polluted, wasted anything, killed women or children, and they never invented child abuse, rape, or slavery?
39. Who was more civilized, the Europeans or the Native Americans?
40. By the way, is it "Native Americans," "American Indians," or what?



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