Photo credit: anyjazz65 via flickr<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ONOUq4P0ntU” admin_label=”YouTube Video” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text: Video Teaser” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”16px” custom_padding=”2px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Nancy Barnes is revitalizing her Tsimshian language, Sm\u2019algya\u0331x, and during the pandemic her group of language learners more than doubled. Lyndsey Brollini reports. <\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”6px||3px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”3px||6px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”HERO IMAGE OPTION 1: Background image: DELETE IF NOT NEEDED” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/lyndsey_emily.gif” background_blend=”multiply” custom_margin=”-2px|||||” custom_padding=”12%||39.4%|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.10″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”6px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”3px||6px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Illustrator credit” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Illustration by Emily Whang<\/em><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” custom_padding=”7px||35px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”9px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_post_title date=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” admin_label=”Post Title” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” title_level=”h3″ title_font=”Oswald||||||||” title_font_size=”42px” title_letter_spacing=”2px” title_line_height=”1.2em” meta_text_color=”#04a3e3″ meta_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||12px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 1″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
With a Christmas tree lighting up her dark apartment, Nancy Barnes logs in to join her advanced Tsimshian language class. She\u2019s the first one there, even before the instructor Donna May Roberts.<\/span><\/p>\nWith university class Mondays and Wednesdays, Tsimshian lullabies on Sundays and Tsimshian games on Fridays, Barnes is learning the Tsimshian language, Sm\u2019algya\u0331x, almost every day of the week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLearning Sm\u2019algya\u0331x has helped Barnes through the pandemic. It keeps her busy so she doesn\u2019t dwell on the rate of COVID-19 infections in Alaska, one of the highest in the U.S.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_audio audio=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/NextGen_Lyndsey_Nancy11032021_Mixed.mp3″ title=”How learning an Indigenous language leads to healing” artist_name=”Lyndsey Brollini ” album_name=”Next Generation Radio: Indigenous | November 2021″ admin_label=”Story Audio” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(0,174,239,0.84)” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.12.0″ custom_padding=”3px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/LYNDSEY-02.jpg” alt=”\u00d2The American dream is not my Indigenous dream. It’s so different than that,\u00d3 Jolie Varela said. \u00d2As an Indigenous woman, I would like to see our ceremonies restored, our traditions restored, our homelands restored, and our land back. When people come from other places and they come in the name of this American dream or in pursuit of this American dream, I don’t think they realize how that American dream erases Indigenous people, and further infringes upon our rights as Native people.\u00d3 (Photo by Jarrette Werk)” title_text=”LYNDSEY-02″ url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9saW5rX3VybF9hdHRhY2htZW50Iiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsicG9zdF9pZCI6Ijg2OCJ9fQ==@” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image 1″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _dynamic_attributes=”url” custom_margin=”||8px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Nancy Barnes logs in to her advanced Sm\u2019algya\u0331x class taught by Donna May Roberts at the University of Alaska Southeast on November 1, 2021. (Photo by Lyndsey Brollini)<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 2″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has saved me in a way that it’s just filled my heart,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it keeps me feeling grounded, is the best way that I could explain it. I’ve heard other language learners say the same thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBarnes was lucky. She grew up hearing her grandmother, Clara Ridley, speak\u00a0 Sm\u2019algya\u0331x. Ridley taught her a few phrases, but Barnes didn\u2019t start learning the Tsimshian language herself until 2003. That year, Sm\u2019algya\u0331x teacher Donna May Roberts came to Juneau, Alaska to host a language intensive program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThat spurred Barnes to start learning her language, but she wasn\u2019t practicing regularly. Back then, a small group of people would meet in Barnes\u2019 apartment every other week or once a month.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/LYNDSEY-04.jpg” alt=”\u00d2The American dream is not my Indigenous dream. It’s so different than that,\u00d3 Jolie Varela said. \u00d2As an Indigenous woman, I would like to see our ceremonies restored, our traditions restored, our homelands restored, and our land back. When people come from other places and they come in the name of this American dream or in pursuit of this American dream, I don’t think they realize how that American dream erases Indigenous people, and further infringes upon our rights as Native people.\u00d3 (Photo by Jarrette Werk)” title_text=”Hero_FPO” url=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/LYNDSEY-04.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image 2″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ custom_margin=”||9px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Nancy Barnes at her workplace, the Sealaska Heritage Institute. She\u2019s standing beside a house front carved and painted by David A. Boxley and David R. Boxley. (Photo by Lyndsey Brollini)<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 2″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
In 2015, another Sm\u2019algya\u0331x teacher David A. Boxley visited Juneau and asked Barnes if she thought anyone locally would be interested in a language intensive program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought … maybe we’ll get six people that I could get at my place,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cWe ended up having\u2026 I’m gonna say 30 people. It was too many people for my little apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few months after the program, Boxley returned to Juneau and wanted to hold another language session. The Sm\u2019algya\u0331x learners realized that in a few short months they had forgotten so much. So they formed a group to use the language every Saturday. They almost never cancel a class, even as the pandemic moved everyone online.<\/p>\n
In fact, the Juneau Sm\u2019algya\u0331x learners group grew twice as big, and spans beyond the borders of Juneau to British Columbia, Anchorage, Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Washington state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe group got larger, and I would say stronger, because all of a sudden we had all this time,\u201d Barnes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/LYNDSEY-01.jpg” title_text=”LYNDSEY-01″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”4px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-6px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Juneau, Alaska on Oct. 4, 2021. (Photo by Lyndsey Brollini)<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”8px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 4a” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Even with years of lessons behind her, Barnes still sees herself as a toddler in the language. Through the years, though, she has learned enough to develop a new worldview.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYou see things a little bit different. You know, the words are so descriptive,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cAnd it seems like every week when we’re doing our Saturday class, I have a lot of those \u2018aha\u2019 moments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe Tsimshian language is critically endangered, like many Indigenous languages in the U.S. There are just a handful of speakers in Alaska, but there are more in Canada.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnother reason I think we’re so passionate about this, doing language, is because we know we’re in a crisis situation\u201d said Barnes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn the past few years, fluent speakers have died. Barnes equates the loss of a fluent Sm\u2019algya\u0331x speaker to losing a library of knowledge about her language and culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn 2003 when Donna May Roberts came to Juneau for a language intensive program, she gave a speech to the learners about the state of Sm\u2019algya\u0331x. She said that there were only about 30 speakers left in Alaska.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd I remember feeling that sense of \u2018Oh my gosh, we got to keep this up,\u2019\u201d Barnes said. \u201cI would love to have 30 speakers in Alaska right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nFor those that died during the pandemic, Barnes said she has not been able to properly mourn these losses either. The first thing she wants to do when someone in her community dies is to gather with them. But she can\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI haven’t been able to have the final farewells and comforting those family members and good friends. So that’s really hard,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cI’ve been to a couple of Zoom memorials. And it’s good that we did that. But it\u2019s just not the same as being there in person. But what are we gonna do? We have to keep everybody safe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nNormally, when someone dies, the family of the deceased hosts a party and invites other clans as guests \u2014 there are lots of people, food and dancing. It is also when clans give out Tsimshian names to people. It is similar with the other tribes of Southeast Alaska, Haida and Tlingit too.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 4a” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/LYNDSEY-03.jpg” alt=”\u00d2The American dream is not my Indigenous dream. It’s so different than that,\u00d3 Jolie Varela said. \u00d2As an Indigenous woman, I would like to see our ceremonies restored, our traditions restored, our homelands restored, and our land back. When people come from other places and they come in the name of this American dream or in pursuit of this American dream, I don’t think they realize how that American dream erases Indigenous people, and further infringes upon our rights as Native people.\u00d3 (Photo by Jarrette Werk)” title_text=”Hero_FPO” url=”https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/11\/LYNDSEY-04.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image 3″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ custom_margin=”||10px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Nancy Barnes sings the Tsimshian Happy Song at the boardwalk in downtown Juneau, Alaska on Nov. 3, 2021. Barnes composed the song herself and she sings it often in her dance group Ye\u0301es K\u0331u.oo. (Photo by Lyndsey Brollini.) <\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 4a” _builder_version=”4.12.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
There have been a few ceremonies, either small or over Zoom during the pandemic, but to Barnes, they are no substitute for in person gatherings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI think that when this [the pandemic] is over, I’m thinking you’re going to just see parties galore,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cTraditional parties and memorials and gatherings and I think we’ll just go crazy with dancing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDespite all the loss experienced during the pandemic, Barnes still has hope. Even though gatherings are not happening, Native people have found ways to continue practicing culture and language. To Barnes, it shows how adaptive and resilient her ancestors were.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd that’s what I keep saying,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cOkay, we can’t do exactly what we’ve been doing, but how do we get around it? And so I think it’s made us stronger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the time of COVID-19 We are finding, coaching and training public media\u2019s next generation. This #nprnextgenradio project is created in in Oklahoma, where five talented early-career journalists are participating in a week-long state-of-the-art training program. In this project is a set of audio and digital stories highlighting the experiences of people whose lives have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":924,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"coauthors":[31],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naja-nextgen2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}