Language Documentation among the Unangan ( Aleut )

1. Language Documentation among the Unangan(Aleut) Anna Berge Alaska Native Language Center University of Alaska Fairbanks amberge@alaska.edu

2. Context • The Unangan (Aleut) territory: • The Aleutian Chain As a result of the Russian colonial period (18th-19th centuries) • The Commander Islands (off coast of Kamchatka) • The Pribilof Islands (off coast of Alaska) • Population: • Between 16 and 20,000 before the arrival of the Russians • Evidence of population crash before arrival of Russians, and of post-contact crash as well • About 3,000 by the end of the 18th • Stable at about 3,000 today

3. Alaska

4. The High Cliffs, St. George (Pribilofs)

5. The Village of St. Paul (Pribilofs)

6. Historical Background • (Pre)-history: • Archaeological evidence for a very long and stable residence on the islands • Linguistic evidence of genetic relationship with Eskimo languages • Evidence from various sources for complex relationship with Eskimo, neighboring Pacific Northwest Coast cultures, and other (mystery) groups • Society was stratified, maritime, and engaged in war • History: • Under Russian control (1750s-1869): changes in political structure, social structure, economy, and religion; some language contact effects • Strong identification with Russian Orthodox Church; literacy (1820s-présent) • Under American control (1869-now) • Forced relocation during WWII; lasting effects on social, political, and economic structures, education, and language use

7. Some Aspects of Unangax̂ Culture All photos downloaded from web

8. UnangamTunuu (Aleut) • Only member of the Aleut branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family • Dialects • Originally a chain of dialects, including those spoken in the far West (e.g. Attu), on the Rat Islands, on Atka, and in the East • Today: • Most speakers are on Atka, the Pribilof Islands, and in Anchorage • Attuan is effectively obsolete • Eastern, Medniy and Bering (Commander Islands) are almost obsolete • Severely endangered today • Fewer than 100 speakers, at all levels of fluency • Older speakers: (Atka = youngest speakers are in their 50’s in Atka; in their 70’s and older elsewhere)

9. State of Language Documentation • What has been done: • Traditional and religious texts, excellent grammar and dictionary, many original sound recordings, some language learning materials, some web-based materials • What needs to be done: • More of everything…go for breadth as well as depth • conversation, explanations, figurative language use, gender-based language studies, synchronic language change, etc.

10. State of Language Documentation • Access: • Raw data and descriptive materials (published and unpublished) housed in Alaska Native Language Archive and elsewhere • Materials are being digitized and made available via web (http://www.uaf.edu/anla/collections/aleut/) • Accessibility: • Most are inaccessible to community members without extensive training • Published materials are often for academic audience, and school materials are often not useful • Raw data is difficult to interpret

11. Issues in doing Language Documentation • Mismatch between what community wants and what linguist can offer • Community: • Language revitalization; language learning materials; language speakers; community-driven research • Linguists: • Documentation; description; linguistic expertise and consulting; training in language work (e.g. D&D, transcription and translation, recording, preservation…); access to products of linguistic research

12. Issues continued: Community Politics and Sensitivities • Generational differences • Elders: may be lonely, have different interests, needs, working dynamics, expectations, and levels of fluency • Middle: point of contact for linguists; protective of elders, activists, afraid of language loss, insecure • Young: struggle with identify, conflicting pressures of tradition/modernism, unclear buy-in to value of language and language work • There is often a mismatch between the generations in terms of expectations of linguist’s role and relationship with community

13. Issues continued: Community Politics and Sensitivities • Perceptions of Outsiders • Long-term effects of previous relationship(s) with outsiders • Long-term effects of previous research(ers) (e.g. publishing unvetted results, taking without giving) • Changing views of relationships and responsibilities between community members and representatives of various types of organizations/institutions (e.g. products, disclosure/IRB, control) • Changing needs of communities and researchers (e.g. revitalization vs. documentation, what constitutes documentation)

14. Issues continued: Community Politics and Sensitivities • Interfamily/Intertribal politics—tensions because of • who controls choice of standard/correct language form • who has acknowledged linguistic authority (among speakers) • who controls access to language (to speakers, to funds, to materials, to events) • who works/is allowed to work with linguists, revitalization programs, etc. • who is committed and who isn’t (results of surveys) • pressures to perform/to be perfect/to maintain tradition

15. Issues contined: Community Politics and Sensitivities • Language Sensitivities • importance of regional/village/family language variety • sensitivity to language change, fear of language shift, importance of tradition • role of language, and purpose of language work • changing expectations of methods of fieldwork, products of fieldwork, discourse between community and fieldworkers and greater scientific community in general

16. Issues continued: Effects of Linguistic Work • Long-term effects of Linguistic Work • Effects on community: choice of language variety, tolerance for language change, perception of role of language in community • Effects on individuals: what does training in documentation provide individual? How does community respond to trained individual? • Effects for future documentation work: image of fieldworker, level and type of contribution

17. Current Partnership Model • Documentation is a partnership between: • Communities – commitment, access to speakers, understanding, responsibility • Linguists – adequate documentation, accessibility to materials, training, responsiveness to community needs, participation • Pedagogues – teacher training, second language acquisition training, materials development, integration into curriculum • Archivists/Librarians – preservation and access • Large organizations/institutions • Funding agencies

18. Where does the individual fit in? ?

19. Where does the individual fit in? • It is still the case that most fieldwork is done by individuals • You are just going to be held accountable to more groups • Ethical approaches to fieldwork in the Aleutians as an individual • Be honest: find a way to do what you like, not what someone else imposes on you • Be creative: find a way to do what you like that also satisfies someone else’s needs • Be flexible: find different ways to do what you like • Be open: discuss issues; explain work; give results back to community; communicate, negotiate • Don’t isolate yourself

20. Qaĝaalakux̂ (Pribilofs)