Tonight Congregation Beth Sholom in Anchorage, Alaska had a dinner and installation at services for our new rabbi, Michael Oblath. It was probably the first time a new rabbi has been welcomed in the Dena'ina lanaguage which is the language of the original inhabitants of the Anchorage area. He was welcomed by
- Regina Boisclair, Cardinal Newman Chair, at Alaska Pacific University,
- Jonathon Ross, President and CEO, Alaska Native Heritage Center (in Dena'ina language)
- Marla Greenstein, President of Congregation Beth Sholom
- Anchorage Mayor, Mark Begich
- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Personally I think hat is great that the Rabbi could and was welcomed in the native tongue of the area.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering is the native tongue a language that is dieing out or is it alive and well and in common use? I hope it is still common parlance.
As I understand it, there are still people whose first language is Dena'ina, but most are getting old. For a long period schools forbade the speaking of native languages I've heard stories from many people whose mouths had been washed out with soap by teachers for speaking their native language. The audio on this page doesn't give much more detail but seems to reinforce my sense of it. The page itself is about a summer language camp to learn Dena'ina. I think most of the Dena'ina area is on the road system. Languages like Yupik and Inuipiat have more speakers. Most of those people live off the road system. Like Wales where we went this summer. Even there, the kids seem to all have English as their first language.
ReplyDelete