Wukchumni Class
Roles: Editor, Location Sound Mixer
Awards: 2020 Webby Award Winner, Best Editorial Feature
There was once more linguistic variety in California than there is in all of Europe combined. That was before a cultural genocide. Starting in the 1880s, the United States government forced a generation of Native American children into boarding schools. They were told to forget their way of life and learn English. An array of different languages from a number of different language families were being threatened. Today, many dialects have only a handful of fluent speakers remaining. Some have none.
Language Keepers is a six-part multimedia experience that tells the story of native peoples that refuse to let go of their language. Through leading classes, immersing children in the language, and documenting the language for future learners, these four California tribes are joining a movement of native peoples making sure the songs, stories, and ceremonies of their people are not lost.
Marie Wilcox longed to speak the Wukchumni language with her family again, just as she heard it with her mother as a child. This drove her to compile a list of all the words and phrases she could remember and create the Wukchumni dictionary. Her dictionary has become the foundational resource for classes that she and her daughter, Jennifer Malone, teach at the local community center. Marie’s great-granddaughter, Destiny, regularly attends the class. This has fulfilled her dream of hearing her grandchildren and great-children speaking the Wukchumni language, bringing back all the memories of hearing and speaking her language as a child.
Note : This is just one small piece of a multi-chapter online experience. View the entire Language Keepers story on Emergence Magazine.