Years ago I learned a marvelous word:
autochthonous ( a-ta-k-thon-nos). The way I first learned it was that the words in Greek meant "self from the soil" or "originating from this soil". In most of the online dictionaries I've found they just list the more Anglicized definitions of native or indigenous, yet I think the actual meaning of the Greek words have a special feeling to them.
autochthonous (not comparable)
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/autochthonous
- Native to the place where found; indigenous. [quotations ▼]
- (biology, medicine) Originating where found.
- (geology) Buried in place, especially of a fossil preserved in its life position without disturbance or disarticulation.
What do you think? Once enough people could pronounce and remember the word, we could flip certain conversations with it and the underlying concepts.
You might have to pronounce this for me later because I can't seem to get it right (I don't think anyway). "Native to the place where found; indigenous" stands out the most to me I guess because Native American's have it in their name. I'm not sure why I find this so interesting honestly but I do. Native American's valued the earth because it had allowed them to live on it and with it. They were/are extremely close to the soil and its part of their culture to pay their respect to the soil and other parts of the world. This word applies to them very well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the middle part of it, the "chth" is not a familiar sound many for American English speakers. Remind me in class about the pronounciation and I will go over it. It is just one of those words that even though I have known it for years, if I haven't used it in a while it takes me a few tries to get it out smoothly.
ReplyDeleteThe more I spend time in Tulalip, the more I realize it doesn't always make sense to use the term "Native Americans", especially if the way you are using it implies there is or ever was a unified or homogenous entity amongst the various autochthonous peoples of this continent. I know the whole word choice thing can feel like a minefield, and it is one I still don't know how to always figure out.
Another thing, which you picked up in your second to last sentence, is putting Native people or cultures in the past tense. Have you come across any research on "The Myth of the Vanishing Race" or the "Vanishing Race Myth"? I can't remember if we've talked about this yet in class, yet read up on it. If the info on the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project website was an eye opener, read up on the Vanishing Race Myth and tell me what you think.
Hopefully some of the students from NWIC and/or Tulalip Reads for Unity members will chime in and let us know first hand what they think.
Alright, sure I'll look that up but you should definitely talk about it in class too because you haven't mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteAre they coming to class this week?