Zapotec, Mixtec, Huave, Nahuatl and the other 12 indigenous languages of Oaxaca have fewer and fewer native speakers. As young people want to become part of the “mainstream” Spanish-speaking culture they leave their mother language and their culture behind — often out of the strong desire to assimilate.
And continuing education requires commitment, resources, and a lifting out of rural poverty. Oaxaca is the second poorest state in Mexico and one of the most rural.
Many villages have kindergartens and primary schools that offer bilingual education. For example, in Teotitlan del Valle the kindergarten teaches in both Zapotec and Spanish and encourages children to learn and speak Zapotec at home and as part of their everyday communication.
A new indigenous language center is opening in Oaxaca city supported by the Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation. The historic building that will house the center is under renovation now and I don’t know exactly when it will open.
The Center will preserve and teach indigenous languages in Oaxaca. Our friend Janet Chavez Santiago, who speaks fluent Zapotec, Spanish, English, French, and a smattering of other European languages, will coordinate the educational programs designed to inform the public about the importance and value of teaching language to sustain culture. She will also develop programs to bring in young people to study, learn, and enjoy the languages spoken by their parents and grandparents.
The British publication The Guardian published an essay on Wednesday, June 29, 2011, as part of a journalism competition entitled Lessons From Oaxaca: What stops children in rural areas going to school?
Here is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition/lessons-from-oaxaca
San Francisco State University Professor Troi Carleton is determined to save Zapotec, a language indigenous to Mexico — and to do it before it is lost to new generations transformed by technology and social change. “When a language dies, its culture dies, too,” Carleton said. For years, she has been bringing linguistics students to Teotitlan del Valle to live with families and record the language — an oral tradition that has not been written down. I’ll be talking to Troi more about her more recent work in upcoming posts.
FYI: The new indigenous language center will be next to the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, corner Hidalgo and Fiallo, two blocks from the Zocalo.
Witness for Peace in Oaxaca, Mexico: Advocates for Sustainable Agriculture and Immigration Reform
Wood-yoked oxen with traditional plow
Several days ago, I wrote that Stephen and I were planning to attend a Witness for Peace (WFP) presentation by a U.S. delegation that had just returned from Oaxaca. Nineteen people from across the U.S. ranging in age from 18 to 73 years old, teachers, artists, and advocates participated in this delegation.
We did attend and heard from Sharon Mujica, Jane Stein, David Young and Eduardo Lapetina who had spent a week in Oaxaca in June 2011 meeting with local community-based leaders, living in villages, and hearing about immigration, sustainable agriculture, economic development, and the impact of the drug wars. Their mission, as volunteers, was to learn as much as they could, immerse themselves in the culture, return to the U.S. and help raise awareness about issues facing Oaxacaquenos. The NC chapter of WFP started many years ago as the Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America when NAFTA was under consideration in the U.S. Congress.
Sharon Mujica has been part of the Latin American studies program at UNC Chapel Hill since the early 1990’s and lived in Mexico for 20 years. Jane Stein is one of the founding directors of CHICLE, an intensive language school in Carrboro, NC. David Young was a founding director of Visiting International Faculty (VIF) program that hires international teachers of English and places them in rural NC public schools. Eduardo Lapetina is an artist originally from Argentina.
Taking alfalfa to market
Here is a brief summary of what they discussed:
Plowing the milpas to plant corn, squash, beans
These are some of the local organizations the delegation visited to learn more about sustainable agriculture and indigenous human rights:
Delegation members stayed with families in homes and took their meals with them.
Shucking dried corn kernels for planting in the milpas
Witness for Peace (WFP) is a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. WFP’s mission is to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and corporate practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.
WFP has a field office in Oaxaca, Mexico, currently staffed by four team leaders. Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico with one of the largest indigenous populations in the country. Its rural population has been devastated by corn imported from the United States as a result of NAFTA. Many small farmers from Oaxaca have few options but migration. Learn about the complexities of this state and the movements being formed to make a better world possible!
Witness for Peace, 3628 12th Street NE. 1st Fl., Washington, DC 20017 – 202.547-6112 – 202.536.4708
Dried corn husks will wrap tamales
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Mexican Immigration, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Teotitlan del Valle, Travel & Tourism
Tagged agriculture, blogsherpa, genetically modified corn, human rights, immigration, industrial farming, Latin American studies, Mexico, NAFTA, Oaxaca, Witness for Peace