A discussion on Blackfoot language rejuvenation

Chapter 19 recounts a January 2016 no-holds-barred down-to-Earth discussion between Neyooxet Greymorning, Robert Hall, and Sterling HolyWhiteMountain about Blackfoot language rejuvenation efforts on the Blackfoot reservation in Browning, Montana. The chapter reflects on the connection between language and culture and the experience of ceremony through Robert and Sterling’s perspectives on Blackfoot language, culture, and ceremony. Much of the chapter examines what the two viewed as necessary to rejuvenate the Blackfoot language and to keep it healthy. More specifically, it was pointed out that to rejuvenate a language requires a lot of work be done beyond what one might be paid to do. Another thing viewed as important was to shift language teachers and student learners and potential learners away from being apathetic.