EXAMINING A POLITICAL REALITY OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

In “Examining A Political Reality of Language and Culture, " the first chapter of Being Indigenous, Neyooxet Greymorning discusses the political importance of language and culture. After an introduction is made, a rendering of “his-story” begins by addressing the colonization of North America through the cultural lens of a Trickster tale. The story works to familiarize readers with how the independent political status of Indigenous peoples in North America was undermined and changed through political decisions, policies, and the Acts, or possibly antics of governments. Background information given is important in understanding how Indigenous peoples’ languages and cultures have been severely impacted by acts of suppression. The latter part of the story moves readers through a discussion of the uniqueness of Indigenous peoples’ languages as a definer of culture and its underlying knowledge base. The chapter further serves to provide an important function by setting a foundation for subsequent chapters that inform readers of the significance that culture, identity, and foremost language can play to keep the “Trickster” we now have before us at “bay.”.