Indigenous Thinkers

By Corey BinnsSpecial to LiveScienceposted: 11 August 200602:01 pm http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060811_language_diversity.html

 The ears of linguists, anthropologists, and conservationists perked upwith the recent announcement that the federal government will continueto support the digital documentation of languages on the brink ofextinction. 

More than half of the world's 7,000 languages are endangered[1]; manyface extinction in the next century. 

Interestingly, the projects funded by the National Endowment for theHumanities (NEH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) could savemore than just a few mother tongues. It might also protect plants andanimals[2]. 

TALK ABOUT DIVERSITY! 

When the nonprofit organization Terralingua mapped the distribution oflanguages against a map of the world's biodiversity[3], it found thatthe places with the highest concentration of plants and animals[4],such as the Amazon Basin and the island of New Guinea, were also wherepeople spoke the most languages. 

As well as serving as indicators of biodiversity, languages also act asgood signs of cultural diversity and a group's understanding ofsurrounding environments, because people store communal knowledge intheir language. 

"Wherever humans exist, they have established a strong relationship withthe land, and with the biodiversity that exists there," saidanthropologist and Terralingua President Luisa Maffi. "They havedeveloped a deep knowledge of the plants and animals, the localecology, as well as a knowledge about how to use and manage theresources to ensure continued sustenance of biodiversity." 

Languages hold valuable knowledge about how to preserve biodiversity. Native languages have many names for plants that describe how and wherethey grow, as well as their medicinal uses. But the meanings often donot survive translation from one language to another. "If you've learned something about a plant from a speaker of an indigenous language, but you don't use the language, it's harder topass on that knowledge," said linguist Pamela Munro of UCLA. 

DESTABILIZING A FOREST 

As one example, members of the Native American group called the Sekanipracticed controlled burning of the forests of British Columbia toregenerate the forest and keep the understory clear for game animals.Their methods also kept the mountain pine beetle pest at bay. 

A small pox epidemic decimated the indigenous people and the timberindustry took over the management of the forests, putting a stop to thecontrolled burns. 

Since the 1990's, without the regular burnings, the beetle's outbreakhas destroyed more than 7 million acres of forest. 

"The forests have been made unusable because the native populations havenot been allowed to continue those practices," Maffi said. "Ultimatelytheir communities will have to disperse, which will lead to a loss ofcultural and linguistic diversity." 

ANCIENT RESPECT FOR FISH 

In Thailand, new protective measures are observing an age-old respect for one of the world's largest freshwater fish by following ancient fishing practices. 

The Mekong giant catfish[5], called the "king of fish" in Cambodian, can grow to more than 10 feet in length and has a regal history. 

Cave paintings in Thailand dating back 3,500 years illustrate the Mekonggiant catfish's long-lived importance. Traditional fishermen in thenortheast of Thailand have historically believed that they should notcatch the fish. If they do, they hold a religious ceremony to ward offbad luck, burning an image of the fish. 

This summer, in celebration of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, fishermenin Thailand and Laos took an oath to abide by these ancestral fishingtaboos to avoid fishing the critically endangered beast. The fish isalso legally protected in Cambodia. 

By following tradition, the fishermen may save the catfish from beingthe first extinct casualty in the Mekong River, a diverse habitat thatis home to more than 1,200 species. 

SAVING THE SALMON 

Similarly, in Washington State, time-honored lessons are being heard. 

Generations of the Tulalip and Yakima tribes and other Native Americangroups have relied on Pacific salmon[6] as a key resource; they alsovalue the fish very highly and harvest with forethought. 

"They treat salmon with respect so that the fish return every year,"said ethnobiologist Eugene Hunn of the University of Washington. 

The tribes hold annual salmon ceremonies to honor the fish. The firstcatch of the season is celebrated with singing, dancing, and thepassing of salmon tales from generation to generation. 

Yet commercial fishing has led to drastic reductions in salmonpopulations?some species face endangerment. 

Since a 1974 decision upheld the Indian's rights to harvest fish, thetribes and the Washington Department of Fisheries have collaborated tomaintain a healthy population of Pacific salmon that will return tospawn in the Columbia River and east of the Cascade Mountains. 

"Salmon is sacred to them not just as a matter of maximizing profit,"Hunn told LiveScience. "To preserve a resource for the people of your community for the future without end imposes a different attitude toward the fish. Now, these attitudes have become more widely recognized." 

Links:------

[1] http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2006/07/10/half-of-all-languages-headed-for-extinction/

[2] http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/top10_species_success.html

[3] http://www.livescience.com/environment/041117_species_threatened.html

[4] http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060306_extinct_list.html

[5] http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ap_050615_catfish.html

[6] http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050414_salmon.html