"I walk hand in hand with knowing the ways of my family and writing them down for those to come”
List of Illustrations
Map of Hunting, Fishing, and Food-Gathering Sites
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Culture That Made Me Who I Am Now / Inmí Tiinwít
Wapíitat
2. My Story / Inmí Ttáwax̠t
3. Life Circles / Wyá’uyt Waḵ’íshwit
4. Experiences and Reflections / Pina’ititámat Waḵ’íshwit
Conclusion / Wánaḵ’it
Appendix: Guidance for Academic Researchers
Ichishkíin–English Glossary
References
Index
Virginia Beavert is a member of the Yakama Nation and a native speaker of Sahaptin. She is a recipient of the Washington Governor’s Heritage Award and the Ken Hale Prize of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas. She is the coauthor of Ichishkíin Sinwit Yakama / Yakima Sahaptin Dictionary. Janne Underriner is the director of the Northwest Indian Language Institute at the University of Oregon. Virginia and Janne have been working together for the past twenty years.
Inspiring and informative. . . . Born in a bear cave in the Blue
Mountains of Oregon, raised in a traditional Indian-only speaking
household by parents who were shamans, and having served as an Air
Force wireless radio operator at a B-29 bomber base during the
Second World War, Beavert has spent her adult life tirelessly
retrieving, preserving, and sharing Sahaptin knowledge. . . . She
began working in her Native language at the age of 12 after meeting
linguist Melville Jacobs. Since then she has collaborated with some
of the most accomplished linguists and anthropologists. . . . Her
passion for and interest in the welfare of her younger readers
reverberates throughout every page of The Gift of Knowledge, in
which her stated purpose is to record the lifeways taught to her by
her family.
*Journal of the West*
A Colombia Plateau ethnographic study like no other, Beavert’s book
shows how her own life story is inextricably connected to the
plateau culture and language that she presents. . . . An
anthropological text rich in personal biographical detail, context,
and warm, vivid prose, this is a must-read for those interested in
Indigenous Studies, anthropology, history, and the Columbia
Plateau. . . . Adds very important contributions to the fields of
sociolinguistics, ethnography, Pacific Northwest history, and
cultural anthropology. . . . A shining example of intellectual
sovereignty.
*Oregon Historical Quarterly*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |