ENGLISH-ONLY, PLEASE.

I mentioned in a previous post that English is my first language. English is my first language just as it is my mother's first language. Inupiaq is my grandparent's first language.

When I was little I didn't necessarily believe in magic. I did, however, wish for one thing. Whenever I heard our elders speaking to each other in Inupiaq I would wish that I could magically understand them, that I could speak Inupiaq fluently and communicate with my elders in our own language. Whenever I heard them speak, I would concentrate very hard at the Inupiaq words and wait for the moment when I would begin to understand...

My Aana (grandmother) attended a boarding school at White Mountain, where she spoke of being punished for speaking Inupiaq. She lamented, "Who would want to teach their children Inupiaq if they were going to be punished?"

Punishing students for speaking Inupiaq in the classroom didn't only take place at boarding schools. A coworker of mine shared with me today that when she first started going to school (in her village of Kobuk) she could only speak Inupiaq. When she was caught speaking Inupiaq in the classroom the teachers would slap her hands as a form of punishment.

We've come a long way since those days but the damage has been done. Four generations of English-only speakers is the damage dealt in my family. Personally, I've always felt ashamed that I couldn't speak or understand Inupiaq and that shame had hindered my desire to learn it. Until now.

I have made a wonderful Inupiaq friend with whom I can learn Inupiaq. Having a language buddy is empowering and encouraging and fun! I was a little timid at first to pronounce our Inupiaq words and sounds but with practice that initial embarrassment has all but disappeared. As my friend gently reminded me, we can't speak Inupiaq perfectly the first time. At the end of our first session, which lasted about three hours, my throat hurt from practicing Inupiaq sounds and my brain was tired but I felt satisfied and content. Yes, it hurt so good.

What's more, yesterday I went into our NANA Regional Corp. Aqqaluk Trust office and obtained my very own copy of Coastal Dialect Inupiaq by Rosetta Stone! All I had to do was show my NANA Shareholder ID and fill out a mini questionnaire. Thank you NANA and thank you technology. I am excited to see where my Inupiaq language adventures take me.