Tashká’na,
First, thanks to Edwin Benson, Nu’eta elder in Twin Buttes, N.D., for working with our community and sharing his knowledge of the Nu’eta language, one of three languages spoken on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.
Indigenous languages are disappearing in the blink of an eye. Within the next decade, 70 Native languages in the United States are expected to disappear. Many of the remaining speakers are 70 years and older. As an enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, I am working with relatives in my community to learn and share the endangered Nu’eta language, the Twin Buttes community language on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. I will work with Cory Spotted Bear to make the language available to anyone who wants to learn. Spotted Bear is part of a master-apprentice language program, which allows him to work closely with Benson.
Here is the first audio clip where people can listen to Benson pronounce the Nu’eta word clips of the day. Benson is the last man alive born into Mandan as a first language. Here’s a news article I wrote about Edwin. He is 78 and lives in Twin Buttes. He is also a language teacher at the Twin Buttes Elementary School. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of North Dakota in May, an honor in recognition of his vast knowledge of Mandan culture, language and history.
A non-profit Mandan Language and Culture Resource Institute is being created to maintain and revitalize the Nu’eta language. A major goal of the institute will be to generate fluent speakers. Keep reading Buffalo’s Fire to learn how you can contribute to the institute.
Word of day: yes hu~
Thanks.
Jodi Rave
Edwin Benson, the last man alive born into Nu’eta as a first language.
Photo courtesy: Cory Spotted Bear.