by Kierstin Wagner, UW-Milwaukee SOIS
This semester, I have had the pleasure of working with the Hoocąk Waaziija Haci Language Division (Ho-Chunk Nation) to organize, preserve, and provide access to decades of invaluable language-learning materials. My work with the language collections spanned three phases. The first phase involved inventorying and organizing the materials. Since 2017, these materials have been the focus of many projects under different project leaders across several locations. I interviewed previous and current staff as well as graduate student workers to build a project history. Using this context, I reorganized the analog and digital resources under a cohesive system.
Reorganizing the physical materials was a critical first step in this project, as many items had been misplaced over time.
Once the materials were organized, I began the second phase of the project: digitization. I digitized any items that had been missed in previous projects, including texts, audiocassettes, and VHS tapes. In the final phase of the project, I uploaded language-learning materials to Mukurtu. This content management system is designed for Indigenous communities and can be customized to suit local values and needs. Mukurtu incorporates features that uphold sovereignty, such as access protocols, Traditional Knowledge (TK) labels, and community records.
Samson Falcon and Kierstin Wagner, posing in front of the audiovisual collection.
This was one of many digitization workstations I constructed. On this day, I digitized VHS recordings on the laptop while inventorying discs on the computer.
The Language Division maintains a rich collection of diverse formats, including curricula, illustrated children’s stories, coloring books, open-reel recordings, and YouTube videos. Access to these materials is a critical issue for the community, as fewer than 40 “eminent speakers” of the Hoocąk language remain. The language is an inextricable part of the culture, such that the word Ho-Chunk itself translates to “People of the Sacred Voice.” The Language Division is dedicated to preserving Hoocąk for future generations. The following are excerpts from a larger interview with Hiwicožų (Samson) Falcon, linguist for the Language Division and my site supervisor. We discussed Samson’s experiences working for the Language Division and future goals for the language collections.
[Excerpts from interview]
Kierstin: What brought you to the Language Division?
Samson: The language brought me here, but not only that: being able to share it. For those people who might just be walking aimlessly—the Ho-Chunk people that are not really involved. Getting these materials together and making it more accessible to them. Because there are 7,800 Ho-Chunk people, and under thirty are first-language speakers, and their ages are 70 and over. So, after they’re gone, we have individuals like me. I’ll call myself a second-language learner, even though I grew up around it.
Kierstin: Why is the Hoocąk language so important to preserve?
Samson: I think preserve is a good word and we’re getting into those stages now. We don’t have a lot of first-language speakers, and we have very few people who are practicing speaking the language. So, preservation is a high priority as of now. Not only preservation, but of course, the elements that come with it: the cataloging, the digitizing. Making sure you know where everything is at, and being able to access it. Preservation is a high priority now because we are losing our elders. There are very few people who are practicing now, so we want to have it there and easy to access for those people who want to start their journey with the language. It’s a good thing. When I first started in the division, some of our elders didn’t want to be recorded. And they said, “You don’t use a recorder. We don’t write the language.” Even though it had already been passed by our legislature that we have an alphabet. You know, fighting against all those old ideas that we’re only an oral language…Eventually, they did see the light of how something could be preserved, because sometimes we might forget things because we don’t use them.
Samson: My grandfather said you can tell just by the way a person acts and the words that they use, if they’re Ho-Chunk.
Kierstin: Do you see that in the students, that once they start learning the language, they start living the Ho-Chunk way?
Samson: Yeah, and some of them more than others. Like I was saying, nobody is there to teach them. They don’t have a grandparent or parent that teaches them these things, but they come to school and they’re part of the language program there at the school. And then they start getting into more cultural things. They get that call. It’s like a switch. And then they’re off and running toward gaining more knowledge about themselves. There are a couple people who didn’t even take any classes through the Language Division and they speak Hoocąk. They use what we provided for them: the materials that we offer. They took them all, they used them, and they speak Hoocąk.
Kierstin: Is that where you’re hoping Mukurtu goes, where they can do that on their own time and integrate it into their lives?
Samson: Yes, and it has to be that way, because we can’t reach everybody with only 14 people. That’s what I see Mukurtu doing: being able to connect with your relatives.
[End of interview]
I would like to shout out individuals who offered support throughout this experience. Thank you to Hiwicožų (Samson) Falcon for fielding my endless questions about all things Ho-Chunk. I have learned so much from our enlightening conversations. Thank you to Ahuginaiwi (Adrienne) Thunder, Language Division Program Manager, for facilitating this partnership and providing background information on project work. Thank you to my mentors at WiLS and Recollection Wisconsin: Vicki Tobias, Kristen Whitson, and Erin Hughes. I am grateful for their wisdom and encouragement. Finally, thanks to Sarah Lundquist, Makana Kirkey, and Cassy Leeport, who all kindly responded to my inquiries about the history of project work.
The Language Division engages in creative outreach to increase the visibility of the language revitalization program. This November, the Division helped organize a mini powwow for students of the Tomah Area School District.
Kierstin Wagner participated in our Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative inaugural cohort in Fall 2024. For more information about this program or how to participate, visit https://recollectionwisconsin.org/rwdi.
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