Centuries before we had American Sign Language, Native sign languages, broadly known as “Hand Talk,” were thriving across North America. Hand Talk would be influential in the formation of American Sign Language. But it has largely been written out of history.

One of these Hand Talk variations, Plains Indian Sign Language, was used so widely across the Great Plains that it became a lingua franca — a universal language used by both deaf and hearing people to communicate among tribes that didn’t share a common spoken language. At one point, tens of thousands of indigenous people used Plains Indian Sign Language, or PISL, for everything from trade to hunting, conflict, storytelling, and rituals.

But by the late 1800s, the federal government had implemented a policy that would change the course of indigenous history forever: a violent boarding school program designed to forcibly assimilate indigenous children into white American culture — a dark history that we’re still learning more about to this day. Because of a forced “English-only” policy, the boarding school era is one of the main reasons we lost so many Native signers — along with the eventual dominance of ASL in schools for the deaf.

Today, there are just a handful of fluent PISL signers left in the US. In the piece above we hear from two of these signers who have dedicated their lives to studying and revitalizing the language. They show us PISL in action, and help us explore how this ancient language holds centuries of indigenous history.

Read more from Melanie McKay-Cody on the history of Plains Indian Sign Language: https://shareok.org/handle/11244/319767

Check out Lanny Real Bird’s videos:    / @lannyrealbird9015  

Much of the footage of the 1930 Indian Sign Language Council isn’t online, but check out some of it here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Here are some original books we reference on sign talk: https://archive.org/details/indiansig...https://archive.org/details/indiansig...

The Smithsonian holds lots of photos and archives on Plains Indian Sign Language like this: https://www.si.edu/object/archives/co...

Sarah Klotz on how Native American boarding schools like Carlisle contributed to the loss of PISL: http://constell8cr.com/issue-2/the-hi.... She references archives that shows how students continued to use sign language like this one from the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center: https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/...

The school was only open for FIVE YEARS and housed 150 stolen children

I can’t even wrap my head around that

Like imagine 12 of your classmates dying in high school ???

At 5 years old, Mark Maryboy left his home on the Navajo Nation Reservation to attend a boarding school about 150 miles away. He would attend a total of three boarding schools over the next few years. He described the dormitory in which he lived as ripe with sexual and physical abuse, harassment and bullying — something his principle did nothing to stop after Maryboy alerted him to what was happening. At one school, Maryboy remembers seeing another student drown after an instructional aide told students to cross a river, despite the fact that some students did not know how to swim." It was the damnedest thing I ever did in my life," Maryboy said, adding that he often wonders how his life would have turned out without that trauma. "Going through that experience has a huge impact on you. It's a lifetime sickness that goes into your mind." ... For Norman Cuthair Lopez — who has held a variety of positions in the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe — going to the Ute Vocational School was a shock, in more ways than one. Despite already speaking two languages, his native Ute and Navajo, he struggled to learn English. Upon arriving at the school, his long hair was cut, and then he was stripped and scrubbed clean. The first night was particularly difficult. At home, he hadn't slept on a bed, so he laid down underneath his bed on the first night at school. It proved to be a costly mistake. "I got the spanking of my life," he said. It was a new experience, since his grandparents had always used their voices rather than their hands to discipline him at home. "I had the shock of my life when I got my first spanking. The guy that was there, one of the supervisors, picked me up and threw me against the wall." .... Willie Grayeyes, Navajo Nation member and San Juan County commissioner, went to multiple boarding schools across the Southwest. Most of the time, he had no idea where he was being sent. One night, in fourth grade, Grayeyes was told to sleep in clothes, not pajamas. He and other kids were woken during the night and loaded into trucks. By morning, they reached Richfield. He said the dormitory there was nothing more than a warehouse with a partition in the middle to separate boys and girls. "I had no idea where I was going. Nobody said this is why we're sending you here," he said. "The decision was made 100 miles away, not at my home but at the Bureau of Indian Affairs building." He would have a similar experience a few years later after returning home for a family illness. The Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent sent him to Flagstaff, Arizona. From there he took two Greyhound buses, to Albuquerque and then Santa Fe. Later, he would also attend the Phoenix Indian School. Being separated from his family all that time impacted him and how he viewed his identity is something he said has impacted him his entire life.

Just posted chapter 6 of my Victorian Russingon AU

By Mahtowin Munro

Violence against Indigenous women, Two Spirit people and children has deep roots in the invasion and colonization of Indigenous homelands and in white supremacy, marginalization, and poverty. The violence is a mechanism of domination and oppression. 

But Indigenous communities throughout the Americas have been fighting back and are continuing to do everything possible to keep our families together, strengthen our communities, and defend the land and water.

Been waiting for a report on this, ever since the Canadian boarding schools were exposed. The article keeps talking about “Federal Boarding Schools” but doesn’t mention any religious affiliated boarding schools tho. Laz

https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2022/06/30/abortion-indigenous-peoples-reproductive-health

The overturning of Roe v. Wade is part of a long legacy of American Christian values being forced on Indigenous communities. Indigenous peoples in the United States have only recently been able to assert their own religious ideas and practices. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed in 1978 after nearly 200 years of religious suppression by the United States government. This law guarantees that Indigenous people have a right to access religious sites, possess sacred objects, and have full freedom to worship and practice religious ceremonies. This includes reproductive health ceremonies.

Boarding schools run by Christian churches or the federal government also played a strong role in suppressing and criminalizing Native American cultures and religions. One impact that boarding schools had on Indigenous children and communities was loss of intergenerational cultural knowledge. The U.S. government is just beginning to address part of this history, as activists and members of Congress push for the passage of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act.

Revitalization of Indigenous Knowledge

Though Indigenous communities deeply suffered from the intentional destruction of our cultures and religions, there has been a vibrant resurgence in traditional ecological knowledge in our communities, including reproductive health care practices.

Indigenous people are revitalizing coming-of-age ceremonies that mark when someone begins menstruation, including Ojibwe berry fasts, a year-long period in which young people abstain from eating berries and learn from their elders, and Hoopa Valley Tribal Flower Dance ceremonies, which Cutcha Risling Baldy, a professor of Native American studies at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, calls “a tangible, physical, spiritual and communal act of decolonization.” Indigenous doulas and cultural birthing practices are also on the rise, with collectives popping up throughout Canada and the U.S.

In the days since the Supreme Court decision, several states with large tribal and urban Indian communities, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oklahoma, have passed or introduced laws that ban or severely restrict abortion. Indigenous people on reservations seeking medical abortions or contraceptive care already face barriers; medical abortions and even Plan B pills are rarely available on reservation Indian Health Service facilities, where many Native people receive health care. The recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will likely exacerbate these barriers to Western health care.

What remains to be seen is how the decision and resulting state laws that ban abortion will exacerbate barriers to utilizing traditional medicinal practices and Indigenous knowledge—and if this is a violation of Indigenous peoples’ centuries-old cultural and religious rights.

**Update** March 18, 2023

Status: Read Rating: 4.5/5

Finally finished this one and loved it! It was simultaneously dreamy and eerie. I don't understand how it's never been made into a movie; the details in the setting and characters etc. made it an enthralling read.

I made a playlist on Spotify, the same name as the title.

🌨️🪵🦢🌲⛸️🦌

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February 28, 2023 Current Read: The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

50ish% done, truly enjoying this one

How Can a Girls Boarding School Be a Better option for Your Daughter?

Finding a boarding school comes with hundreds of questions. It can be even more difficult when it's about your daughter. While there are two types of schools to choose for your girl child for their growth and safety. 

Co-ed, which could be a better option for parents who want to give their daughters a chance to learn with boys and compete with them, find their strengths and weaknesses through healthy competition, and make a better world together. 

However, if you want your daughters to be surrounded by an environment where they can feel safe with other girls. They can also feel equally valued without being compared with their male counterparts. That can provide them with better opportunities to grow and learn. Boarding schools for girls would be the most appropriate option. 

There are many other benefits of sending your daughters to boarding school. 

Girls boarding schools provide a secure environment for girls

Parents mostly worry about their daughters' safety and security. Girls' boarding schools are the best option to ensure that, as they focus solely on girls' safety, with the majority of instructors and staff being female. 

Additionally, they take all steps and measures to ensure each child's safety and security. From CCTV cameras and tight security arrangements to a safe and healthy environment, girls boarding schools offer everything a parent looks for to ensure their daughters’ safety at a school. 

Girls boarding schools teach discipline

Discipline can be the most valuable benefit of studying at a boarding school. Boarding schools generally focus on developing punctuality, humility, and proper manners in young girls. To prepare them to be global citizens of the country. 

Girls' boarding schools focus on discipline and teach each student this virtue. Pupils learn the value of self-discipline and grow a strong sense of responsibility by complying with rules and regulations, as well as a rigid code of conduct.

Girls boarding schools promote academic excellence

Academics is another big concern among parents when sending their daughters to a boarding school. However, many boarding schools in India offer excellent residential and academic facilities, along with extra- and co-curricular activities. 

Girls boarding schools place a strong emphasis on academic achievement and offer students the tools and resources they need to thrive in their studies. These schools provide everything a child needs to succeed academically, from knowledgeable and committed teachers to well-equipped classrooms and libraries. 

Girls boarding schools provide personal growth

Holistic growth is one of the most prominent benefits of boarding school. Like many other boarding schools in India, girls' boarding schools offer an environment that encourages personal development. Home distractions allow pupils to think deeply and reflect on their lives. They realize their full potential, improve themselves as people.

Girls boarding schools help in child’s overall development.

Girls' boarding schools place an emphasis on comprehensive development. This is due to their belief that education extends beyond academic excellence. These schools provide equal opportunities for girls to participate in numerous extracurricular activities to ensure that each girl child grows up to be a confident and independent lady. 

A girls boarding school has something for everyone, from athletics and theater to music and dance. This aids a child's general growth and allows them to discover their talents and hobbies. As a result, there are various advantages to sending your girl kid to a boarding school. If you are looking for the top girls boarding school in India, The Heritage Girls School should be your first pick, in my opinion.

Conclusion 

Girls boarding schools can be a better option for your daughter, as they aim at making students experience and appreciate success, along with developing strength in a broad range of spheres. They also develop self-confidence, self-awareness, and self-respect among students, while teaching them to appreciate cultural and spiritual aspects of life.

If you want to know where and which are the finest boarding schools for girls, please visit our website, @boardingschoolsofindia

In Lakota language, the word for child is wakhányeža. Forgive my spelling, there are a number of ways to write it. But what’s important to know is that the root of wakhányeža is “wakhán,” meaning holy or sacred)))) Thus, whenever we say the word “child” in Lakota language, we are calling a child a “sacred being”)))))) I take that seriously. When I think about a person, a site, or an object that is sacred, I also think about the (((surrounding space))) I’ve watched how children affect us. In their presence, generally speaking, we are instinctively careful with what we do and say; highly conscious of the language we use. Generally, that is, when we regard them as sacred or most importantly when))) we love them.

From an essay by Layli Long Soldier on Native students and the colonial history of U.S. boarding schools

Yeah so I did a thing. You know that Victorian AU that has maybe 3 chapters and even less readers? It has a whole (actually pretty decent if I say so myself) playlist now. So you can listen to that while reading the like 3k of words I have currently. I like creating playlists ok? I do have hopes for this fic though, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. As evidenced by the whole playlist I created. So it might get an update soon.

How Native American Kids Were Forced To Become Whiter

Doctrine of Discovery