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Follow the story of the three tribes over the span of more than 1,000 years, up to the present day. open


Listen to common words spoken in the native tongues of Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan. open


Taught Mandan as a child, Edwin Benson passes on his knowledge in classrooms on the Fort Berthold Reservation. open

  A special report published on In-Forum and in The Forum on Sept. 14, 15, 17 and 20, 2003About the series
 Home



A family's quest: Brothers lead effort to save Hidatsa language

Montana school a model for language immersion

Medicine bundles help keep stories from ‘dream time’

About the Hidatsa: People of the willows

Translating language a process of several steps

“The Myth of Packs Antelope,” a Hidatsa myth




Edwin Benson Interview (flash)

Language Lesson (flash)

"Language has a spirit" (flash)

Audio Clips
Clancey Lone Fight: Sees Hidatsa language changing

Alex Gwin: Recalls boarding school life

Lyle Gwin: Remembers his grandmother's vow

Lyle Gwin: Worries about younger generation

Edwin Benson: Reads excerpt of "Coyote Turns Buffalo" in Mandan

Video Clips
Alex Gwin: Describes Hidatsa as a precise language

Duane Robert Bear: Hopes other children learn and pass on Arikara

Along the River of Time
Photo Gallery
Early Recordings

Graphics
About the Fort Berthold Reservation
Native language speakers dwindling
Language family trees
The art of translation

Brothers Alex and Lyle Gwin were taught Hidatsa by their grandmother. Forum photo by Colburn Hvidston III
A family's quest: Brothers lead effort to save Hidatsa language
Patrick Springer 
pspringer@forumcomm.com
The Forum - 09/17/2003

MANDAREE, N.D. -- Alex Gwin stands behind the lectern and asks his high school students what sounds like a disarmingly simple question.

“What day of the week is it?”

He asks the question in Hidatsa, not English, and they have to answer in Hidatsa as well.

One student needs to be reminded whether the Hidatsa language counts Sunday or Monday as the first day of the week.

“Sunday’s not the first day of the week,” Gwin replies in English. “Monday is.”

Then, in Hidatsa, the answer ripples around the room.

Dami mape. Third day, Wednesday.

The Hidatsa language classes at the school in Mandaree operate as close as possible to immersion.

If a student wants to be excused to go to the restroom, he’d better have a strong bladder or be able to ask permission in Hidatsa.

That approach, called Total Physical Response, has had demonstrated success in helping to teach native languages in Hawaii and among the Blackfeet in Montana.

At Mandaree, the Hidatsa community on the Fort Berthold Reservation, educators hope it will revive the tribe’s language, spoken by perhaps 100 or 150 residents.

Most are elderly. A few, like Alex Gwin, are middle-aged.

He continues his verbal drill, keeping the students guessing by peppering them with questions that defy any predictable pattern.

“How much water?” he asks in Hidatsa.

Then, a few moments later, “What’s the month?”

Next he directs his students’ attention to a lesson sheet, where phrases written in Hidatsa must be converted to English.

The last phrase, it turns out, carries inadvertent relevance:

Niishub nihaad.

Hurry up and finish.

Unexpectedly, the alarm sounds, and a voice over the intercom interrupts to announce, in English, a code red. Everyone must leave the building immediately.

Total Physical Response in Hidatsa II yields that Wednesday afternoon, one of the last restless days of the school year, to an earthquake drill.

cont. on next page



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