languageposterLanguage is the soul of a people in relationship with the Land and all life. Speak your language and they will know who you are.

If you think about it, what distinguishes a person from any other white person out there?  If whiteness is simultaneously the absence of cultural identity, while living out the empty cultural values of euro-american white supremacy, then how does one grow beyond it?  And perhaps most visibly, when speaking to others, what distinguishes you as being something else than simply another white person.

Language.  Language is perhaps the first outward signal that an internal transformation has taken place.  While there are certainly people of european heritage in the world who speak their Indigenous language and are immersed in eurocentric supermacy and civilization, my experience has shown me that there is at least a greater chance they possess a cultural identity with deeper significance.

Whenever I introduce myself to a group – especially one where Indigenous people are present – I always introduce myself in language first. I do the same when introducing myself to non-human people as well. This is who I am. These is where I come from. These are the cultural values that I represent.

In doing so, I demonstrate respect and honor for myself, for my people, for my ancestral place, for my ancestors, and most of all for other peoples I seek to grow relationship with. Why would someone want otherwise?

I encourage everyone to learn their ancestral language/s. They are still held in the land, so even ones that are supposedly “dead” can be reawakened given enough time and spiritual commitment. If one has to use a book or other preserved form of the language to start with – then do it.

Just realize that nature is where the direct and untainted version of that language will reside. One might need to begin with a book or recording, then take what is learned out into the homeplace for the language to reach its fullest expression.

Tzori on! Good luck!

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