Indians Claim Arizonas English-Only Proposition Threatens Cultural Survival Brenda Norrell
PHOENIX -- Marching and rallying against English-only Proposition 203 that would eliminate bilingual education, American Indian elders, tribal leaders and Navajo Code Talkers proclaimed language as a form of spiritual freedom that has saved lives in the form of an unbreakable military code. "The Holy People gave us this language and only they can take it away," Navajo Code Talker Association President Sam Billison told more than 1,000 American Indians and Chicanos in front of the State Senate at the Arizona Capitol. "Please don't forget those who died defending our diversity and multi-cultural nation!" Choking back tears, Navajo elder Marjorie Thomas vowed she would no longer speak the white man's language. "I am not going to be a prisoner to English. I will not be a prisoner. I will live my language. I will live my culture!" Thomas said. With the help of a cane she walks the 66 miles from Chinle to Window Rock each year to raise funds for a Chinle youth center. Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor Jr. greeted the crowd in his Native language, then drew attention to a protest sign: "Take away their language, destroy their souls -- Stalin." "That is what I see happening here," Taylor said. "All our different languages are sacred. It is our Creator who gave us this language. No one can take it away from us! The English-only proposition strikes to the heart of who we are!" Referring to the songs, dances, culture and religion of the Hopi people, he said, "Language defines who we are at the very core. First we were shipped away from our families to boarding schools and severely punished for speaking Hopi. "This issue is a matter of human rights and the freedom to be who we are. It is a beautiful tapestry of who we are." Proposition 203 on the November ballot, bankrolled by California millionaire Ron Unz, would replace bilingual education in Arizona with a one-year English immersion program. Navajo President Kelsey Begaye said, "(Unz) ought to be thankful for the freedom he enjoys today. So much freedom that he can propose an idiotic resolution!" Marching in the procession that streamed through downtown Phoenix, Genevieve Jackson, executive director of Navajo Din Education, helped organize the protest that brought bus loads of concerned Navajos to the capitol. "If Proposition 203 passes, we are prepared to challenge this in court." Jackson said American Indians lived on this land long before the white man came. "Cultural diversity is beautiful and it should be embraced. We need to respect one another. In that way, we can be strong as a nation, a state, a people. "A person who speaks two languages is worth two people. We have endured this melting pot long enough. Jackson, a human rights activist fighting racism in border towns and former tribal councilwoman, said English-only comes down to racism. "There is a racist overtone to this whole Proposition 203. Anytime you force your language and culture on another culture, it is racism." Rallying with the Pipaash Singers who offered gourd songs, Salt River Pima-Maricopa President Ivan Makil said language is a foundation for a way of life. "This is not just a Chicano or Native issue. This is an issue for all people of color! This is what we know -- the struggle, the pain. We must fight together!" Peterson Zah, former Navajo president and assistant to the president of Arizona State University, told the rally that English-only legislation follows the same path as attacks on tribal sovereignty nationwide. "How arrogant to suggest that one language is better than another. It is a sacred thing. It is a gift we get from the Great Spirit. Only the Great Spirit can take it away." Proposition 203 threatens the education of more than 19,000 Navajo students. Navajo Foster Grandparents, sharing oral histories and Creation stories with students, would be paralyzed in their efforts. Student academic progress would be thwarted for Navajo dominant students who rely on translations in Din to understand English concepts, Navajo educators said. At the rally, Arizona state Sen. Jack Jackson, Navajo, D-Window Rock, said the march was the largest ever of American Indians to the capitol. Urging preservation of Native languages, he said speaking one's Native tongue builds character. "English is not relevant. We want language that is relevant," Jackson told the crowd. "Western education has been a failure for us!" Royce Jenkins, Hopi from the Native American Community Organizing Project, said if Proposition 203 passes, Native people will be in mourning. Already, Native people have been "herded off to boarding schools. I was taught to be afraid, not to speak my language. Do we want to walk down this path again? "Language is a form of spiritual freedom. We will not have our way of life destroyed." Navajo Code Talker Dan Akee said he volunteered to serve in the U.S. Marines because he wanted to serve his country. He was dispatched to Saipan, then Iwo Jima in the Pacific during World War II. Credited with a major contribution to winning the war in the Pacific , Navajo Code Talkers on Iwo Jima fought in one of the bloodiest battles of all time, he said. "There were lives that were saved through these messages. A lot of lives have been saved through this language." |