Younger tribal members lead effort to revitalize Nisenan language in Placerville

A younger generation of tribal members is working to bring a piece of California history back to life by revitalizing the Nisenan language and ensuring it continues to be spoken for generations to come.

Members of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians are leading efforts to restore the language's place in everyday life, reconnecting their community with its culture, history and identity.

The work includes everything from flash cards and educational materials to children's literature, giving tribal members new ways to learn and engage with the language.

"Otter is K'o," said Jonathan Geary, language director for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, while demonstrating the educational materials. The flash cards also include additional phrases to help learners understand how words are used in everyday conversation.

Children's stories are another important part of the effort. One book tells the story of two boys who are thrown into a river and transform into salmon, sharing traditional knowledge and cultural teachings through the Nisenan language.

Geary oversees the tribe's efforts to revitalize both Nisenan and Northern Sierra Miwok.

For tribal member Marcela Tayaba, the work is about much more than preserving vocabulary. It's about protecting a connection to who they are.

"Without language, our identity is lost. We don't know who we are. It's like the land doesn't know who's here," Tayaba said.

For many Native American tribes, language revitalization also means confronting generations of forced assimilation. Native children were often separated from their families and communities through boarding schools, where they were discouraged or prevented from speaking their Native languages and practicing their cultures.

Tayaba said hearing stories from elders who did not have the opportunity to pass their languages down makes the effort especially emotional.

"Just hearing all the boarding school stories and listening to other elders not having their language passed down, it's just really emotional for us," she said.

The ultimate goal is to move beyond lessons and learning materials and create a community where Nisenan is spoken naturally at home and passed from parents to children.

"We want to get to a point where there are adults in the community who speak the language, and whose children are learning the language just by hearing it spoken to them," Geary said.

For Tayaba, the meaning of language is reflected in the word for water, móm.

"Language, you know, it's always flowing in and out of our minds and it's always there. So we're always here, and we're going to keep revitalizing our language for future generations to come," she said.

Through the work of tribal language leaders, elders and younger generations, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians is working to ensure Nisenan is not simply remembered as part of the past, but spoken and carried forward into the future.