SHOSHONE DICTIONARY IN THE WORKS: Shoshone native speakers are reviewing copies of a new dictionary featuring 9,000 words. Reba Teran, director of the Shoshone Cultural Center at Fort Washakie, has been working for three years on the printed and audio version of the dictionary. In a Wind River News article, Teran says that “we recorded elders saying the word and then recorded it in English.” All those were put into computerized text and audio files. The dictionary accompanies a renewed interest in tribal language immersion programs offered at Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation schools. That’s a big switch from U.S. Government education policy 100 years ago that prohibited students from speaking their native languages. The Shoshone language traditionally was not written, Teran says. George Hill was the first to write down Shoshone words in 1877. Writer Rupert Weeks (“Pachee Goyo, the bald one”) was one of several tribal members who over the years did extensive dictionary work. The completed dictionary will reveal a vibrant and under-appreciated language. Says Teran: “Our language is very visual and very comical. You can make yourself laugh for hours just by talking.”

- posted by Michael Shay @ 3:19 PM