Arapaho Language Project

Arapaho Tribe works with CNAIS Faculty & Linguist Dr. Andy Cowell

Anonymous — Tue, 16 May 2017 22:39:10 +0000

Arapaho Tribe works with CNAIS Faculty & Linguist Dr. Andy Cowell Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/16/2017 - 16:39

9-year-old Quiana Piper (center) and her 3rd grade class study using their iPads and the Arapaho language app that has been created to help teach the language and culture at the Arapaho School in Arapahoe, Wyo. on the Wind River reservation March 1, 2017.Photo by Joe Amon

A recent article in the Denver Post by Kevin Simpson, highlghted current efforts to revitalize the Arapaho language on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Only a couple dozen people speak Arapaho of the 10,000 plus tribal members. Since the majority of these speakers are in their 70's, the article highlights the ways the younger and older generations are working together to revitalize their language, including phone apps, websites, classroom immersion, etc. William C'Hair, Chairman of the Arapaho Language and Cultural Commission stresses how important the language is to the Arapaho culture as well.

"If you don’t understand the language it’s very difficult to practice our cultural ways, our values, our world views, our political conscience. All derives from the language.”
William C'Hair, Chairman of the Arapaho Language and Cultural Commision

Some of these efforts involve Dr. Andrew Cowell, CNAIS Faculty and Chair of CU Linguistics department, as well as thos of CU graduate student, Irina Wagner. Cowell has been working with the Arapaho tribe for seventeen years, and the inter-active website The Arapaho Language Project is one of the fruits of those efforts. Cowell and Wagner are currently working on an on-line dictionary that includes an English-Arapaho translator.

The tribe is also working with other new technologies to help integrate the language into tribal classrooms. For example, once a week C'Hair teaches Arapaho via teleconference to tribal members on a reservation in Oklahoma. Additionally the Arapaho school on the Wind River reservation used a tech company in Las Vegas to create an app called "Arapaho" that students can use on IPads and smartphones.

See the photo above. Read the full story with photos and video here: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/23/arapaho-language-cu-wind-river/

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CNAIS February Faculty Brown Bag with Andy Cowell

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 20:28:47 +0000

CNAIS February Faculty Brown Bag with Andy Cowell Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/08/2017 - 13:28

Come chat with Linguistics Chair and CNAIS faculty Dr. Andy Cowell for our February Faculty Brown Bag!

Date: Wed. Feb. 8

Time: 12pm - 1pm

Where: CNAIS - 1330 Grandview Ave.

Hear about his research and on-going work in Indigenous Languages:

I'm a specialist in Linguistic Anthropology. I obtained my PhD from UC-Berkeley in French in 1993. I then spent two years in Hawaii, where I got involved with Hawaiian and Tahitian languages. I started at CU in the Department of French and Italian in 1995 working on historical anthropology . More recently, my focus is on contemporary Native America and linguistic anthropology, with a continuing secondary interest in Polynesia. I work primarily with the Arapaho and Gros Ventre/White Clay people at the moment.”

In 2014 Andy published Arapaho Stories, Songs, and Prayers with co-authors William C'Hair and Alonzo Moss. Andy also manages CU's Arapaho Language Project.

No RSVP needed! Bring your lunch and we'll have some snacks to go with it. This event is open to the public.

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CU's Arapaho Language Project featuring CNAIS faculty Andy Cowell

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:15:18 +0000

CU's Arapaho Language Project featuring CNAIS faculty Andy Cowell Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/11/2017 - 10:15

CNAIS Faculty Executive Board member Andrew Cowell and doctoral student Irina Wagner are part of an effort to save the language with the Arapaho Language Project. They fear Arapaho will fade away after the fluent elderly speakers are gone.

“The Arapaho language is highly endangered,” said Cowell, chair of the Linguistics Department. “There are only about 200 people who speak it. Of the fluent speakers, no one is younger than 60.”The Arapaho Language Project is a website created by students and faculty in the Department of Linguistics to support the revival of the Arapaho language and to serve as a resource for learners. The website is rich in content, containing language lessons, a dictionary, a pronunciation guide, bilingual curriculum materials and examples of the language being used in everyday life. Read the full CU Boulder Today article.

Northern Arapaho Chiefs

The language is interwoven into the fabric of the Colorado land and culture. While the Arapaho lived mainly on the plains of Colorado, they spent time hunting in the Rocky Mountain National Park area. Several places in the state get their names from Arapaho, such as Kawuneeche Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park, from Arapaho "koo'ohwuunii," meaning "coyote river," and the Never Summer Mountains, from Arapaho "niiciibiicei'i," meaning "they are never summery." CU Linguistics & NAIS Grad Student, Irina Wagner

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