Language, Culture, and Indigeneity: Reflections on their Interplay

Abstract

Language encultures the speaker as subject and provides access to an identity that is grounded in frames of knowing and being. This paper gives an overview of Indigeneity in relation to language and culture from four different pathways: 1) language and self-preservation, 2) nonviolent means to communal well-being, 3) student narratives and agency, and 4) the forward gaze of conceptions of “abode” and “sojourn.” A reflection on the value of Indigenous ways of knowing, remembering, and performing in Native culture, as well as in the dominant, broader society, intersect in these pages.