The Language Warrior's Manifesto: How to Keep Our Language Alive No Matter the Odds by Anton Treuer

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Language Warrior's Manifesto: How to Keep Our Language Alive No Matter the Odds by Anton Treuer Jenny Lee-Morgan (bio) The Language Warrior's Manifesto: How to Keep Our Language Alive No Matter the Odds by Anton Treuer Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2020 AS THE TITLE of Anton Treuer's book suggests, The Language Warrior's Manifesto calls for courage and inspires conviction, evident in Treuer's strong personal voice. Treuer introduces readers to the subject of language revitalization through his own world of Indigenous experience. The specificity of his circumstances echoes the stories of Indigenous peoples' struggles all over the world. For Treuer, growing up in Washington in the 1970s as a brown boy with long hair and of Ojibwe and German ancestry, schooling was devoid of any cultural care or recognition. Much like in the wider society, schooling devalued Native peoples, cultures, and their languages, setting the scene (or battleground) for Indigenous language revitalization. With decolonizing intent, Indigenous language learning is positioned in the sociohistoric violence of colonization and exposes some of the intricacies of ongoing colonizing processes in our contemporary context. Treuer's analysis names the structural impediments, namely the racism that asserts the superiority and dominance of English and the associated normative behavior of monolingualism that excludes and delegitimizes Indigenous languages, all of which affect funding, resourcing, and program growth. While the narratives of dispossession of Indigenous land, language, and culture are well told, less discussed are the problems, originally caused by the atrocities of colonization, that compound and conflate present-day trauma and are played out in disturbing ways in our communities. One of the strengths of the book for me (as a Māori language learner/teacher and advocate) is Treuer's courage to gently call out the practices of self-harm that we inflict as Indigenous communities on each other—the dynamics of oppression on the inside. Using Paulo Freire's theory of freedom articulated in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Bloomsbury, 2014), Treuer points out that three of the four types of oppression (internal, lateral, intra-oppressed, and external) manifest in the "common sense" attitudes, practices, and behaviors of the oppressed themselves. Treuer strongly cautions against perpetuating the oppression of colonialism by fighting one another. [End Page 196] For those of us who work in Indigenous communities and tribal groups with our relations, simple yet powerful instructions, such as "No blaming. No shaming" (38) or the plea to not "out-Indian one another" (16), resonate and challenge us to refrain from acts of self-oppression. He urges us to find ways through the disputes in Indigenous language learning, whether they be over dialectal or other writing systems, that can hamper progression and distract from creating resources and ultimately the meaningful usage of our languages. Treuer is forthright and direct, and issues a challenge to us all, including for our tribal corporate entities to broaden the key measures of Indigenous success beyond the confines of economic prosperity. In this way, this book is actively decolonizing through conscientization; Treuer persistently reminds us that "we are more than the sum of our tragedies" (36). Treuer's analysis is crafted in a powerful narrative that is accessible and grounded in his lived experience as an Ojibwe learner, teacher, and leader. The journey into language learning, teaching, and leadership requires commitment, and Treuer's willingness to share his personal journey is at the heart of this book. This manifesto is sourced in the realities of our communities, with an integrity that comes from an undeniable sacrifice and experience on which his reflections and guidance are based. Treuer asserts that the language warrior's greatest weapon is "real, intentional effort" that must be lived because as Treuer intimately knows: "We can't lead in their [language] revitalization from the sidelines" (12). The book's opening narrative strategy, deeply intertwining the personal with the political, continues through to the end. It becomes evident that if you commit to keeping your language alive, the language becomes who we are—and who we are becomes the language. In this sense, Treuer's call to revitalize our languages goes far beyond the conventional academic frames of second language learning...