Uchinaaguchi Learning through Indigenous Critical Pedagogy: Why Do Some People in Yomitan Not Know Yomitan Mountain?

Abstract

Since the 1970s, Yomitan Village in Okinawa has been at the forefront of community-led efforts of language preservation by documenting its folklore as a part of a larger goal to restore its language and culture. This has resulted in the documentation of over 5000 stories recounted in a local variety of Uchinaaguchi by over 700 community members from all parts of the village. The first aim of this article is to outline the vast folklore data that has been accumulated as well as the language-related materials that have been created from the data. Secondly, it explores conceptual frameworks for the teaching of endangered languages through an Indigenous critical pedagogy that incorporates three perspectives, namely, critical pedagogy hybridity and the third space, and decolonization. Furthermore, we suggest some ways to utilize these stories to teach the language and culture of the community and at the same time demonstrate how the accumulated narratives can be used to illuminate the crucial relationship among history, politics, and knowledge.