The Role of Music in Language Revitalization in Juneau, Alaska

 
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The Role of Music in Language Revitalization in Juneau, Alaska

Helen Ella, France-based musician, educator, and arts advocate; MBA, Global Leaders Institute ’23, and Sophia Butler, band/orchestra teacher in Minneapolis Public Schools; MBA, Global Leaders Institute ’23

03-05-2024

Photo: JAMM staff and students; Founder/Director Lorrie Heagy kneeling at left in orange shirt.

Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) is a tuition-free music program that helps children and youth develop focus, self-control, leadership skills, and teamwork through ensemble. JAMM (a member program of El Sistema USA; an Infusion Awardee of The Lewis Prize for Music) was founded in 2010, so the very first group of kindergartners who attended JAMM programming graduated from high school last year. Two of these graduates are now lead teachers in JAMMʼs after-school program. As the program continues to grow, one of its primary commitments is to develop culturally sustaining practices for both students and staff.

With fewer than 15 fluent Lingít speakers left in the world, there is an urgent initiative to revitalize and sustain this language of the native Alaskan people in this area. In 2021, JAMM began to partner with elders in the Lingít community, and also with a number of organizations—Sealaska Corporation, Sealaska Heritage Institute, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, Douglas Indian Association, Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, and the University of Alaska Southeast—with the goal of integrating Lingít language, values, and culture into its established violin program.

As part of the Haa Tóo Yéi Yatee (“it is within us”) initiative, all students in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade violin classes are immersed in Lingít language and culture during 90 minutes of violin instruction each week. Traditional Lingít songs, and songs composed by contemporary artists using Lingít, help the students learn everything from how to hold the violin and find the notes on the instrument to how to express their feelings through music. All the new vocabulary and songs they learn in class are recorded and shared on the website, so that families and community members can practice and learn them.

Lingít names for instrument parts.

For example, in the accompanying photo, the parts of the violin have been given Lingít names. Gíx’jaa is the word for violin, meaning “the one that squeaks.”

JAMM’s pedagogy has always been based on research showing that playing an instrument for two years or more can fundamentally change the brain and can serve as an intervention for school readiness skills. Research also tells us that music instruction is helpful in learning a second language, because one learns to pay attention to qualities like pitch and pattern.

Based on this brain-related research, and on the understanding that music and language are both compelling connectors to native culture, JAMM has been able to build a unique pedagogy for language revitalization. This ambitious initiative is aided by the fact that Lingít is a tonal language.

The initiative to reimagine music pedagogy through the Lingít language began in 2020 with a language symposium tasked with the creation of Lingít violin and music vocabulary. It has had the support of the community from the outset. The Juneau School District has established several Native cultural specialist positions to teach Lingít values, stories, and traditions to all students, giving teachers the opportunity to make their curricula more place-based and more reflective of Lingít culture.

Learning music and language with instructor Yuxgitsiy George Holly.

Jinkasee.ee Rose Willard, who holds this position at the Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx̱ Glacier Valley Elementary school, is excited to see the community coming together to speak the language and learn Lingít stories and values. The biggest challenge for both young students and adult learners, she says, is the fear of trying and making a mistake. The kindergarten and first-grade students who have been immersed in this program for the last two years no longer carry this fear. JAMM staff have noticed that, as a result of this work, these students have learned to feel “a comfort with discomfort.”

Yuxgitsiy George Holly works closely with X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell and Koolyéík Roby Littlefield to hold up the words of Lingít elders and tribal values through song composition. Hailing originally from Soldotna, Alaska, George says “I have a responsibility to the language of my home, and also to the place I live.” With the support of Lingit elders and the eagerness of teachers and community members to be a part of this work, George feels that the community support in Juneau has created momentum for language revitalization. In 2023, Haa Tóo Yéi Yatee spread to another JAMM school where all K-2 students receive Lingít language instruction as part of their violin classes. 

As he continues to teach songs and dances to the elementary school students at Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx̱, George sees tremendous potential for systemic change to come from the music room, and he hopes that this can be a model for other communities who are working on language revitalization.

Cultural Preservation, El Sistema USA, Glacier Valley Elementary School, Haa Tóo Yéi Yatee, JAMM, Juneau Alaska Music Matters, Lingít, March 2024, The Lewis Prize for Music

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