Wyandot and Wendat Today
Members of the Wyandotte Nation, whose headquarters is in Wyandotte, Oklahoma, are promoting the study of Wyandot as a second language among its people as part of a cultural revival. Since 2005. Richard Zane Smith (Wyandot) has been volunteering and teaching in the Wyandotte Schools with the aide of the linguist Dr. Craig Kopris.
Linguistic work is also being done on the closely related Wendat. The anthropologist John Steckley was erroneously reported in 2007 as being "the sole speaker" (non-native) of Wendat. Several Wendat scholars have Master's Degrees in Wendat Language and have been active as linguists in the Wendat Community in Quebec. In Wendake, Quebec, the First Nations people are working on a revival of the language and culture. The language is being introduced in adult classes and into the village primary school. The linguist Megan Lukaniec (Wendat) has been instrumental in helping to create curriculum, infrastructure and materials in the language programs in Wendake.
The Wendat language is written with the Latin alphabet, making use of two extra letters, θ for /tʰ/, and Ȣ for /u/. The Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf wrote his original lyrics for his Christmas hymn, "Huron Carol" in Wendat in 1643.
Examples of Wendat:
- Seten-Stop, used on road signs (with arrêt) in some Huron reserves, such as Wendake in Quebec.
- Skat-One
- Tindee-Two
- Shenk-Three
- Anduak-Four
- Weeish-Five
- Sandustee-Water
Read more about this topic: Wyandot Language
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