Some thoughts

I think it's important to be very explicit in demarcating the authority, the force, and the role of a linguists in Indian Country. Before assuming that linguits and various consultants can answer all questions related to language (commerce, economy, history, public opinion), it's important to understand their role in answering the big questions. I think everyone is a little uncertain of where to go from here? What even happened to this language? The linguists asks questions like, "How many people speak it." The community should ask the complimentary question, "Why didn't you ever learn from your grandma this language?" The Applied Linguistics Journal as an excellent work on understanding the Auto-biographical Narrative.


In terms of placing this documentation grant in focus-we cannot rely merely on texual interpretation of previous linguists, nor wait for the action of external consultants. That helps understand the raw phonetics but excludes the most important element: the people.


It's perfectly sensible to want to fill the ambiguities,and gaps in knowledge (and manpower) with any helping support available, from Chico or elsewhere. I think it's worth mentioning that we are serving a role to the community. And we need to hear their voice.