K’Aaw Natash Wa CHƗ́Myanashma SHAPÁTTAWAX̱Sha Ku SÁPsikw’Asha MYÁNashma ’We Are the Parents Raising and Teaching Children’: Raising Yakama Babies and Language Together

Anderson investigates the choices, hopes, dreams, struggles, challenges, plans, and teaching strategies of Yakama parents in their goal of rebuilding a generation of first language Ichishkiin speakers with their babies and toddlers. She explores both practical supports which parents would find helpful to support daily language use, and existing community supports which nurture family capacity for language learning. She finds that parents and caregivers do not currently have the capacity to create immersion spaces in their homes, but that they deeply wish for increased language programming and learning in their childrens’ schooling. She notes that parents mobilize their relationships with speakers to increase their children’s access to language, and that most have a variety of learning materials in their home. Parents identify written supports and songs/videos as most desired.

Anderson, R. (2022). K’aaw Natash Wa Chɨ́myanashma Shapáttawax̱sha Ku Sápsikw’asha Myánashma’We Are the Parents Raising and Teaching Children’: Raising Yakama Babies and Language Together (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon).