From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Native American linguist
Jessie Little Doe Baird
(also
Jessie Little Doe Fermino
,
[1]
[2]
born 18 November 1963)
[3]
is a linguist known for her efforts to
revive
the
Wampanoag (Wopanaak) language
. She received a
MacArthur Fellowship
in 2010. She founded the
Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project
.
[4]
She lives in
Mashpee, Massachusetts
.
[5]
Background
[
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]
In 1992 or 1993, Baird experienced many dreams that she believes to be visions of her ancestors meeting her and speaking in their language, which she did not understand at first. According to a prophecy of her
Wampanoag
community, a woman of their kind would leave her home to bring back their language and "the children of those who had had a hand in breaking the language cycle would help heal it."
[6]
In around the same year, Baird began teaching the Wopanaak language at tribal sites in
Mashpee
and
Aquinnah
.
[7]
[8]
Education
[
edit
]
Baird studied for a master's degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
three years later, where she studied with linguist Dr.
Kenneth L. Hale
;
[9]
[10]
together they collaborated to create a language database based on official written records, government correspondences and religious texts, especially a 1663 Bible printed by Puritan minister
John Eliot
kept in the archives of MIT.
[6]
[10]
This led Baird and Hale in 1996 to begin compiling a Wopanaak dictionary, with more than 10,000 words.
[10]
Advocacy and public service
[
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]
Jessie Little Doe Baird founded the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project to revitalize the Wampanoag language. The project helped the Mashpee Wampanoag to create a language immersion school.
[4]
Baird and her work on Wopanaak language reconstruction and revival are the subject of a PBS documentary,
We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean
, directed by Anne Makepeace.
[11]
Baird also serves as the vice-chairwoman of the
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council
.
[12]
Awards and honors
[
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]
In 2017, Jessie Little Doe Baird received an honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences from Yale University.
[13]
In 2020, Baird was named one of USA Today's "Women of the Century" for her work in reviving the Wampanoag language which had not been spoken in 150 years.
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Inspired By A Dream"
.
MIT Spectrum
. Spring 2001.
- ^
"languagehat.com : MACARTHUR GRANT FOR WAMPANOAG REVIVAL"
.
languagehat.com
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
- ^
Jessie Little Doe (official website): CV
Archived
2013-08-10 at the
Wayback Machine
, Aquinnah MA, 2003.
- ^
a
b
Hilleary, Cecily (8 May 2019).
"Coining New Words Key to Revitalizing Native American Languages"
.
Voice of America
. Retrieved
12 November
2023
.
- ^
Jessie Little Doe Fermino (2000).
An introduction to Wampanoag grammar (Master's thesis)
(PDF)
(Thesis). MIT.
- ^
a
b
Shatwell, Justin (December 2012).
"The Long-Dead Native Language Wopanaak is Revived"
.
Yankee Magazine
. Retrieved
18 May
2016
.
- ^
Sukiennik, Greg (March 24, 2001).
"Woman Brings Tribe's Dead Language to Life"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
31 October
2013
.
- ^
Alexander Stille (September 30, 2000).
"Speak, Cultural Memory: A Dead-Language Debate"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
"Jessie Little Doe Baird"
. MacArthur Foundation
. Retrieved
27 August
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
Mifflin, Jeffrey (22 April 2008).
"Saving a Language: A rare book in MIT's archives helps linguists revive a long-unused Native American language"
.
Technology Review
. No. May/June 2008. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. Retrieved
18 June
2021
.
- ^
Anne Makepeace (Director) (17 November 2011).
"We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean"
.
PBS
Independent Lens
. Retrieved
14 November
2022
.
56 min.
- ^
"Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe: Tribal Council"
.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-12-15
. Retrieved
24 December
2014
.
- ^
"Jessie Little Doe Baird Receives Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences | Yale Group for the Study of Native America (YGSNA)"
.
ygsna.sites.yale.edu
. Retrieved
2017-06-09
.
- ^
"Julia Child, Ayanna Pressley and Gwen Ifill among influential women from Massachusetts"
.
www.usatoday.com
. 13 August 2020
. Retrieved
2023-02-15
.
External links
[
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]