Albisteak
About the path that we are
«We, indigenous people, stay at the talking stage while you put the ideas into practice. This is a shot of motivation to encourage us to follow up our ideas with action». Better than a slap in the face with a wet fish was hearing this from two Mayans, three Quechuas, two Aymaras, two Mapuches and a Shuar after having spoken with them for four hours. We often criticise ourselves for doing too many things but thinking and analysing too little. This may be true, but when someone from somewhere else also has these sensations it should give us pause for thought.
It is an interesting exercise to try and explain what we are doing to revitalise a minority linguistic community to people who are far away geographically, and even more so culturally. It is hard to understand and contextualise different situations, to put ourselves in some else's shoes, to know what can be given and what can be received, to gauge different perspectives on the same subject …
Naturally, this experience is also a product of Debagoiena, which has so often nourished our linguistic efforts (this time also it probably started out as just an idea, then went on to the planning stage and has now been put into practice …). In this aspect, all talk and no action, the movement to promote the Basque language in Debagoiena has nothing to do with the situation of the indigenous people. The project was named Garabide, a project for cooperation based on the exchange of cultural development and identity between Basque Country and any other interested communities of people.
Even though some not have defined an alphabet, others not yet established a standardized language, and others are practically eaten up by linguistic self-loathing, they surely all share the same desire to live and find their path. Paths such as the one Garabide invites them to walk down to help them find their way.
However, I have doubts as to which party flourishes more as part of this exchange -the party that supposedly has more to receive or the party that, here too supposedly, has more to offer.
My doubt arose when I learned about the most recent project set in motion ("Motion with a capital M"). The project aims to bring together and chronologically systemise in 12 DVDs and books the work surrounding the cultural movement and linguistic recovery in the Basque Country over the past 40-50 years, showing some of the universal keys for the recovery of minority languages. And with the added comment, «so that they can be useful for linguistic communities in any part of the world».
I am sure that it will indeed be useful for the Aymaras, Quechuas and a number of other linguistic communities. And not for us?
Iñaki Arruti
Basque language technician in the Town Hall of Lasarte-Oria
