This is an excellent overview of the Ryukyuan languages. I learned from it that there are around 400 dialects of Uchinaaguchi! Basically each village or area developed their own variant. Amazing!
My take on my mixed-race heritage, as being both Black and Okinawan–an Afro-Okinawan–but not quite recognized as either or. I questioned my identity for a lot of my childhood, even resenting it somewhat through high school and college, until recent events had me refocus on the history of my heritage. I hope my perspective resonates with my readers, and informs others on the state of being mixed race.
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This is an awesome rap/reggae song that is mostly in Uchinaaguchi. I love the little video snippets of Uchinaa (Okinawa) at various points throughout modern history. This song seems to be about the hardships Okinawans have gone through, having pride in our culture, and that goes along with having pride in using our heritage language.
This is Governor of Okinawa Denny Tamaki speaking in Uchinaaguchi, his heritage language. In this clip, he highlights the importance of learning your mother tongue, quoting this classic proverb (kugani kutuba):
んまりじま ぬ くとぅば わしーねー くにん わしゆん
Nmarijima nu kutuba washiinee kunin washiyun
“To forget one’s language is to also forget one’s homeland.”
Today (February 21st) is International Mother Tongue Day! Actually for me, every day is mother tongue day as I am actively learning my heritage language, but it's nice to get this official day by the UN. Moreover, starting next year, the UNESCO will dedicate a whole decade (2022 - 2032) to Indigenous Languages!! This commitment is wonderful and I hope more Indigenous people all over the world engage in the difficult but important work of revitalizing and re-normalizing our mother tongue which is inseparable from our culture.
From the UN website:
"When languages fade, so does the world's rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression — valuable resources for ensuring a better future — are also lost.
Every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. At least 43% of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.
Multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way."
This podcast episode features Yaeyama language researcher Madoka Hammine talking about language attitudes in her own community. She talks about how sad she feels that her own community devalues their own heritage language, and the emotional fulfillment she gets when she is able to find people willing to speak to her in their heritage language. She also talks about the difference between her community's reaction to researchers from inside their community versus those from outside. Very interesting and worth checking out!