Mission schoolteacher seeks to preserve culture through language

Edith Manuel teaches the Tohono O’odham language
to students and families at San Xavier Catholic
School, but she knows that what she’s doing isn’t
simply teaching a language.
She is teaching her students about who they are
and about their culture
Known as “Miss Edith,” Manuel, a Wa:k community
member, an elder in the tribe and a longtime
faculty member, has taught Tohono O’odham
language and art at the school for more than 36
years. In October, the San Xavier District and Wa:k
O’odham Ni’oki committee received copies of their
first comprehensive curriculum guide, paid for by a
series of grants from the Multicultural Initiative for
Community Achievement Group (MICA).
The most recent grant was less than $1,000 and
was used to print about 100 copies of the guide,
and to help pay for food for the families attending
language learning sessions.
The guide is a compilation of lessons she has been
using for the last three years, and its structure reflects
the nature of the O’odham language. Miss Edith
explained that O’odham is a visual language filled
with heart, so a simple memorization model won’t
work well.
“It is mostly a lot of listening. That is how
we were taught,” Miss Edith said. “We also
learn by visual.”
The plans are based on the feasts, festivals and
months of the year, Miss Edith said. For example,
in November the lessons were based on the feast of
All Souls Day. She explained that tribal members
set a table for their deceased family members and
then vacate their homes for 24 hours to decorate
their family members’ gravesites in other parts of
the reservation. She visited her mother’s grave in
Pan Tak and her father’s in San Xavier, placing
crepe wreathes she made herself on each of their
burial sites.
Loretta Pablo has been a teacher’s aide at the
school for two years after serving 26 years in the
school cafeteria. Pablo, a Wa:k community member,
sits in on the language class even though she was
raised speaking the O’odham language in her home.
“It’s a very visual language,” said Pablo.
Miss Edith noted that
“Tucson” is a O’odham word
that translates “at the base of
the black [hill]”, a reference
to a basalt-covered hill now
known as Sentinel Peak, as
one example.
Both noted that when
they were children attending
school, they were prohibited
from speaking O’odham, and all classes were taught
in English. Miss Edith said that it took her until
third grade to be comfortable in English. Pablo, who
speaks perfect English, said she is still not comfortable
today in the language.
Both recalled how other members of the tribe
were sent away to boarding schools and lost almost
all contact with their culture.
Miss Edith said that O’odham language has different
dialects and that even the meaning of words
can change depending where you live. For example,
about 2,000 O’odham live around San Xavier, and
speak Wa:k; however, if you go to Pima O’odham
communities, they speak Akimel O’odham.
With almost all the young people today speaking
English, O’odham language and culture is starting
to fade. Tribal leaders decided to make an active attempt
to preserve language and culture, although not
all tribal elders were comfortable with such an aggressive
approach. Miss Edith noted that she needed
permission from her committee to be interviewed
about the curriculum guide, knowing it would be
published in the Catholic Outlook and potentially
garner even wider attention.
Teaching O’odham is based on a modest learning
model, Miss Edith said. San Xavier students
in grades 1-5 meet one day a week for 30 minutes.
The San Xavier Wa:k community meets twice a
month; families gather for a meal
and lessons for about two hours.
Sometimes as many as 20 families
have attended.
The curriculum revolves around
subjects such as “Colors,” “Feelings,”
“Food” and “Cowboys,”
referring to the roles played by
Tohono O’odham men.
It’s essential that the next generation
comes to understand and appreciate the beauty
of O’odham language and culture.
“They have to know their culture and their history,”
Miss Edith said. “I really want them to learn
the language and keep it alive.”
She read the dedication from the curriculum
guide, first in Wa:k O’odham, then in English.
“This book is for all the Wa:k Community: those
that were here before, for those who are here now
and for the ones yet to come. Our O’odham Ni’oki
is very important. It is our hope that everyone
speaks O’odham and that our language is not forgotten,
it is up to everyone to learn, and speak our
O’odham Ni’oki.”
However, when she read the same dedication in
O’odham, each syllable and word were spoken as if
it had a life of itself.
“It’s really coming from my heart,” Miss
Edith said.