Culture First or Deaf First?

There has been a lot of stories or comments about the belief that Deaf people see themselves as a"Deaf person first" and everything else is second. Or in some cases see themselves as "Deaf first" but is co-equal with another strong identity like "when both his/her identity as a Black person AND ALSO his/her identity as a Deaf person are integral to who they are." But let's challenge one notion that being "Deaf first" is not always the case. Nor would it always be desirable in the sense of identity by seeing themselves as "Deaf first" paramount to other others. Doing so could in fact be unproductive and even damaging as we have seen in my earlier blogs (here and here). There are such things as having a culture that is so strong they see themselves as secondly as a Deaf/deaf person. A case example of this would be deaf and hard of hearing Native American Indians who see themselves as a Native American Indian first and a deaf person second. Mark Azure exemplifies that very example:

"As a child when I moved to a deaf school off tribal lands I couldn’t participate in my cultural rituals such as pow-wows and ceremonies. My life was like a torn piece of paper. When I could reconnect these ceremonies and my ability to be first a Native American and then a deaf person my life came together again.” - Mark Azure, Intertribal Deaf Council

It is interesting to see, understably so, on why Deaf Native American Indians would see themselves strongly as Indians first and not "Deaf first." Many of them had no choice but to learn the "Deaf world's" own language (ASL) and culture separating them from their own Indian culture and language. And sometimes wanting to stay connected to their Indian culture proved challenging when resources to do so prevents them. James Woodenleg offers a classic problem of his upbringing and trying to move forward in his life as an Indian first, Deaf second.

The need for interpreter services is illustrated in the story of James Woodenlegs, a very traditional man who currently serves as the spiritual advisor for the Intertribal Deaf Council. He is Northern Cheyenne from Montana. His first languages are Cheyenne and American Indian Sign Language (AISL). He learned American Sign Language while attending the School for the Deaf. When he graduated from the School for the Deaf, he wanted to get a job on his reservation but was unable to get a job because the tribal vocational rehabilitation office did not have the resources to provide services for him.

James found himself in a dilemma. He moved to Albuquerque and went to an Indian reservation in New Mexico to ask for VR services. The VR office said, “Well, if you're an Indian from a tribe out of state, we can't serve you either. You'll need to go back home to Montana.” He eventually got a job in Albuquerque on his own.

People like James Woodenlegs who grew up using American Indian Sign Language were able to communicate with people in their communities, despite being Deaf. Today, there are very few people with whom he and other AISL users can communicate using AISL. American Indian Sign Language is going more and more by the wayside, so there isn’t as much access with its use.

Those startling words, "Today, there are very few people with whom he (James Woodenleg) and other AISL users can communication using AISL. American Indian Sign Language is going more and more by the wayside, so there isn't as much access with its use."

The article continues.

The term “American Indian Sign Language” is a general concept that includes any of a number of sign languages used by American Indians that are distinctly different from American Sign Language (ASL). The most common AISL used among many tribes that occupied the Great Plains is now referred to as Plains Indian Sign Language. In general, compared to ASL, the use of AISL requires much broader strokes with the hands, greater use of arms, and fewer facial expressions (Thomkins, 1969).

There are Indian people who are Deaf growing up in their communities who don't know important things about their heritage, their culture, and their identity. Sign language interpreters would help these people communicate so that they could learn and take an active part in their community.

There is a need for interpreters who are proficient in ASL, but there have to be interpreters who understand the culture of American Indians who are Deaf. That is an important message for those in the interpreter field to understand. Mr. Dunbar and others conducted an informal survey of American Indians and Alaska Natives from various cultural backgrounds to find out if they would prefer an interpreter who was proficient in the use of sign language and had no cultural understanding, or one who was perhaps not as proficient but had a much greater understanding of the culture. Eighty to 90% said that they would choose a less proficient interpreter who had cultural understanding of the people, more cultural sensitivity, and was able to blend into the community better.

Not many statistics are available on Deaf American Indian populations. However, it is known that Native people are four times as likely to have hearing loss than members of the dominant culture and American Indians and Alaska Natives are the populations least served in terms of disability and rehabilitation services, including those for people with hearing loss. Causes of hearing loss stem from a higher incidence of otitis media among American Indians to different aspects of reservation life that cause head injuries. Also, living and working in remote areas, far removed from medical services, makes medical treatment more difficult to obtain for Native Americans

In one Indian tribe, the Sioux tribe, communicated often using their region's Indian Sign Language. The famous and well known Indian named Sitting Bull had a deaf son named "Blue Mountain" who had no problem communicating with his people. But today, Deaf Indians have lost that status.

Sitting Bull, famous chief from the Sioux Tribe, had a Deaf son whose name was Blue Mountain. The language of Blue Mountain was Indian Sign Language. In that region, it was a very common language, and people were able to freely and openly communicate with each other. In that society, everyone was considered equal.

Today, Deaf Indians have lost that status. They don’t consider themselves equal. That is a goal, to go back to the tribal ways and the traditions of American Indian and Alaska Native people, where all are seen as equals, where everyone is able to communicate and use sign language as a very cherished and important part of the culture.

Blue Mountain was able to communicate with anyone in his community. It gave him the freedom to be or do what any Lakota man had the freedom to be or do. When the Lakota moved on to the reservation, anyone in Blue Mountain’s community could be an interpreter for him in dealing with government agents.

Today, Deaf Indian people who want to obtain employment are stymied by the fact that they don't have interpreting services in their own communities. When public entities are willing to provide interpreters, urban interpreters are often not willing to drive out to remote reservation areas to provide services.
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Sign language is a very important part of American Indian and Alaska Native tradition and culture. From the southwestern United States to Alaska, sign language is included in the dances, songs, and ceremonies of Native people, even though the signs might not be used every day. Alaska Native people sing, dance, and tell hunting stories and funny love stories. Hopi Indians will talk with their hands about planting corn and about the rains. Through the sharing that occurred at the sign language interpreter training program, the IDC, in collaboration with NMIP and AIRRTC, helped preserve some of the tradition and culture of the American Indian people.

And so the story goes. Read more on the written works found in "Wisdom of the Storyteller."

Mark Azure provided workshops that touched upon topics earlier this year like "how communication among Deaf Native American communities varies from communication in the general Deaf community." Topics also include information about Indian Sign Language, of course.

About Mark Azure: He is Chippewa Cree-Dakota and Tsimshain and grew up on two reservations – first on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota and on the Warm Spring Indian Reservation in Central Oregon where his parents worked for the Bureau Indian Affairs and Indian Education. He attended the Oregon School for the Deaf, apart from anyone familiar with the Indian World. Because of this, Mark didn’t practice any Native American traditions until 1995 when he first experienced the Deaf Native American Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since 1995, he has found rebalance and regained his Indian Spiritual and cultural involvement.

In the Spring 2000 newsletter the Intertribal Deaf Council (IDC) stated that “IDC has a commitment to never turn away First Nations Deaf, many of whom have had no access to their culture before becoming affiliated with their own Cultures. Our doors are open to all who wish to come back to the Circle, learn or share their Native Traditions, and to ”WORK TOGETHER” (in Indian Sign Language)...May all Deaf and hearing Indigenous Peoples Walk in Beauty.”

Indeed. How ironic that there was a society such as the Indian tribes of the past who considered their deaf Indians as their equals and communicated with them as equals.