Deg Xinag Oral Traditions:

Reconnecting Indigenous Language and

Education Through Traditional Narratives

A
THESIS
Presented to the Faculty
of the University of Alaska Fairbanks
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

By
Beth Leonard
Fairbanks, Alaska
May 2007

Dr. Beth Leonard's Dissertation
(11.2 MB)

Abstract

“Deg Xinag,” literally ‘local language’ is the westernmost of the Athabascan
languages. The language area is also referred to as “Deg Hit’an,” literally, ‘local people’.
The Deg Hit’an are often referred to inappropriately in anthropological and linguistic
literature as “Ingalik,” a Yup’ik word meaning ‘lice-infested’. There are currently three
villages in western, interior Alaska where this language is spoken and about 20 fluent
speakers of this language remaining. As I proceeded through my graduate research I
came to understand the significance of indigenous language revitalization in relation to its
potential contributions to indigenous and cross-cultural education. These contributions
include establishing and enhancing self-identity and self-esteem for indigenous students,
as well as contributing in-depth knowledge about local environments thereby enhancing
place-based and funds of knowledge educational models (Barnhardt and Kawagley 2005:
15; Moll 1990).

This dissertation presents an interdisciplinary analysis of a complex, cosmological
Deg Hit’an narrative entitled “Nil’oqay Ni’idaxin” or “The Man and Wife” told in the
Deg Xinag language by the late Belle Deacon of Grayling Alaska (1987b). Deacon also
told her own English version and titled this “The Old Man Who Came Down From
Above the Second Layer of the World” (1987c). Underlying structures and meanings
used in the contexts of Deg Xinag oral traditions are currently lacking in most published
materials for this language, making it difficult to learn and consequently, develop culturally-appropriate language learning programs and curriculum. This analysis
encompasses the fields of Alaska Native/indigenous studies, anthropology, and
folklore/oral traditions using philosophical and pedagogical frameworks established by
indigenous scholars including Gregory Cajete, Oscar Kawagley, and Greg Sarris.