Historically, Brazil is a multilingual country, it’s estimated that more than a thousand languages were extinct since the arrival of the colonizers. Over 150 indian languages are now spoken many with less than 10 speakers. These languages are part of the intangible heritage of Brazil.
A group of researchers from UNICAMP is taking actions for the survival and revitalization of these indian languages, transforming spoken languages into written and documented ones. By reviving a language, it is possible to know the history and the culture that was effaced over time. It is also possible to recover the identity of a people.
It is impossible to discuss language revitalization without discussing also religion. For us, Guarani-Nhandewa, religion takes place in what we call “Oy Gwatsu” “Oy Gwatsu” is a school. It is a college in which we prepare ourselves, and the others learn from it for example, how medicine is made how we can read time how we can understand bird and animal languages.
All survival and knowledge were received through “Oy Gwatsu”. We still carry these ancestral cultural features, even if nowadays we wear clothes, perfume and we cut our hair. However, we always wear our ornaments, because by doing this we keep the memory of our ancestors alive.
This language revitalization program is done in indigenous schools of São Paulo State. It is a work held by researchers and teachers 0:01:54. 400,0:01:58.
840 that make immeasurable efforts to pass on this traditional knowledge gerações. to further generations. awati-gwi, pikwá-wé amonỹe awã.
[speaking in the language] Does anyone want to continue reading? Atsapukái aáwy. Kykóty kymõty anhanĩ [speaking in the language] Amono’õ ramõ awati, a’eramõ mbairi’i oinỹ.
[speaking in the language] In our Linguistics Department one of the actions of extension projects is a Revitalization Program of Indigenous Languages in São Paulo State. We have been working on the revitalization of indigenous languages in many locations, but, more specifically, in the Nimuendajú Village we have a project in partnership with the research group InDiomas, the NGO KAMURI and with FUNAI. We developed a language revitalization project with the Nhandewa-Guarani language, which is sometimes also called Tupi-Guarani by the communities; with the Kaingang Paulista, which is a dialect in process of extinction, with less than 10 native speakers; the Krenak in São Paulo, which are a dismembered community from MInas Gerais, their original territory, and we also work with theTerena which are dismembered communities for over a century from Mato Grosso State.
There is a large group of villages in São Paulo State which benefit from this Project. It is possible to see communities in which the language is once again spoken and learned. We could concretize a work of three years of a process of construction and standardization of a language that did not have an established written system and during this process, 0:03:48.
700,0:03:56. 380 we learned a lot through the contact with the ancient writing, the reading of Curt Nimuendajú’s book, who has registered the origin myth of the Guarani-Nhandewa people and from that point we began a discussion that allowed to put this project into action. We began the standardization of the Guarani-Nhandéwa language and we came out with a grammar book and a book of the updated Guarani-Nhandewa sacred creation myth.
Today we have accomplished a very important work to the language strengthening of the Nimuendajú community and village and to the Guarani-Nhandewa people. Workshops, books and multimedia materials are part of the actions that stimulate new possibilities of language production. The teachers began to work with the language inside the classroom, we had a great evolution through the workshops in order to build the grammar.
These activities have been much valuable to us and we do not want to lose this whole culture that belongs to oral tradition, but we did not have it written. Our first achievement was the volume 1 of the grammar. The elaboration of the second volume was made in partnership with the coastal Guarani.
We want to achieve even more. This process has been helping a lot in regard to children education, even for us because we were losing our language. We really wanted to practice our language which was being lost.
It is no use wanting to practice if you have no one to talk to. Now, with this coming of Professor Wilmar, everything has returned, pudemos retomar o aprendizado. we were able to resume learning.
Now kids are developing language well. As crianças passam a Kids are getting to know their history they question the reports and help us with the learning. That is a satisfaction I have today.
Because I could learn more from some of the things that we have found out. The professor motivated us to recover our language. Today we have a line to follow We have the grammar knowledge that helps us teach the students in our schools.
It has been of great help to the community within the village. I participated and learned a lot so I keep studying. It was wonderful to participate in this process As a father, village resident, and community member.
It is important that young people in the community become aware of it and get involved in these research works on their origin and their customs and culture. Grammar is important because it brought us new words that we were forgetting to use nowadays. I am not very good at grammar practice this has been my first year, I am learning new things.
I think it is important to learn the grammar. I did this drawing to represent a village. The big house in the middle represents the leader and the surrounding ones are part of the leadership in the functioning of the village.
The research strengthens the ties between Academy and indigenous peoples, generating joint projects, thus bringing benefits to both. Everybody took part in our Workshops in the last years. The participation of children of elementary school and the students of high school and schools for adults and besides the school, there was also the participation of the community, people who have ancient knowledge of the native language.
This collective allowed us to reap the fruit. This result that we could reach with this partnership, developing this work in the school has strongly reflected inside the school, the students got better at language acquisition. Our students are fluent, a little shy to talk.
They know much about the grammar, even more than me because they have more contact. , It is a work that forms new researchers forms new teachers also and a work that brings information and knowledge into the university and therefore it has research results which are in academic and conference publications and also influences our university teaching. It is culture material.
And so it benefits communities which today have a new life and new dynamics in schools and in everyday life we see the language making people happy again because they play an important role in identity. We, the nhandewa guarani, have our religion as the base of everything. Our religion allows everything to spring from it.
I want to talk a little about a very ancient symbolism which remained in our memory until today We have this very strong symbolism for us In the beginning of the world when God who we call Nhanderuwutsu, when he created the world for Him, when he settled the Earth in the Sky, he took two pieces of wood and crossed. He crossed these woods and left them crossed. We represent this symbolism like this today, with our djetsaá.
And this wood inside the big house, the Oy Gwatsu, we call ywyrá djetsaá And this adornment we use too we call it djetsaá. It is a symbol of the pillars that represent the foundations of the Earth. I am proud to be tupi-guarani to talk about the culture, I will die with this.
it is in my heart, a mark that will never be forgotten. The day I leave this land, History will continue because my son and the others will keep this generation going, so the culture does not die here I’m very well, my father, on today. You gave something good for us.
You stay really with us. Strengthen us. Again, a lot.
Thank You! I thanked our God for everything He helped us with, for this day, and for we being here. Because He helps us, and He’s with us every day in our living.
You are part of the history of the State University of Campinas with this partnership we have created and all this beauty you can show today, the living language. “He gave you a great mission in your life thanks to your help and dedication you have understood us. You are very important for us!
