Northern California mural is revitalizing Native language. ‘We are literally unerasing ourselves’
A mural exhibition in partnership with the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe features a new written adaptation of the Nisenan language.
The ‘Uba Seo series, which began in Spring 2021, showcases “The Story of Land, Water and People,” which includes the Nisenan names for various plants and animals, with illustrations by Nikila Badua, an Indigenous artist.
Originally, Nisenan was only spoken, said Shelly Covert, the spokesperson for the tribe.
There are currently no fluent Nisenan speakers in their tribal membership, added Covert. She and other Nisenan descendants only remembering words their elders would use.
The Nisenan language has gone through different iterations of a written system. She can recognize four adaptations, but with different shapes and symbols that aren’t consistent with each other, all previous attempts haven’t been comprehensive.
In collaboration with professional linguist, Benjamin Joeng, the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe pulled documentation and recordings of the Nisenan language, as well as cultural knowledge, to construct the language shown in the exhibit.
“They were just capturing sounds because they were out here early on, talking to tribal people. So there’s a lot of inconsistencies with those writing systems compared to one another,” Covert said. “We’re starting from zero, trying to learn our language again.”
Revitalizing Nisenan language is more than reviving the tribal membership’s fluency. It’s a matter of cultural survival and reminding people that Native people still exist, Covert said.
“We are literally unerasing ourselves,” Covert said. “We’re putting ourselves back in perspective in the scope of the history of California and the nation.”
The gallery is located in downtown Nevada City and is open on Thursdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Trying to rebuild culture
The Nisenan were one of the many tribes who survived the California genocide of Indigenous people. In the 19th century, more than 16,000 Native people were killed. Throughout the 1800s, the population dropped from as many as 150,000 to 30,000 due to ethnic cleansing and state-sanctioned mass murder.
Stripping away the tribe’s language was one of many genocidal method which affects the tribe today, Covert said.
The Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe later lost federal recognition in 1964 as a result of the Indian Termination policy, which sought to dismantle tribal sovereignty. The tribe is still fighting for federal recognition back.
Without federal recognition, tribes lack sovereignty, meaning they have no rights to self govern. These tribal communities often aren’t supported and given the autonomy for funding, land and land back and rights over cultural belongings.
Currently, the tribe’s current membership is under 150. If the tribe was federally recognized, Covert estimates their count would be larger.
“There are genocide survivors all these years later and the descendants of who’s left. There’s not a whole of folks,” Covert said. “The shatteredness of our culture, that’s what we’re trying to rebuild.”
The gallery is a part of the California Heritage Indigenous Research Project’s Visibility Through Art initiative, which works with artists and tribal members on social justice and environmental issues, according to a news release. CHIRP, a nonprofit who frequently works with the tribe, said the exhibition was funded by the California Arts Council, a state agency and a program from the Nevada County Arts Council known as the Upstate California Creative Corps.
“When you walk into the gallery, and you see these Nisenan words overlaid over the landscape of animals and the plants they’re representing, or the geographic features, you really feel that link between the people, the culture and their ancestral homelands,” said Mira Clark, the Visibility Through Art coordinator.
Covert said the gallery is also a part of the tribe’s efforts to gain back federal recognition. With her ancestors having survived the California genocide, Covert said the exhibition is about sustaining culture.
“Every memory, every story, every person’s name, every place, every tribal cultural practice that remains is a miracle,” Covert said.
“Language is everything,” she continued.
This story was originally published August 31, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of linguist Benjamin Jeong’s name.
