The Occaneechi Tribe of the Saponi Nation has been what Tribal Chairman Tony Hayes considers a well kept secret within Alamance and Orange counties — something he is hoping is changing.
In two weeks, Oct. 12 and 13, the tribe will host a Powwow, the Occaneechi’s largest event of the year, Hayes said. The tribe is expecting between 5,000 and 10,000 people in attendance, depending on the weather, and Hayes said in most years there have been about 6,000 people — many of them non-tribal members.
“Lots of people aren't aware that powwows are really for, primarily for non Indians, because obviously the Indians that we have there already understand our culture and our nature and the things that we do and our social skills,” Hayes said.
At the powwow, Corey Roberts, professor of Native American and Indigenous studies, will be running a language table for the Occaneechi language Yesa:sahį́, featuring a board game he created, incorporating the language, along with other games such as blackjack and Rock, Paper, Scissors, all also taught in Yesa:sahį́.
Yesa:sahį́ a once fully spoken language, only had 753 words left in it as of 2018. Now, Roberts, one of the most fluent people in the language, has been working to revitalize the language — and is bringing the language to Elon beginning in winter term class.
Roberts did not know he was Indigenous until his father died in 2017. After that, he and his cousins began looking into their geneology, discovering their grandmother’s side was Occaneechi, a tribe located primarily in Little Texas, Pleasant Grove Township and Alamance County, while other members of his family were Tuscarora, an Indigenous tribe from northeastern Canada and the U.S.
Roberts then said he wanted to learn more about his culture without being intrusive so figured he would start by learning the language. He then realized this would not be a simple task because of what little was left of the language.
“I decided I'm going to throw my efforts into helping the language come back,” Roberts said. “It's not me single handedly, there have been people working on it for decades, but I've been able to get a level of linguistics training that's been really helpful in this process, and I'm really thankful that I'm able to get back to the various members of the language community.”
Roberts’ language class will look different from other languages taught at Elon for a number of reasons. A main difference is that class will be open to community members, of any age, who do not attend Elon. This class is not something Roberts wanted to do without the help and support of the local community and throughout the entire language revitalization process, Roberts has included and relied on members of the Occaneechi Tribe. While other universities have worked on language revitalization efforts before, Roberts said this class at Elon is not something he’s seen done before.
“Setting out in conjunction with the university to enlist the help of the students, while learning the language, to also help build the structure of the language and work in conjunction with tribal members — I’m hoping that that is a positive and unique experience for everyone,” Roberts said.
The class won’t be free for community members, Roberts said. He decided to charge $20 for the class, but the money will go to the tribal nation, not to Elon.
There have been previous classes focusing on aspects of Native American culture, including Native American literature, which Paula Patch, professor of English, is teaching this semester. She said Elon and the Office of Inclusive Excellence have prioritized education and programming on Native American history and culture, because students wanted the university to do so.
“Native American Student Association asked for it,” Patch said. “Those of us who are allies of that organization and those students have also asked for it, and, and this was one of those places where people at Elon said, ‘Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, and we've really been able to run with it and expand on it.”
Patch is also the adviser for NASA, something she said she came into naturally because of her interest and previous knowledge of Native American culture. Patch got her master’s degree at Eastern New Mexico University and said Native American literature was included in its coursework, because of the large amount of Native history and current tribes in the state. Patch also grew up in North Carolina, another state with a large Native population, and said she grew up learning about Native history and throughout her education and then teaching, has focused on Native American culture. She said she always included Native American authors in her classes and whenever the opportunity arose, she has listened to Native speakers.
She also said as she is not Native herself, it is important for her to make sure the books and videos she includes in her classes are mostly authored by Natives, to help provide a more authentic perspective.
“There's some ways in which having a white woman teach Native American literature, still means that we're sort of colonizing that space, in a way, and so I just see myself as the steward of the space,” Patch said. “If we were to get somebody who's doing scholarship, someone who was Native American or indigenous identified, and they're doing really cool work in Native American literature, would gladly seed my course.”
There is also some debate within the Indigenous community surrounding who should learn Indigenous languages, something Roberts is aware of as he prepares to teach this course.
“I've had people who are not from any tribal communities, not native, say to me, ‘Well, I believe this language should be available to everybody,’” Roberts said. “And I'm like, ‘Well, of course you would.’”
Roberts said he encourages students to sign-up and is hoping the class has many students but also wants to make sure the class teaches Yesa:sahį́ in a holistic and respectful manner.
“Depending on how the numbers work out, you may have a lot of Elon students, not tribal members, learning the language more and more in depth than the tribal members actually know,” Roberts said. “That's a sensitive point, because I don't want people to go into a tribal situation and say, ‘Well, I can speak your language. Why can't you speak it?’”
Right now, Roberts said students are likely largely unaware of the class being offered. This is something he is hoping to change, he said. He also is hoping to appeal to students in a different way than in a typical language course, as the real-world applications for Yesa:sahį́ differ.
“Because I'm a linguist, I point out things comparatively so taking this class will actually also help you to understand more about language period and help you learn more about language in general,” Roberts said.
Despite there being no Occaneechi students at Elon, according to Roberts, staff members at Elon have been working to invest in their relationship with the Occaneechi Tribe, and the tribal leaders are working to partner with the university more.
“I think most people have this rubber stamp of what it is to be an Indian,” Hayes said. “All tribes are very, very different, and they have different habits and base and different geographies, so really, just more of a shared fellowship and a cultural experience that I think people really don't understand, because most people think, ‘Well, you've seen one Indian, you've seen them all.’ — and that's not necessarily the case.”