Greenlandic is an Inuit language, a branch of the larger Eskimo-Aleut family. It is spoken by 50-60,000 people in Greenland.
Greenland is unique as a new world country whose only official language is the native one, the colonial language Danish being demoted in 2009. Greenlandic’s rise to linguistic dominance comes hand in hand with the nations independence from Denmark and establishing a new modern orthography for the language, a source of pride for the now 100% literate nation. There are two primary dialects; West Greenlandic or Kalaallisut, and Eastern Greenlandic or Tunumiit oraasiat. Kalaallisut is the government standard and as a result Tunumiit oraasiat is considered endangered.
Like other Inuit and North American languages, Greenlandic is polysynthetic. This means that the language makes aggressive use of inflection and derivation to create single words with meanings that normally take who phrases or sentences in English. For a quick example “oqaq” is the word for tongue, “oqarpoq"is the derived verb for “he says”, and “oqaasilerisoq” is a linguist. Verbs are even more complex than nouns, and raise questions about the basic nature of word class. In some linguistic and pedagogic works on the language you will find the term “postbase” referring to a kind of semantically “heavy” verbal suffix. These “postbases” often have the same meaning as some common full verbs like “have”, “say”, or “think”, but exist only as derivations for other verbs.
My monthly check didn’t come because I have to get recertified re SSI, and my depression has been acting up due to not only the change in weather but also due to no Internet to distract me. My past due balance (what I need to pay to get my wifi back up) is $332.26 but overall it’s $514.93. My paypal is girlwatershaman@gmail.com and any amount will do. I just don’t want the bill to keep growing…
Seriously, I don’t want this hanging over my head during the holidays…
Check out this list of fascinating and amazing Native women who have been erased and ignored in history for far too long.
Zitkala-sa (1876–1938)
Zitkala-sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) (Yankton Sioux) was a writer and activist who used her work to promote respect for Native religion and culture, as well as civil rights. She worked with Winnebago artist Angel DeCora early in her writing career, and her books and stories brought attention to Native issues. An accomplished musician, she was also the first Native person to compose an opera, Sun Dance Opera.
Buffalo Calf Road Woman (1850s? – 1879)
Buffalo Calf Road Woman (Northern Cheyenne) saved her brother, Chief Comes in Sight, at the Battle of Rosebud, rallying the Cheyenne to defeat Gen. George Crook and his troops. In 2005, after a 100-year silence on the battle, Cheyenne storytellers revealed that she also struck the blow that knocked Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer off his horse just before his death at the Battle of Little Bighorn (aka “Custer’s Last Stand”)—the most successful battle waged by Native warriors against U.S. troops in the West.
Lyda Conley (1869 – 1946)
Lyda Conley (Wyandot) was one of the first female Native attorneys. Along with her sisters Sarah, Helena, and Ida, she worked to protect and preserve the Huron Cemetery in Kansas City. She and her sisters set up a shack on the grounds of the cemetery, armed with muskets, to prevent the sale of the land.
Zitkala-sa is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. It’s always been a goal of mine to get there and lay roses and tobacco at her grave, but I haven’t made it yet. My friend’s wife’s family is from Arlington, though, and a couple years back they did it for me.
Back when I had a Facebook, she posted the image of the grave to my timeline and someone who was once a student of mine was like, “Wow! she was my great-great aunt!”
There are a bunch of other supercool NDN women y’all might wanna know about, too:
Maria Pearson, Yankton Dakota agitator who successfully challenged the US government over the treatment of Native human remains, which eventually led to the establishment of NAGPRA.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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