[Foundation-l] Cherokee Wikipedia Name Suggestion

Fri Jul 14 04:01:36 UTC 2006

Jeff V. Merkey wrote:

>Oldak Quill wrote:
>  
>
>>Not at all. The best way to improve the site would be to work with
>>other langauge Wikipedias and within Wikimedia. Are you being active
>>in seeking members?
>>    
>>
>Yes, I am, however, our culture is alien to the Wikipedia culture and 
>there are going to be issues
>with the way the site operates.  So far every Cherokee who has edited on 
>WP has gotten banned
>or scrutinized to the point they leave.  We have a concept of respecting 
>the space of a person who is working on something. 
>
I guess this is a question of what you mean by Wikipedia culture.  The 
concept of respect is a big part of it.  The English Wikipedia just has 
a lot of ravens running around trying to impose it.

>WP 's policies allow a 16 year old with a computer to come in and 
>disrupt someone else's work and this
>doesn;t work for us.  Our culture is based on mutual respect, and I 
>believe WP and Wales operate on the
>premise people on WP should be the same way.  This has not been the 
>course followed.  I think WP should
>continue and we can do hat we need with the content -- off site where 
>our cultural issues can coexist peacefully. 
>
Mutual respect is not a function of an editor's age.  There can just as 
easily be wise youth as there can be foolish elders. 

>You wont get many native people editing here due to the way the site is 
>organized -- respect for others is
>lacking in the way articles are edited.  It's ok though, we can still 
>both be successful if we figure out a way
>to create dual environments where folks can be successful.
>
I'm sure it's not the only reason they stay away.  But the reason that 
you cite for the absence of first nations people can just as easily 
apply to people from other cultures, including ones whose only language 
is English.

>I am meeting with the tribal council of the Ute, Shoshone, and Unita 
>Nations on July 18, at 1:30 in Fort Duschene
>on the machine translations for their Wikipedia, so I am making 
>excellent progress.  They also expressed a desire
>to host their content off Wikipedia due to their review of the issues 
>with how the site works -- its alien to most native
>cultures.  
>
I guess this depends on what you mean by "how the site works".  I would 
certainly not encourage machine translations; the results are often 
something that makes native speakers laugh.  Although technical material 
about how the site works is probably best translated, beyond that each 
language Wikipedia (or other project) develops its own culture.

>The Ute's believe their language is sacred and they don't 
>want non speakers working on it for religious
>reasons.  You are going to find this is a prevalent attitude among 
>Native Peoples.  The ute's did not even allow their
>langauge to be written down until the mid 1970's due to their religious 
>beliefs, so this is a big step for them.
>
I have no basis for making comments specific to the Utes, but the 
linkage between language and culture is a well known one.  This kind of 
connection where language was a part of the introduction to a culture's 
mysteries is even a common theme in European cultures.  If it's meant to 
be the Ute material will come in its own time.

Ec