People of the Sacred Language: Revival of the Hocak Language

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Issue Date
2009-06-12Author
John, Tashina Marie
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
72 pages
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
M.A.
Discipline
Indigenous Nations Studies
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This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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Show full item recordAbstract
The native language of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is Hocak, today an endangered language. The Hochungra, meaning "People of the Sacred Speech", originally came from present day central Wisconsin. This thesis first identified four factors important in language loss: movement out of environment, external duress, internal duress and loss of critical mass. A qualitative analysis of these factors to Hochunk history revealed that the first two factors most explained the decline in the Hocak language. These same factors, in reverse, also accounted for the Ho-Chunk's ability to better preserve the language.
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- Indigenous Studies Dissertations and Theses [21]
- Theses [3827]
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