Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation hosts language revitalization conference, builds community

Elon University’s department of Native American and Indigenous Studies held an Indigenous language revitalization conference in LaRose Commons on Nov. 20, filling the space with open discussion and community building.

The conference was in partnership with the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and led by assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies and professor of the Yesa:sahį language revitalization course Corey Roberts. 

The conference began with the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation land acknowledgement and its significance to Elon University. The acknowledgment is used to recognize that Elon was built on the land of the Eno, Tutelo, Saponi, Occaneechi and Shakori native people. 

The conference continued with a panel of community language leaders, such as Tony Hayes, Teresa Pollak, Shaheen Hedgepeth and Martin Saniga, and their insights on the importance of language revitalization for their people and culture.

They discussed the importance of preserving native languages and their ability to connect people to their ancestry, specifically the Yesa:sahį language, which no longer has fluent speakers.

Chief of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation Tony Hayes shared the significance language has for indigenous communities. 

“It identifies you as a person, it identifies your culture, it identifies traditions,” Hayes said. “And the language brings all of that together.”

Elon University students who have taken Robert’s Yesa:sahį class also attended the conference, forming their own panel.

Elon junior Amaylie Bethea was part of the student panel. She said the language is culture. 

“Without language, we lose a part of ourselves,” Bethea said.

Elon sophomore Nate Wilshire, also part of the panel, mentioned the importance of keeping the language alive.

“‘The sleeping language’, you know, reawakening it,” Wilscher said. “You’re reawakening the culture with it.”

Hayes said the conference and the community's involvement is important.

“The level of participation; the level of excitement about doing really hard work because native languages are really different from what people are used to speaking,” Hayes said. “Just the sheer effort and commitment of everybody here.”

The conference ended with interactive student-led activities for participants to engage in learning of the Yesa:sahį language and Occaneechi community.