Madras High School is speaking Native students’ language

Madras High School language teacher Dallas Winishut used stuffed animals Monday, Sept. 19, to help his students remember animals’ names in Ichishkin, the language of the local Warm Springs Tribe. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)

His Madras High School students pick them up eagerly, conscious that they also now safeguard the flickering flame of the Warm Springs Tribe’s language. 

The Jefferson County School District has added this school year four periods of Ichishkin, the Warm Springs’ language. The district serves the Warm Springs Reservation, and one-third of its students are Native American. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs includes the Wasco and Paiute. 

The district is partnering with the tribal government to help Native students succeed in school, with tangible results. The statewide American Indian/Alaska Native graduation rate was 67% in 2021, but in Jefferson County the rate was nearly 80%, just shy of its rate for all students.

Expanding its Native language class offerings is just one way the district helps ensure that all students feel welcome in school. 

Madras High reworked its schedule to open one period of Ichishkin in January. It was so popular that the high school opened four periods this year. 

The language class motivates students such as senior Gunner Herkshan to come to school each day and finish out this year. He said life on the reservation can leave people feeling isolated, and learning his people’s languages helps solidify bonds. 

He has been teaching himself Kiksht, the Wasco’s language. He is thrilled to take a class learning Ichishkin even though it’s not really related to Kiksht. 

The district’s Warm Springs K-8 Academy offers Ichishkin, Kiksht and Numu, the Northern Paiute language. The district wants to offer all three at the high school, too, but it’s hard to find teachers. 

The disappearance of many Native languages traces its roots to the federal government’s 19th century efforts to forcibly assimilate younger tribal members into Western culture. Before they largely disappeared in the 1970s, Native American boarding schools forced Native children to drop their customs andbirth tongues. Many of those children didn’t pass on their language when they became parents because of their boarding school traumas. 

The Warm Springs reservation has only about 16 people who speak Ichishkin fluently, four who speak Numu and three who speak Kiksht, according to Valerie Switzler, general manager for the tribes’ education administration. 

Switzler said the high school had Native language classes in the past, but a lack of resources and the loss of elders had disrupted them. 

The district and the tribal government have worked closely to get grants. The district also uses some of its own money to pay for the teachers, who are contracted through the reservation’s government.

Switzler said students understand their culture better if they understand the foundational language. Maintaining their culture and history is key to protecting the tribes’ sovereignty, Switzler said. 

She said tribal elders told her: “Don’t let our languages die. It’s part of who we are.”

She welcomes the non-Native students who are also taking the classes, which include lessons about food, song and family relationships. 

“It gives a better understanding of who we are, our thought processes and what we hold dear,” she said. “One day they might be that legislator or a person who has influence on a school board.”

 Madras High School students attend a new Ichishkin language class on Monday, Sept. 19. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)

Kevin Richards, Jefferson County School Board chair, said the classes are part of the district’s emphasis on celebrating its diversity. 

At the K-8, Principal Lonnie Henderson reworked his school’s schedule to make sure students could have enough time to make meaningful progress in the elective language classes. 

Even at a young age, the students understand the power of these classes. Sixth grader Bethaliss Smith said she needs to learn her language so she can be a better member of her tribe. Sixth grader River Edwards said it feels “more traditional” to talk to family in Ichishkin. 

Middle school students learn enough to understand and read some but not enough to initiate conversation. With the high school classes, the district aims to lift students to the conversational level so they can earn the Oregon Seal of Biliteracy. The seal recognizes students who have achieved a high level of proficiency in a language in addition to English. In 2020, the first students earned the seal in a Native language. 

Madras has beginner and second-year classes this year, with plans to add more advanced classes with coming years. 

Superintendent Jay Mathisen said U.S. school districts have a “dark history” of how they interacted with students; the Jefferson County district is striving to write a different chapter. He said it was not the district’s role to rebuild Native culture, but rather to listen, be humble and partner with the local tribes that have the expertise.

Mathisen credits school board and tribal member Laurie Danzuka with helping the district reach its Native students. He said she is a fierce advocate for Native children while still safeguarding all students’ needs. Danzuka, the 2021 Oregon School Board Member of the Year, has been on the board since 2009 and aims to nurture Native students’ pride in their identity and history. 

“It took a long time to get where we are now,” Danzuka said. 

Madras High senior Alyssia Scott said it makes her happy to talk to her grandfather in his birth tongue. Senior Noalani Harry said it “just feels good” to say the words, and she wants to teach Ichishkin herself someday so the language is never forgotten. 

On a recent day, Winishut sang for the class while quietly beating a drum. He talked about the tribes’ histories. He shared personal stories that incorporated the day’s vocabulary. 

Winishut has been teaching Ichishkin for 30 years. His mother spoke the language, but she didn’t teach him because she was of the generation that thought they were helping their children by only teaching them English. He learned in community classes and from elders.

“I learned out of necessity,” he said. “It’s in my blood. It’s who I am.”

He feels a responsibility. Some of his students are descendants of those elders. His class is about who they are.  

- Jake Arnold, OSBA
jarnold@osba.org

Madras High senior Hayden Heath said one of his favorite parts of the Ichishkin language classes is learning the names of common things such as animals, colors and days of the week in his family’s language. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)