Peru’s Language Policies in Times of Change?
, -
Location: Room 1512 of the International Affairs Building, Columbia University, 420 West 118th St, New York NY 10027 (map)
Welcome: Odi Gonzales (Quechua Language, NYU)
Introductory Remarks: T. James Matthews (Native Peoples Forum, NYU)
The last few years have seen important developments in the politics of indigenous languages and language rights in Peru – developments that have not only local and regional but global significance. This talk will briefly explore the historical background, and provide firsthand insights into how and why things could be changing looking at it from the two perspectives: top down and bottom up initiatives. In 2006 the congress rejected Law 806, “In Defense of the Use and Preservation of Original languages of Peru” on the grounds that the country was not ready for this kind of legislation. However, in the last four years, the terrain has shifted even more significantly. There has been an explosion of literature, music and other popular cultural expressions in mainly Quechua and Aymara and the presence of indigenous languages is becoming more evident in the media and in other public domains. On June 23rd 2010, proposed legislation 806 was approved in Congress, unanimously.
There have also been new regional initiatives in Bilingual Intercultural Programs such as the one in Apurimac, called QUECHUA FOR ALL. Bilingual Intercultural Educators are at the forefront of these changes, acting in many ways as policy makers, negotiating, interpreting and recreating language education policies. Lastly, although there had previously been indigenous elected officials, there is a new generation of indigenous congress people who use Quechua on a daily basis – in their offices and on the floor of the congress. Drawing upon my background in sociolinguistics and my work as a language rights specialist in the office of one of the indigenous congress people who has sponsored the language rights legislation, I will share some thoughts on the topics proposed.
Miryam Yataco is Faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development in the Multilingual and Multicultural Education Program. She is also a member of the NYU Native Peoples Forum. She will be introduced by T. James Matthews, Ph.D., Prof. Emeritus Psychology and Neural Science, and Director of the NYU Native Peoples Forum. Odi Gonzales, Quechua language instructor at NYU, will offer a welcome to CLACS' 2010 Quechua Week.
Quechua Week 2010 is a series produced by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at NYU. This series is sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) at Columbia University, the NYU Native Peoples Forum, the NYU Steinhardt Metropolitan Center for Urban Education NYS SBETAC, and the NYU Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Quechua Week is supported by the National Museum of the American Indian, the NYU Department of Cinema Studies, Pachamama Peruvian Arts, the UN Peruvian Cultural Club, and CinemaTropical.
