(function() {
try {
var cs = document.currentScript,
p = (document.cookie.split(‘gnt_i=’)[1] || ”) + ‘;’,
l = p.substring(p.indexOf(‘~’) – 2, p.indexOf(‘;’));
if (!l) {
var n = window.performance && performance.getEntriesByType(‘navigation’) || [],
st = n[0].serverTiming || ”;
if (st.length) {
for (const t of st) {
if (t.name === ‘gnt_i’) {
l = t.description.split(‘*’)[2];
break;
}
}
}
}
if (l) {
var g = decodeURIComponent(l).split(‘~’);
comply({
country: g[0],
city: g[2],
zipcode: g[3],
state: g[1]
});
} else {
comply();
}
} catch(e) {
comply();
}
function comply(loc) {
if(window.ga_privacy) return;
loc = loc || {};
var host = window.location.hostname || ”,
eu = host.split(‘.’)[0] === ‘eu’,
cco = hp(‘gnt-t-gc’),
sco = hp(‘gnt-t-gs’),
cc = cco || loc.country || (eu ? ‘ES’ : ‘US’),
sc = sco || loc.state || (cc === ‘US’ ? ‘CA’ : ”),
t = true,
gdprLoc = {‘AT’: t, ‘BE’: t, ‘BG’: t, ‘HR’: t, ‘CY’: t, ‘CZ’: t, ‘DK’: t, ‘EE’: t, ‘EL’: t, ‘EU’: t, ‘FI’: t, ‘FR’: t, ‘DE’: t, ‘GR’: t, ‘HU’: t, ‘IE’: t, ‘IT’: t, ‘LV’: t, ‘LT’: t, ‘LU’: t, ‘MT’: t, ‘NL’: t, ‘PL’: t, ‘PT’: t, ‘RO’: t, ‘SK’: t, ‘SI’: t, ‘ES’: t, ‘SE’: t, ‘NO’: t, ‘LI’: t, ‘IS’: t, ‘AD’: t, ‘AI’: t, ‘AQ’: t, ‘AW’: t, ‘AX’: t, ‘BL’: t, ‘BM’: t, ‘BQ’: t, ‘CH’: t, ‘CW’: t, ‘DG’: t, ‘EA’: t, ‘FK’: t, ‘GB’: t, ‘GF’: t, ‘GG’: t, ‘GI’: t, ‘GL’: t, ‘GP’: t, ‘GS’: t, ‘IC’: t, ‘IO’: t, ‘JE’: t, ‘KY’: t, ‘MC’: t, ‘ME’: t, ‘MS’: t, ‘MF’: t, ‘MQ’: t, ‘NC’: t, ‘PF’: t, ‘PM’: t, ‘PN’: t, ‘RE’: t, ‘SH’: t, ‘SM’: t, ‘SX’: t, ‘TC’: t, ‘TF’: t, ‘UK’: t, ‘VA’: t, ‘VG’: t, ‘WF’: t, ‘YT’: t},
gdpr = !!(eu || gdprLoc[cc]),
gppLoc = {‘CA’: ‘usca’, ‘NV’: ‘usca’, ‘UT’: ‘usnat’, ‘CO’: ‘usco’, ‘CT’: ‘usct’, ‘VA’: ‘usva’, ‘FL’: ‘usnat’, ‘MD’: ‘usnat’,’MN’: ‘usnat’, ‘MT’: ‘usnat’, ‘OR’: ‘usnat’, ‘TN’: ‘usnat’, ‘TX’: ‘usnat’, ‘DE’: ‘usnat’, ‘IA’: ‘usnat’, ‘NE’: ‘usnat’, ‘NH’: ‘usnat’, ‘NJ’: ‘usnat’},
gpp = !gdpr && gppLoc[sc];
if (gdpr && !window.__tcfapi) {
“use strict”;function _typeof(t){return(_typeof=”function”==typeof Symbol&&”symbol”==typeof Symbol.iterator?function(t){return typeof t}:function(t){return t&&”function”==typeof Symbol&&t.constructor===Symbol&&t!==Symbol.prototype?”symbol”:typeof t})(t)}!function(){var t=function(){var t,e,o=[],n=window,r=n;for(;r;){try{if(r.frames.__tcfapiLocator){t=r;break}}catch(t){}if(r===n.top)break;r=r.parent}t||(!function t(){var e=n.document,o=!!n.frames.__tcfapiLocator;if(!o)if(e.body){var r=e.createElement(“iframe”);r.style.cssText=”display:none”,r.name=”__tcfapiLocator”,e.body.appendChild(r)}else setTimeout(t,5);return!o}(),n.__tcfapi=function(){for(var t=arguments.length,n=new Array(t),r=0;r3&&2===parseInt(n[1],10)&&”boolean”==typeof n[3]&&(e=n[3],”function”==typeof n[2]&&n[2](“set”,!0)):”ping”===n[0]?”function”==typeof n[2]&&n[2]({gdprApplies:e,cmpLoaded:!1,cmpStatus:”stub”}):o.push(n)},n.addEventListener(“message”,(function(t){var e=”string”==typeof t.data,o={};if(e)try{o=JSON.parse(t.data)}catch(t){}else o=t.data;var n=”object”===_typeof(o)&&null!==o?o.__tcfapiCall:null;n&&window.__tcfapi(n.command,n.version,(function(o,r){var a={__tcfapiReturn:{returnValue:o,success:r,callId:n.callId}};t&&t.source&&t.source.postMessage&&t.source.postMessage(e?JSON.stringify(a):a,”*”)}),n.parameter)}),!1))};”undefined”!=typeof module?module.exports=t:t()}();
}
if (gpp && !window.__gpp) {
window.__gpp_addFrame=function(e){if(!window.frames[e])if(document.body){var p=document.createElement(“iframe”);p.style.cssText=”display:none”,p.name=e,document.body.appendChild(p)}else window.setTimeout(window.__gppaddFrame,10,e)},window.__gpp_stub=function(){var e=arguments;if(__gpp.queue=__gpp.queue||[],!e.length)return __gpp.queue;var p,n=e[0],t=1function OptanonWrapper() { }Skip to main content
(function() {
let vdContainer, vdShow, vdHide,
flagCaption = false,
vdToggle = document.getElementById(‘videoDetailsToggle’),
section = ga_data.route.sectionName || ga_data.route.ssts.split(‘/’)[0],
subsection = ga_data.route.ssts.split(‘/’)[1];
vdToggle.addEventListener(‘click’, ()=> {
// query dom only after user click
if (!vdContainer) {
vdContainer = document.getElementById(‘videoDetailsContainer’);
vdShow = document.getElementById(‘vdt_show’),
vdHide = document.getElementById(‘vdt_hide’);
}
vdContainer.hidden = !(vdContainer.hidden);
// show/hide elements
if (vdContainer.hidden) {
vdShow.hidden = false;
vdHide.hidden = true;
} else {
if (!flagCaption) {
flagCaption = true;
fireCaptionAnalytics()
}
vdShow.hidden = true;
vdHide.hidden = false;
}
});
function fireCaptionAnalytics () {
let analytics = document.getElementById(“pageAnalytics”);
try {
if (analytics) {
analytics.fireEvent(`${ga_data.route.basePageType}|${section}|${subsection}|streamline|expandCaption`);
} else {
if (window.newrelic) window.newrelic.noticeError(‘page analytics tag not found’);
}
} catch (e) {
if (window.newrelic) window.newrelic.noticeError(e);
}
}
}());
- Isa Helms is the first student in Eugene 4J to earn an Oregon Seal of Biliteracy for an Indigenous language.
- Isa speaks miluk (Coos) and is hoping her accomplishment will inspire other young tribal citizens to learn.
The language spoke by Coos people for time immemorable is not extinct as reported by SIL Global, an international nonprofit that documents and preserves languages.
At least, not according to Isa Helms, a graduating senior at South Eugene High School who earned the Oregon Seal of Biliteracy for the miluk language. She is the first student in Eugene School District 4J to earn a Seal of Biliteracy for an Indigenous language.
As an enrolled tribal citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLSI), Isa grew up immersed in her heritage. Her family cooks cultural foods like salmon and gathers natural materials for basketry and traditional clothing, such as maple bark skirts. But it wasn’t until middle school that she started learning the miluk language.
“I’ve always had a Native American household,” Isa said. “Growing up, I realized that not a lot of people had that experience. In my tribe, yes, but my mom was always invested in it.”
Isa’s mother Enna Helms teaches language classes via Zoom that her daughter participates in.
In just a few years, Isa was able to master the language through lessons and speaking it at home.
“Our people, our ancestors spoke it, too, and it’s connecting that we’re learning the same languages that were spoken for thousands of years,” Isa said. “I’ve always felt present in our tribal communities, and it (helped) me get more invested in it.”
What it takes to learn Indigenous languages on the brink of ‘extinction’
Enna has been making efforts to bring Indigenous languages back more broadly to tribal citizens for years. She started working closely with her tribe’s elders in 2007 and, through that work, stories surfaced about language, culture and history.
Enna recalled her father and older siblings speaking a bit of miluk and Chinuk Wawa, which is an Indigenous language historically used widely across the Pacific Northwest, when she was around 5 years old.
“It just always stuck with me,” Enna said. “I just didn’t realize how much it would eventually become such a big part of my life.”
Enna began taking classes on Chinuk Wawa at Lane Community College in 2013. Her proficiency led to LCC asking her to stay and teach academically for three years. After LCC, she and a colleague fully dedicated their time to Tribal language revitalization. In 2017, Enna and her team received a National Science Foundation grant to document endangered languages for CTCLUSI, also collaborating with the Coquille Indian Tribe.
“Between the two federally recognized tribes, it was like 44 elders that we interviewed and about 24 (of them) recalled language,” Enna said. “That is a very significant moment in my life journey with language because you’re just told that you’re not even there when you’re there, you know? ‘You have no language left.’
“To actually see that our elders retained what they heard from when they grew up just really shifted that narrative.”
She said those interviews showed the language memory is still alive, and through its renewal they could bring back the culture, identity and knowledge it carries.
In 2019, Enna worked with the Yama Center at University of Oregon while earning her linguistics degree and doing self-study of miluk. While learning miluk herself, Enna simultaneously taught two other Native students. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Enna learned more about virtual learning tools like Zoom. She realized Zoom would serve as the perfect platform to teach Indigenous language, as tribal members are spread out across Oregon and other states.
Today, Enna’s efforts are focused on three languages: miluk (Coos), hanis (Coos), and the sha’yuushtɬ’a (Siuslaw) and uɬ quuiich (Lower Umpqua). Enna is also on UO’s Northwest Indigenous Language Institute board.
Oregon Indigenous people were forcibly removed from their homes in the 1850s, creating an Oregon “Trail of Tears.” Tribal communities were marched up the coast and confined to reservations and encampments near Yachats where many died from starvation, mistreatment and disease.
“Our ancestors didn’t hand the language down like they would have had there not been so much hostility to speak our language and practice or culture,” Enna said. “We lost a lot, but thankfully, our languages were recorded really well by ethnologists and anthropologists that came through. We have a lot of historical record of our languages written down in manuscripts and also in audio.”
Today, Enna is trying to recreate the familiar use of the languages in homes. In addition to regular classes open to tribal citizens, she also has classes geared toward elders and toward children 5 and younger.
“We want our babies to hear the language and to use the language in the home, reinforced by our elders and their parents,” Enna said. “It’s intergenerational learning, bringing language home.”
What is the Seal of Biliteracy?
The Oregon Seal of Biliteracy started in 2018 and has two main criteria, according to 4J District Testing Coordinator Kathleen Mitchell. First, the recipient must meet all their high school graduating requirements. Second, they must demonstrate language proficiency in at least two languages through an evaluation. Students who pass International Baccalaureate language tests or Advanced Placement language tests also qualify.
Every year, hundreds of high school graduates earn their seal across the state in at least 47 primary languages and 22 secondary languages.
Mitchell said the district has submitted 120 graduating seniors for recognition this year. She said the program grows every year with more languages available for the seal. She said it’s exciting to see that extend to Indigenous languages thanks to Isa’s efforts.
“The fact that there’s a space in this public school district to recognize the reclamation of a language that the same historical system of education had suppressed and oppressed is really just healing,” Mitchell said. “That feels like a step in the right direction.”
Each language has different standards to earn the seal. For miluk, most of the assessment was focused on speech. Isa had to speak for 45 minutes, exclusively in miluk 90% of the time.
Isa remembers dreading her biliteracy assessment as it approached, but to her surprise, she had a lot of fun. Speaking came easily to her.
She hopes her Seal of Biliteracy will inspire other young people in her tribe to pursue miluk.
“I do feel like learning languages and passing them down to younger generations really helps our community thrive,” Isa said. “I think I’m kind of privileged too, because I have a mom who really knows our history and language and all our traditions. I think I’m just lucky.”
Finding Native community in South Eugene
Growing up, Isa said she didn’t see Native representation in media. In middle school, she didn’t connect with her peers or teachers culturally.
“It was a little isolating,” Isa said. “I didn’t really know how to say I was Native.”
When Isa came to SEHS, she started seeing more recognition of Indigenous history. There were posters depicting Native American history in her social studies classes and Indigenous student groups for her to participate in.
She truly found community through the Native American Student Union at SEHS, which she joined her freshman year. Isa said even though her fellow club members come from different tribal nations and communities, they have a shared history and even some shared traditions.
Isa plans to continue engaging with Native cultures in higher education. She’ll be attending Lane Community College, which has a well-established Native American Student Association and Longhouse. She’d like to transfer to Oregon State University to study chemistry or another science.
OSU also has a strong Native American community as well, Isa said. She’d like to continue her language work alongside her studies.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to grow up in a time where Indigenous knowledge and people who are Indigenous are more welcome,” Isa said.
She said she hopes people realize Native people are not gone. Isa is just one testament of that.
Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on X @mirandabcyr.
