The topic I am interested in exploring is how Indigenous Indonesian communities relate to the land and how these relationships illuminate ways to work for environmental justice and confront climate change. I will begin my research using the environmental justice atlas, a resource my geography sustainability course. The following two examples exemplify how this proposed topic relates to linguistics.
During our class discussion of culture and language a couple of classes weeks ago, the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis caught my attention. This experiment illuminated how our language shapes our worldview and the way we engage with the world. As evidence, the study had some subjects identify which of the ten squares was different. To English speakers, it was incredibly difficult to see differences between these color samples, which all appeared to be green. But to those of this other particular culture, which has several different words for green, the difference was immediately apparent. However, when shown a blue square amidst a bunch of green ones, these people could not identify it as different because they only have one word that encapsulates blues and greens. As an artist, I found this study incredibly fascinating. I have been painting at the river a lot this semester and doing my best to capture the nuance in colors that I see. I noticed that the ROYGBIV categorization of colors limits my ability to identify unnamable grays and browns of nature. It seems like I have to actively work to get outside of my usual color vocabulary if I want to accurately paint what I see
I heard another example of how language shapes the way we perceive the world when I attended a keynote speech by the indigenous scientist and writer Robin Kimmerer. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer greeted the audience in her native tongue, which is endangered. She noted how her teachers ask her to use it whenever possible to keep it alive. At the end of the talk, an audience member who was an interdisciplinary artist interested in endangered languages asked about the importance of learning indigenous languages. Kimmerer affirmed that her native tongue promotes a reciprocal relationship that acknowledges the personhood of nature. For example, English positions humans as superior to everyone else with gendered pronouns while everything else is an objective "it." In Kimmerer’s native tongue, plants are spoken of as brothers and sisters. In Bahasa Indonesian, there are no articles whatsoever, so people and animals are on the same level. I am curious, though, about gendered nouns in indigenous Indonesian languages.
In my Indonesian class, we have talked about different occupations, such as farming, so I know some relevant words for my topic. We have also discussed different places to eat, but have not gone over how Indonesians, especially those living in rural locations, produce food. I will talk with my language instructor about having a culture class about Indonesian land practices. Alternatively, I can plan to ask her about how Indonesians relate to the land and environmental justice issues during a one-on-one tutoring session. Overall, I am excited to learn how language shapes local Indonesians' sustainability worldviews.
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