Contemporary Connections: "House Made of Dawn" and Native American English

YouTube personality Auntie Beachress, who "regularly

employs a particularly unique version of the [rez] accent for

jokes and monologues aimed squarely at Native viewers."

How "Rez Accents" Strengthen Native Identity

The above article describes a study done by Native college students on Native American English, or the "rez accent." This vernacular seems to appear consistently across reservations in the United States and Canada. It is speculated that it originated due to Native children being forced into white boarding schools during the 19th and 20th centuries, and the Relocation Act of 1956. Both caused an unprecedented increase in intertribal contact and communication across the continent, which may have resulted in a standardized Native American "accent." Today, a great many Native Americans do not speak their heritage language, and some, like the study's co-founder, Kalina Newmark, derive a sense of pride from their Native American vernacular. As the article says, "Native identity is being shaped not only by the loss — and revitalization — of heritage languages, but also by the repurposing and remixing of English." There are also those who, unfortunately, have been or are afraid they will be perceived as unintelligent due to their accent. The study's founders stress the importance for non-Natives to understand that Native American English does not reflect intelligence, and for Native Americans to understand that the way they speak is "perfectly fine."

This article reminded me very strongly of Abel in House Made of Dawn. At one point, Newmark poses the question, "how do you reconcile your identity with not being able to speak your indigenous language?" This same conflict appears on page 53, when Abel feels that without his language he is not "whole to himself." Throughout the whole novel, Abel's inability to remember his indigenous language strengthens his status as a constant outsider. It reaffirms his displacement in his own tribe because his father was "a Navajo, they said, or a Sia, or an Isleta, an outsider, anyway," and Abel has no way to combat the idea that he doesn't belong. When Tosamah pointedly starts talking about longhairs and trying to make Abel feel singled out, Abel can have no sense of assurance against what Tosamah is implying, and since fighting doesn't work, Abel is left powerless to defend himself. Ben says that after this incident Abel is "hurt inside somehow, and pretty bad."

Abel's language barrier also separates him from his grandfather. It is most likely part of the reason Abel and Francisco communicate so rarely, and cannot understand each other when they do. During Francisco's sickness, he sometimes speaks in the Kiowa language. Abel "[can] think of nothing to say," thus losing his last chance to connect with his grandfather.

I wonder if this novel would have been different if the "rez accent" had played a role in the discussion of language. Perhaps it would have given Abel a better sense of belonging in his community. Of course, it would only have made him more of an "other" to the white people in the factory and the army who call him "chief" and compare him to Hollywood Indians. Perhaps he would even have been less desirable to Angela if she thought he was unintelligent and didn't fit her ideal of the romanticized Indian brave. But perhaps, within the Native community, Abel would have felt more confident in his identity, and more connected to the others within his tribe. Since Abel's feeling of exclusion adds so much to his inner turmoil, this may have given him some element of peace.