NMAI Presents Prism Award at NIEA

MILWAUKEE, WI -“Shaping the Wisdom of our Future Leaders” was the theme of the 40th Annual National Indian Education Association Conference in Milwaukee on Oct. 22-25. The conference featured educational workshops and forums on various subjects ranging from native language revitalization to a summit featuring tribal leaders.

Among the leaders speaking on the importance of quality education was National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. Stevens who spoke on Oct. 23 and introduced his 99-year-old grandmother, Maria Hinton, during his speech. He said it was her teachings and repeated encouragement to preserve traditional language and culture has been echoed in so many young and in some cases older Oneida, many of which still call her grandmother to this day.

The National Museum of American Indians honored Hinton on Oct. 7, with the inaugural Prism Awards in Washington, D.C. She was selected as “an outstanding individual who has demonstrated extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service in their local community.” Stevens accepted the award on behalf of his grandmother who suffered a slight stroke days before and could not attend. Because of this, NMAI made the journey to the NIEA conference to honor Hinton on the main stage during Stevens’ address.

NMAI recognized Hinton as an educator and a pivotal person who has worked nearly 40 years to preserve the Oneida language. A tribal elder at the age of 99, she is one of three remaining fluent speakers, and she still teaches occasionally. She and her brother, Amos Christ John, developed the definitive dictionary of the Oneida language. The dictionary was digitized into a searchable online database that contains more than 34,000 words, including 900 sound files of pronunciation. Hinton was an original representative to the Wisconsin Native American Languages Project, which preserves the language and culture of the state’s five Indian tribes. She has recorded Oneida stories collected from her memory and other tribal elders and has been active with the Oneida Language Revitalization Program. She continued her work as an educator until she retired at the age of 92. Even in retirement she remains active continuing to teach.

“My grandma has been on the forefront of the battle for her entire life and is now one of the few elders in Indian Country who were born into a culture in which their native language was their first language,” Stevens said. “These people are treasured repositories of our culture and language.”

Stevens said, “The honor was a special day of generational recognition for the Oneida people.” Leida Rodriguez, also of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, addressed the crowd prior to Stevens. At just 7 years old, Rodriguez, is Miss Yenikhulhaka’nyses [She Persuades Them] and represents the area schools as a youth assistant in cultural public presentations and is involved in learning her native Oneida language.

“To see the commitment to the preservation of our Oneida Nation language passed on through to today’s generation in children like Leida, brought about by the early works of my grandmother was truly inspiring,” Stevens said.

Stevens concluded, It was a great day for the Oneida youth at this national education conference. The Oneida Nation students concluded the morning with a powerful demonstration of the traditional long house music and dance. Maria Hinton sat by after receiving her award proud as they carried on the Oneida tradition.