Words Like Birds

Jenanne Ferguson is an assistant professor of linguistic anthropology at the University of Nevada–Reno.

"Informed by an awareness of comparable case studies of Native American and other Indigenous language revitalization projects, Words Like Birds is itself a must-read not just for specialists but for all who regard language as a critical resource for maintaining Indigenous cultures and for those who know that revitalization and reclamation are so much more than merely language documentation."-Paul V. Kroskrity, Native American and Indigenous Studies “Ferguson’s vibrant ethnography offers a multifaceted view of contemporary Sakha cultural and linguistic practices, blending analyses of syncretism and language revitalization with explorations of place, movement, and belief to capture speakers’ complex understandings of what it means to be Sakha.”-J. A. Dickinson, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont

• List of Illustrations                                                                                                     Notes on Transcription and Transliteration                                                               Acknowledgments                                                                                                     Introduction: A Short History of Sakha                                                                                 1. We Have Always Been Adaptable: Frameworks for Sakha Language Vitality                2. Sakha under the Tsars and Beyond: Language Policies and Communicative Norms       3. Like Sweet Cream and Lingonberries: Language, Spirits, and Sustenance                      4. One Drop Traveling along a Great Artery: Moving the Ulus to the City                         5. Sakhalyy in the City: Language Mixing and Indexing Authenticity                                 6. Acquiring Russian, Maintaining Sakha: Language Choices and Life Trajectories           7. Ohuokhaj in Lenin Square, Hip Hop in Virtual TÜhulgeter: Adapting New Spaces for Sakha    Conclusion: Words Like Birds                                                                                              Notes                                                                                                                          References                                                                                                                 Index