Henry Willis – författare

Choctaw Language and Culture combines a beginning language and grammar text with a selection of essays on Choctaw history, language, and culture from prehistoric times to the present.In part one of the book, ""Chahta Anumpa,"" Marcia Haag, a linguist, and Henry Willis, a native speaker and Choctaw instructor, present the Choctaw language. Each chapter begins with a conversation or a Choctaw story. Designed for classroom use and to preserve the rich heritage of the Choctaw language, the lessons introduce new words, explain sentence construction and correct usage, and provide exercises in grammar and composition. Part two, ""Kaniohmichi-hosh Okchayat Il-asha (""The Way We Live""),"" contains essays on Choctaw history and culture written especially for this volume by leading scholars in anthropology, history, linguistics, archaeology, and Native American studies. Beginning with ""The Ancient Ones,"" the chapters describe Choctaw prehistory, daily life before contact, ritual and religion, trade, removal to Indian Territory, schools, newspapers, and contemporary life.

Building on the foundations laid by the first volume of Choctaw Language and Culture, this follow-up text presents a more advanced linguistic study of Oklahoma Choctaw, accompanied by short stories and anecdotes written by Choctaws in their native language.The book is organized around twelve texts with translations, each followed by a grammar lesson, a vocabulary section that acquaints students with new words, a word-study section, and exercises. The authors present such topics as idioms, ways to say ""or,"" negative conditionals, and compound tenses. Particularly important is the subject of negation, which permeates Choctaw at all levels, and the concept of definiteness. The authors also demonstrate the many ways a single Choctaw word can be modified to yield subtle differences in meaning. Exercises encourage the student to think about how the language works rather than relying on rote memorization.Volume 2 of Choctaw Language and Culture is designed to help teachers and students alike further their understanding of Choctaw by working with and mastering grammatically complex examples of its use. It marks the first such advanced textbook of Choctaw as well as the first easily available reference grammar for teachers. By including actual voices of Choctaw people describing their own lives, it also represents a unique new repository of Choctaw culture.Contributors include Jay McAlvain, Phillip Carroll Morgan, Grayson Noley, Bill Nowlin, Lois Pugh, Eveline Steele, and Tim Tingle.

The early decades of the nineteenth century brought intense political turmoil and cultural change for the Choctaw Indians. While they still lived on their native lands in central Mississippi, they would soon be forcibly removed to Oklahoma. This book makes available for the first time a key legal document from this turbulent period in Choctaw history. Originally written in Choctaw by Peter Perkins Pitchlynn (1806-1881), and painstakingly translated by linguist Marcia Haag and native speaker Henry Willis, the document is reproduced here in both Choctaw and English, with original text and translation appearing side by side.A leader and future chief of the Choctaw Nation, Pitchlynn created this record in the wake of a series of Choctaw Council meetings that occurred during the years 1826-1828. The council consisted of chiefs and other tribal statesmen from the nation's three districts. Their goal for these meetings was to uphold traditions of Choctaw leadership and provide guidance on conduct for Choctaw people ""according to a common mind."" Featuring an in-depth introduction by historian Clara Sue Kidwell, this book is an important foundational source for understanding the evolution of the Choctaw Nation and its eventual adoption of a formal constitution.