“Someday, some strong people will appear out of us and we will rise up to compete with the world, as it moves on and on.”

AinuAinu - PR

May 10

Chiri Yukie (cheer-eee yoo-kee-yay)

author and story keeper

IMAGE SOURCE: An American Ainu in Diaspora. Tumblr. 16 Sep. 2020. | TEXT SOURCE: “Indigenous Efflorescence: Beyond Revitalisation in Sapmi and Ainu Mosir.” ANU Press. 2018.

QUOTE CONTEXT: “It has been approximately a century since she wrote Ainu Shinyōshū in 1922. But I still wonder whether ‘some strong people’ have really appeared amongst us…We are still struggling to rise to the surface.”

QUOTE QUESTION: Where have you found the strong ones rising among your People?

IMAGE CONTEXT: “Chiri Yukie is the first published Ainu author, and…her eloquence, beauty, and courage still empower Ainu generations today. Iyayraykere, Chiri Yukie. Rest in Power.”

IMAGE QUESTION: How do you stand when the power of your People arises in you?

MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote is from a book published by a university press. The photo is from a personal blog post.

MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: How do you decide whether to focus on traditional publishing or social media channels to lift up the words of your People?

“Someday, some strong people will appear out of us and we will rise up to compete with the world, as it moves on and on.”

Chiri Yukie (cheer-eee yoo-kee-yay)

“For the Basque language the focus is on unity or “we.” It’s about “our hand” or “our land.” It’s “our.” It’s not “I” or “mine.” It’s “we” or “our” because it’s so much based on survival.”

“We demand that…peoples recognize reciprocally the freedom of each ethnic group to use its own language and acknowledge the fact that there exist different ethnic cultures.”