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The Arizona Republic
7.25.2006
Tucson, Arizona | Published: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/139279
By Christine L. Romero
PHOENIX — The boxes were tucked away when the government found Curtis Cook
on the Internet.
They had been in storage for about 20 years — not quite forgotten but now
collecting dust.
The Library of Congress wanted the documents that Cook created with the help
of seven Zuni elders.
In those boxes sat years of Cook's life and work. It was the origin of the
written Zuni language, and the library wanted it. Creating a Zuni alphabet
was a mission that Cook took on alone, right after he finished some graduate
linguistic studies in the mid-1960s.
His first goal had been to create a Zuni version of the Bible, but he
quickly realized the language didn't have a written form.
The Goodyear resident dedicated 15 years to the Zuni people, who live
predominantly in New Mexico and in Arizona, east of Flagstaff.
Without Cook's efforts, it's likely that the Zuni language would have
perished as the elders passed away and young Zunis forgot the tongue.
Forgetting the language would have forever cut a tie between the generations
of Zunis.
"I became concerned that many of their old stories and the richness of their
history would be lost to posterity as the elders, who were the storytellers,
began to die off," Cook said.
The elders were all older than 100 when Cook began his work.
The Library of Congress' intention is to preserve the work and eventually
make the traditional Zuni stories more widely available.
Cook's work has allowed the Zunis to teach their written language to
children from kindergarten through high school on the reservation.
The Zuni words are even on street signs, which Cook proudly notes are
spelled correctly.
By the end of this year, "The Curtis Cook Collection" is expected to be
inducted into the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center.
During his time on the reservation, Cook also approached the Zuni Tribal
Council and suggested that some of the tribe's stories be recorded and
preserved. The council agreed, and eventually about 300 reel-to-reel tapes
were created with Zuni oral histories, folk tales and religious teachings.
The collection will include those tapes, transcriptions, learning guides and
some Zuni publications.
Cook, 67, is the associate state director of community outreach for AARP
Arizona. Previously, he was director of the National Indian Council on
Aging.
When Cook talks about his time with the Zuni, known as "a friendly people,"
his eyes light up and seem to dance with respect and excitement.
In telling traditional Zuni stories, he infuses rhythmic Zuni words with
English ones. To the English-speaking ear, the Zuni language seems breathy
and includes many pauses that translate into meaning.
On the reservation, Cook's constant chattering and repetition of Zuni words
and phrases earned him the names "the Mockingbird" and, later, "the Locust"
among the Zuni Pueblo, now numbering 10,000 people.
Language experts say there likely are pockets of the world where some
languages exist only orally, even today.
Other oral traditions have morphed into written languages in a similar
missionary fashion to Cook's intent to create a Zuni version of the Bible,
experts say.
For many, the preservation of language in a written form allows them to stay
connected with their history and roots.
"Oral tradition keeps certain kinds of intergenerational contacts," said
Guha Shankar, folklife specialist with the American Folklife Center. "It
keeps memories alive."
Without a written documentation, the Zuni oral tradition could have been
lost, Shankar said.
Cook's work piqued the Library of Congress' interest because he collaborated
directly with native speakers in the pueblo, Shankar said.
"The difficulty with some cultural communities is that as older speakers of
the language pass away, the future generations aren't as likely to pick it
up," he said. "Then you have some suggesting that the language might not be
around for future generations."
Cook meticulously made language records, including transcribing traditional
stories passed down through the generations. He used the International
Phonetic Alphabet, a commonly accepted series of symbols among linguists, to
capture the Zuni language.
"I was concerned that all of their history would be lost forever," Cook
said. "My belief is when people get their language in writing, it launches a
whole new era. We take notes so we can remember."
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