Representative Heather Wilson: “At a government-run boarding school for American Indians in the 1920s, Esther Martinez was not allowed to speak Tewa…”

“At a government-run boarding school for American Indians in the 1920s, Esther Martinez was not allowed to speak Tewa, her native language. Nor could she listen to the kinds of stories that her grandfather would tell her at her native San Juan Pueblo, now known as Owingeh. The goal of the school was to assimilate American Indians, and that meant leaving the past, the stories, and the language behind. But Mrs. Martinez never did. After graduating from high school, Mrs. Martinez raised 10 children on an income earned from working as a janitor and in other service industry jobs, and she taught her children Tewa. Esther took linguistics classes, and in her 50s she became a teacher. She taught Tewa in the local public schools. In 1983, her dictionary of San Juan Tewa was published, and just a little more than 2 weeks ago on September 14, Esther Martinez was honored as one of 12 2006 National Heritage fellows by the National Endowment of the Arts, the highest recognition in the folk and traditional arts in America. Two days later, as she returned to San Juan Pueblo, Esther Martinez was killed in a car accident in Espanola, New Mexico, caused by a suspected drunken driver. She was 94 years young. With the permission of her family and particularly of her grandson, Matthew, and the support of Governor Joe Garcia, I would like to honor Esther's efforts to preserve native languages by naming this bill for her. Our native languages are dying.”