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100 Pasigo Street | Burns, OR 97720
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Language & Traditional Culture Program

BPT > Language & Traditional Culture Program
Burns Paiute Tribe

Wadatika Neme Yaduan Nobi

Contact Information
71208 Foley Road
Burns, OR 97720

Phone: (541) 573-8008
Fax: (541) 573-7806

Mission: To preserve, protect, and revitalize the traditional Wadatika Neme Yaduan language and traditional culture among our membership.

Vision:
The Wadatika Neme, especially Elders, believe that without language we have lost our culture and the essence of who we are.  Language is the most fundamental way that cultural and traditional information is communicated, preserved, and practiced.  Our language holds an unbreakable bond with traditional tribal knowledge.

Wadatika Neme Yaduan Nobi (the Language House) is the stronghold for our language and traditional culture efforts.

The primary goal of the Wadatika Neme Yaduan Language and Traditional Culture Program is to the serve the community by guiding them to retain and revitalize conversational Wadatika Neme fluency amongst our membership.

Wadatika is a dialect of the Northern Paiute language. Like other Indigenous languages of North America that contribute to the cultural diversity of our continent, Northern Paiute is endangered, risking no longer to be spoken. You can make a difference. You can make a tax-deductible donation to our program to support Wadatika language immersion, the creation of language lessons, or the documentation and revitalization of our language.

Our tribal language and traditional culture practices are sacred to us and despite many historic to contemporary hardships, we are determined to maintain our traditional knowledge and values. We appreciate the invaluable support of our program partners in helping us keep up these positive efforts for our community.  We have come a long way but we still have far to go and with one another’s’ help, we will make the journey successfully!

Some of our activities:

  • Tehzi Tuaki Tehsutabe’i – Language Immersion Preschool
  • Community Language Game Nights- 1st & 3rd Thursday of month, BPT Gathering Center
  • Elder’s Language Circle- 2nd & 4th Tuesday of month, BPT Gathering Center
  • Paiute Language Classes to Tribal Staff- Zoom
  • Cultural Programming and Community Field Trips
  • Collaboration with many of the other tribal departments

If you are considering supporting our language and traditional culture efforts through contribution of a tax-deductible donation, please contact Culture & Heritage Director Diane L. Teeman, 541-413-1190 or simply click on the icon below.

Pisa eh! (thank you)

Tribal member or staff of the Burns Paiute Tribe access to the Wadatika language database, audio clips, stories from the Wadatika mumuatepe, nursery thymes for the TTT Preschool, and many more great learning tools; fill out the ‘Non-disclosure Agreement.’

Submit by email to Lindsey.Dick@burnspaiute-nsn.gov . You will receive your ‘Password Code,’ by email to the email address listed on the agreement. Select the ”CLICK HERE” section below yaisi follow the prompts & gain access to the “Neme Yadua” page. Pisa mabitsia. Pisa nanamadegen. (Take care of yourself. Treat each other well)

CLICK HERE: If you’ve submitted your “Non-Disclosure Agreement” and have received your PASSWORD CODE to the “Neme Yadua” page.

Our Partnerships

The U.S. Department of Education provides us with a three-year grant that supports the academic performance of Native children, the implementation of language and culture education among our youth, and the promotion of appropriate Native youth leadership. Visit website.

The Oregon department of Education continues to support the vitality of the Wadatika Paiute language via biennial grants. These support all our program activities.

The Oregon Community Foundation has been a generous donor to the Language and Traditional Culture Program as well as other Burns

Oregon Humanities awarded us the SHARP Project grant to prepare a database of sound files of the Wadatika Paiute language.

In the past, the Potlatch Fund www.potlatchfund.org has supported our efforts by offering both mentorship and funding to complete a community language survey, develop a language and traditional culture program strategic plan. Potlatch Fund continues to support our work as we implement the goals of our strategic plan.

The Oregon Cultural Trust https://www.culturaltrust.org has provided financial support in the way of matching funds for language and traditional culture grants that support our efforts, and has offered support every year.

The Wadatika Neme Yaduan Language Traditional Culture Program was re-established in 2014 with the generous financial support of the MICA Group https://micagroup.org.

The Native Culture Arts & Cultures Foundation https://www.nativeartsandcultures.org/ has supported the implementation of our language lessons for youth as well as helping our Elder Language Expert Group grow.