Robert Mirabal: Language & Culture - The secret is sacred and the sacred is secret...

Indigenous languages are in danger. As communities become dissipated, urbanized and traditional ways less adhered to, it has become difficult to keep indigenous language alive, to continue their use in day-to-day living.
2-time Grammy winner, multiple Native American Music Award winner, composer, performer, actor, farmer Robert Mirabal of Taos Pueblo, whose first language is Tiwa, talks about how language is related to culture, place, and community and how without community, there is a domino effect that can destroy culture, including the all important element of language.
Robert Mirabal is one of the architects of Tribal Rock. He took rock music and layered it into the tribal as opposed to earlier Native artists who put some tribal elements into rock and roll. The distinction is important and speaks to the essence of keeping indigenous language thriving and vital. By maintaining a traditional and/or Native base, the music Robert creates honors the culture from which he comes, whether the pieces are based in the traditional or are contemporary.
Preserving and revitalizing language is not just an academic or ethnographic exercise. Virtually all indigenous languages are oral traditions. Oral traditions only survive if they are spoken. Language is the underpinning of a culture, of its traditions and of its people. Without language there is no culture. Without culture, no traditions. Without traditions, no heritage. Without heritage there are no people. It is important for the next generation - and the existing generation! - to realize this truth, embrace their native language and hold onto oral tradition, passed down through story, song and dance. It is secret. It is sacred. As Robert says, “the secret is sacred and the sacred is secret”. What he means is within tradition there is the key to unlock the knowledge of who you are. Knowing who you are allows you to embrace the past in the present while moving forward with confidence into the future. Language is the doorway. Music and the arts can open the door.
Support for this video provided by:
Government of Canada
Red Music Rising - www.redmusicrising.ca
LyricFind - www.lyricfind.com
Avokado Artists - www.avokadoartists.org
Produced by Avokado Artists
www.Globalquerque.org
"Ee-You-Oo" is from the album "Taos Tales" by Robert Mirabal
℗ Yellow Aspen Cloud Productions. Used by permission.

[@pat153-ku1lu]

Pat Graham from edinburgh l love all your songs 🎵 🎵 ❤️ 💙 ♥️ 💕 💗 🎵 ❤️ 💙 ♥️ 💕 💗 🎵

[@charlie77111]

Dear Robert, I first became aware of you from your 2001 PBS appearance and I have loved you ever since. I love your elegant truths, I love your profound insights and I adore your fantastic music. How many languages do you speak? I truly wish you, your family and your people all the best in this crazy world. Love from a white man, Charlie (Just to the north in Colorado!)