Convocation ‘20: Erin Hashimoto

The opportunity to learn a language is something most of us take for granted, especially if our ancestors belong to one of the majority languages where resources are plentiful. Learning a few words of Japanese from her grandmother as a child, Erin Hashimoto knew that at any point she could pick it up again, and it was only when she learned about endangered languages as a linguistics student that she realized opportunities afforded to her are not necessarily afforded to others.

Working to preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages drives Erin’s academic life. She is committed to bridging the gap between scholarly research and the Indigenous communities she serves. In 2018, she received the Roger S. Smith Undergraduate Researcher Award in support of her project, “A Digital Corpus of Makah Oral Stories”. Over the summer, she reformatted and digitized archived Makah language materials, the Indigenous language spoken in northwestern Washington. Working with her supervisor, Jorge Emilio Rosés Labrada, Erin ensured that the materials she developed were offered back to the language teachers in the community.

Since completing her coursework, Erin has been working on campus as a coordinator with the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI), Canada's largest training program for speakers and learners of Indigenous languages. This fall, she will begin a master’s program in linguistics at the University of VIctoria, producing resources for endangered language revitalization.

What drew you to the area of your study?

Becoming aware of endangered languages was the thing that motivated me to pursue my interest in linguistics. When I learned about the 70+ Indigenous languages in Canada and the 34+ in my home province of B.C. specifically, my major and minor were an easy choice to understand the context I want to work in.

Growing up, my grandma taught me little words or songs in Japanese and I would feel so proud of how happy it made her when I remembered the words or thanked her for my meals. Even though I haven’t learned much more Japanese since being a kid, I’ve always taken it for granted that if or when I decide to learn, there would be books, movies, classes, and apps that could help me. But learning about language endangerment and oppressive policies in Canada allowed me to realize how fortunate I am to have all these ways of reconnecting with Japanese. So, my passion for language revitalization comes from my own personal connections to language, as well as a broader understanding of the histories here. If I am able to support the creation of resources that allow a People or even one person to reconnect or reclaim a language that their parent or grandparent spoke, to me, that’s a driving force to continue doing this type of work.

What is the most remarkable thing you learned while you were a student?

Categories and classifications are helpful shorthand, but the world probably won’t fit into all the little boxes we learn about to make it easier for ourselves. I mean that in a couple of ways.

Linguistics as a field has a lot of terms that theories that we learn about in the beginning, and by your 3rd year, professors are openly questioning whether any of it is real. It’s somewhat unsettling, but also reassuring to see people in the field continue to question themselves and each other to shed light on new or different perspectives.

Similarly, looking at courses labeled within certain departments or faculties, the classes that have taught me the most about language revitalization work have oftentimes included conversations about law, history, rights, technologies, ethics, or research methods. All of these are important skills and perspectives to have a background in regardless of your area of focus.

Did you face any significant challenges, and if so, how did you deal with it?

Being a student for the second time [she has a Bachelor of Commerce], my experience has been different in that I have also had some pressure to make sure that I can continue to support myself. I was fortunate to be able to find work opportunities on-campus doing work or research that interest me, but it did add to the regular mental load of being a full-time student.

I think another factor of coming back to school is that my family is also getting older. Being away from home has been more of a challenge for me this time around and there isn’t a lot you can do to help from so far away. For me to manage, it’s always just been a lot of phone calls, emails, or letters to stay in touch as well as having people to talk to here when things were hard.

How did you manage the challenges of navigating student life under COVID-19 restrictions and remote learning?

I had luckily finished my classes in December, but have been working on-campus in my role with the CILLDI Summer Program. CILLDI invites Indigenous language activists and speakers to take courses that promote language continuance through pedagogical and linguistic training as well as a Cree immersion course, usually over three weeks in July.

We made the decision to move our courses online fairly early because so many of our students travel to attend, but it’s been sad not having our time together to look forward to. The summer program is always such a highlight because it brings language speakers and learners from all over together to share their stories, experiences, and goals with other people who are passionate about the same thing. There will be new challenges trying to create the same sense of togetherness remotely, but it’s exciting to think about the different ways we can hopefully connect despite everyone’s continued isolation.

What piece of advice do you wish someone had given you when you started?

The best thing you can do is to get to know the people around you. Especially as someone who is more comfortable being quiet in class, getting to know your professor, TA, or classmates from the first week makes the semester so much better. Breaking the ice early on has allowed me to feel comfortable asking questions or getting help along the way and the more that you do it, the easier it gets. Volunteer, find a student group, or become part of a program that interests you. Most people are happy to help and support each other—there’s nothing to be nervous about!

The Future is Arts! This story is part of a series celebrating our graduates. Please join us for a virtual convocation, Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m. MST. at ualberta.ca. Registration is not required.