Bible
in own language inspires Cheyenne
By
Becky Shay
BUSBY,
MT—Hearing and now reading the Bible in her own
language has changed Verda King's spirituality.
“A
long time ago I tried to read King James,” King
said. “It wouldn't make sense to me until I heard
it in Cheyenne . It struck home with me.”
King, who is among a group of people who have worked on
translating the Bible into Cheyenne , said reading the
translation has motivated her to “dig deeper”
in her spirituality and made the Bible more meaningful.
“It's
helped me to have a deeper relationship with God,”
she said.
Willis
Busenitz, pastor at White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church
, said that deeper understanding comes from learning in
one's “heart language.”
“It's
the language deep down inside of here,” Busenitz
said and put a hand on his chest.
People have been working on the translation for about
30 years. Their cumulative effort has resulted in the
translation of at least part of most books of the Bible
and the entire books of Luke, 1 John, Philippians, 1 Peter
and James.
The work, Ma'heonemoxe'-estoo'o , which is Cheyenne
for Bible, is available in soft- and hard-bound editions
and also recorded on cassette tapes and CDs.
The translation is idiomatic, meaning it is done more
in ideas than literally. For example, in the scripture
where Abraham made the altar, the translation into the
descriptive Cheyenne language is roughly that he piled
rocks.
There are markers in the translated Bible in English,
so that readers will easily be able to locate a book's
name or a well-known story. And, not all of the words
were translatable, such as “Egypt” and people's
names.
The Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have done
unto you - translates to the equivalent of “Be
nice to people the way you have been nice to. It is written
that way by Moses and also by the prophets.”
That translation falls in line with the closely held Cheyenne
tenet that one should treat others as they wish to be
treated, Busenitz said.
“The
principle is still very strong in the Cheyenne community
- to not argue but turn and walk away,” Conrad Fisher
said.
Generations of stories of native language and culture
have not been given a place in churches. In many churches
that is changing and it is frequent now to easily use
a native word for God or Creator and to see physical attributes
such as darker skin or beadwork in artwork, said Conrad
Fisher, one of the newer members of the committee.
“There
is a sense of security and a sense of comfort to be able
to come to a religious institution and feel welcome,”
Fisher said.
Dedication service for the Cheyenne Bible
celebrates this translation, whick is based on a solid
foundation of more than 100 years of work.
Fisher said the Bible translation is an asset.
“Spiritually,
you have a closer understanding of what the Bible is trying
to say,” he said.
The translation is based on a solid foundation of more
than 100 years of work, Fisher said.
“This
has been a continuum of language preservation and translation,”
he said.
Mennonite missionaries, including Rudolphe Petter, started
working on translations in the late 19th century, Busenitz
said. Petter translated the New Testament as well as stories
from the Old Testament.
In the 1960s, Northern Cheyenne Ted Risingsun and others
sought to create a more modern interpretation with fewer
literal translations, Busenitz said.
Wayne and Elena Leman, linguists who lived on the reservation
for about 30 years, helped train Cheyenne speakers who
completed the translation, Busenitz said.
As part of the Cheyenne Christian Education Project, Busenitz
and others have created Cheyenne songbooks, storybooks
and dictionaries. There are even animated videos and books
of Bible stories done in Cheyenne .
Busenitz said the Bible translation project is ongoing.
Modern publishing techniques make it likely that future,
more complete translations can be printed.
The process starts with a rough draft of the translation
that is “revised, refined then checked,” he
said.
Each
new effort makes the translation better, King said, as
those involved come up with the right words. Worrying
about having the best translation has been one of the
difficulties of the project, she said. But that attention
to detail and concern about being correct also has led
to the best work.
Floyd Fisher said one of the challenges has been filtering
through similar Cheyenne words to find the best translation.
“You
got to know your Cheyenne language really good,”
he said.
Translation is difficult, Conrad Fisher said, in part
because language is based in culture. A joke that is hilarious
to Cheyenne speakers can be translated to English and
a listener will ask, “Where is the punch line?”
he said.
Another struggle is that some words in the Bible aren't
used today.
“You
try to come as close as you can,” Conrad Fisher
said.
In addition to helping preserve language, the process
also improves and tries to continue the language, Conrad
Fisher said.
“Cultures
are dynamic and we've go to continue to try to have sustainability
within the Cheyenne language,” he said.
©
2006 The Billings ( Montana ) Gazette . Reprinted
with permission.
