01 juin 2009
Blaine Shaw...
Voici donc le récit de Blaine Shaw :
My name is Blaine Shaw. I am 24 years old and a committeman of the Gray Horse village Inlonschka dance. I am a former drumkeeper as well. I heard of the French connection with Montabaun in the early 90’s as a child and was always interested. This past Feb., 2008 I went to Europe with two osage friends, one being a committeman and former drumkeeper as well. We started off in Spain and planned to visit Montabaun on our way through France and into Amsterdam. We were given the contact info for Mr. Jean-Claucde Drouillhet of the OK-OC. We were invited to stay in Montabaun for the better part of a week and were given the best hospitality I have ever seen. Four course meals were provided twice a day as well as tours of places of interest in the region and a small former reception with the mayor on our last day. I must say that as a modern Osage I have been blessed with an opportunity to be a part of the exchange Jean-Claude started back in ‘89. Its nice to be a part a relationship rich in history that began so long ago. They French helped our Osage ancestors back then and have continued that tradition by taking us suprise Osage visitors in with immense hospitality. I will never forget the experience and would like to say that the food and dining were the best I have ever seen.
-Blaine F. Shaw-
17 septembre 2007
Occitan anthem : "Se Canta"
SE CANTA
1
Dejos ma fenestro i a un aucelon
Tota la nèit canta, canta sa cancon
Chorus
Se canta que cante, canta pas per ièu
Canta per ma mia, qu’es al luènh de ièu
2
Aquelas montanhas que tant nautas son
M’empachan de veire mas amors ont son
3
Nautas son, plan nautas, mas s’abaissaran
E mas amoretas sa reprocharan
4
Baissatz vos montanhas, planas levatz-vos
Per que posque veire mas amors ont son
TRANSLATION :
1. Below my window, there is a little bird / Singing all night long, just singing his song.
Chorus . Let’s sing what is sung, it doen’t sing for me /It sings for my sweetheart who is far away from me.
2. Those montains which are so high / prevent me from seing my loves where they are.
3. They are so high, but they will lower down / and my loves will come nearer.
4 . Get down you mountains, and you plains get up / so that I can see my loves where they are
« Se Canta » is a very old Occitan
song. It is a song of love and peace and depicts very well the
Occitan way of life. It would be considered just like the Occitan
anthem. Everybody in Occitania is proud of it.
Enjoy it and
learn it if you love it. That way you will be able to sing « Se Canta »
each time you meet Occitan people. For them that will be a wonderful
gift.
Thank you.
11 septembre 2007
La croix occitane
THE OCCITAN CROSS
By Bertran de La Farge
Origin
This cross existed at Toulouse since a long time ago, during the roman occupation as well as during the Wisigoth era. In 419 AD the Wisigoths had chosen Toulouse as Capital of their kingdom
In 1096, just before the beginning of the first Crusade the leader of the “Provençal Army”, Raimon IV, Count of Toulouse and Count of Tripoli, had put this famous cross on his seal. Raimon IV was the first Count of Toulouse to display the Occitan cross which became the Cross of Toulouse. It is both from the Maltese Cross Family and the Templar Cross Family, but it is not a crucifix.
Alphonse-Jourdain, Count of Toulouse, was Raimon IV’s son. He founded the city of Montauban in 1144. His son succeeded him as Count of Toulouse as Raimon V. It seems that he did not use the Occitan cross during their sovereignty.
Raimon VI, Count of Toulouse was Alphonse-Jourdain’s grandson. He was a Hospitable Knight. He displayed the Occitan Cross on his seal during his entire reign and when he died, in 1222, he asked to be buried with his cross in Toulouse, in the House of his Brothers « Knights of Saint-Jean of Jerusalem » (Order of Knighthood of Malta) where he is still lies today
The different meanings of the Occitan Cross
The Christ is at the center (« Sun of Justice », Saint Luc said) and the twelve balls are the twelve apostles. That is what the catholic priests believed and said in the XIIth and XIIIth centuries.
It is the Heavenly Jerusalem of the Apocalypse after Saint Jean, that is to say the mystic union of soul and spirit, the twelve balls symbolize the twelve gates.
The twelve balls could symbolize the twelve houses, or signs, and the yearly zodiacal cycle. This interpretation was adopted for the cross and designed on the ground of the Capitol square.
It could be also the four seasons of three months. Or the four winds, the four directions.
Or the twelve elements of the personality : anxiety, fear of effort, desire to possess, arrogance, hypocrisy, laziness, self-importance, illusion, greed, indecisiveness, regrets, and the 12th element, hope !
The meaning of the colors red and yellow
In fact, the real colors of the Occitan Cross are « Blood and Gold ».
Blood is the soul of Human beings and the gold is the melting gold : the sun, the Great Spirit or God.
In heraldry, on the coat of arms, red is called « Gules » (one of the enamels) and yellow is called « Gold » (one of the metals). The Occitan Cross is read : « Guls with the Golden Cross »
Blood and Gold are the Historic colors of Occitania. They came to Occitania from Catalonia (a country both in France and Spain. Barcelona is the Spanish capitol of Catalonia while Perpignan is the French capitol of Catalonia.)
In the Middle Ages, Spain was invaded by the Arabs. The Spanish people took war against the Arabs in order to free from the colonization. The general of the Catalonian army was Count of Barcelona. His coat of arms was painted in Gold (yellow). His army was seriously defeated, most of his soldiers and knights were either killed or seriously wounded. The Count of Barcelona was also badly wounded and was lying among the other knights.
The General of the Moslem army was looking for him in order to know if he was really dead. If not he would kill him. The best way to recognize the Count was to find his Golden coat of arms. The Count was covered in his blood. He had the idea to dip his fingers of his right hand into his blood and to draw four red strips on his coat of arms. As a result, the General of the Moslem army never found him and Count of Barcelona was saved. He was able to escape and built a new army. After that day his coat of arms became « Gold with four Guls-strips ». Later he went into battle with his new coat of arms and liberated his country.
As the Occitan people and the Catalan people are cousin peoples (like the Osage and the Omaha or the Ponca), the Occitan asked for permission to use the Gold and Blood colors for their Occitan flag which they considered to be the colors of Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood. That is why the Occitan Cross is Gold on Blood.
B. d. L. F.
There is no copyright © to ask for make a copy of the Occitan Cross. It belongs to Humanity.
OCCITANIA
Oc ! L’Occitania is :
- 32 French Departements (county) + 12 Italian valleys + 1 Spanish Valley
- 190 000 km2
- 13 Millions Citizens
OC, In the Occitan language
the word « Oc » means YES and the Occitania is the land where the people say « Oc » when it is OK. OK……………?
OC…………….!
03 août 2007
Un message de Lou Brock (Musée Osage Tribal de Pawhuska)
Un reportage de la chaîne KOTV6
au sujet du musée tribal osage de Pawhuska
Nous
venons de recevoir de notre excellent ami Lou Brock, secrétaire
administratif du musée osage, le message suivant qui nous indique un
lien avec un reportage sur les premiers osages bénéfici aires d'une
parcelle lors de la loi de morcellement du territoire tribal. Ce sujet
a été réalisé récemment par KOTV6, la chaîne de Tulsa qui était venue
en reportage à Montauban en 1999.
au musée tribal osage de Pawhuska
de
g.à d. : Kathryn Red Corn (conservatrice), J-Claude Drouilhet (OK-OC),
Lou Brock (secrétaire), Priscilla Iba (musée), Edgard Strigler (OK-OC),
Marie-Claude Strigler (OK-OC), Monique Drouilhet (OK-OC).
Monique (OK-OC) et James Elsberry (musée tribal osage)
Texte du message de Lou Brock :
=====================================================================
Bonjour, Jean-Claude and
Monique:
Our local television station, KOTV6, who visited in
Montauban, did a wonderful story on our Osage Allottee exhibit with co-curator
Priscilla Iba of Tulsa,Oklahoma, early last month. You
may remember the reporter, Scott Thompson, as he did several interviews in your
beautiful city.
cliquez sur le lien ci-dessus pour voir le reportage de KOTV6
Lou W. Brock, Administrative
Secretary
02 août 2007
Article publié dans Osage News Newspaper
7/10/07
Press Release
Osage News Newspaper
by John Maker
On May 20th of this year, Vann Bighorse and John Maker, staff members of the Osage Language program, journeyed to France at the invitation of the Oklahoma-Occitania (OK-OC) Association of France to participate in the Fete des Langues (Celebration of Languages) in Montauban. The OK-OC Association enjoys a sister-city relationship between Pawhuska and Montauban, thereby promoting a strong cultural relationship.
Their 22-hour journey began in Tulsa with stopovers in Chicago and London before arriving in Montauban. The 10-day visit was tightly packed with exciting events — speeches, school visits, civic meetings, receptions, workshops, and celebrations — beginning in the early morning hours and lasting till the late night hours. Vann and John met the mayor, vice-mayor, and Bishop of Montauban, school children of all ages, citizens of Montauban and Toulouse, Occitans, Gypsies, and people from around the globe who were representing their endangered languages.
The purpose of the trip was to participate in the Forum of Languages, which is a yearly event held in Toulouse, France. This was the first time that the Osage Nation was invited to share their language at the Forum. Participants representing over 100 languages from throughout the world — from Albanese, German, Persian, Tcheque, Tibetain to Chinese and more — hosted booths with displays of their language and culture. Vann and John said that one of the main highlights of the trip was teaching Osage words to French school children in the public schools of France. The schools visited were in the towns of Lauzerte, Lafrancaise and Montauban. Vann said, “The children were very attentive and did quite well in their pronunciation of the Osage language. They were very curious about the Osage culture and asked us many questions about the Osage way of life.”
The local people and members of the OK-OC Association gathered nearly every night to meet, learn, and celebrate. Monsignor Sarrabere, Bishop of Montauban, hosted one of the first events. John said, “It was a lovely reception with refreshments. Meeting with the very gracious Monsignor Sarrabere was very exciting, and we presented him with a Pendleton blanket, which he enjoyed receiving.”
The next big event was “Walking across the Tarn Bridge.” The Tarn Bridge is the bridge over the Tarn River that the Osages of 1829 walked. John said, “Although this event appeared to be a new tradition for the OK-OC Association, I felt like I was walking in the foot steps of my ancestors.”
After crossing the bridge and walking to the town hall, vice-mayor Madame Marie-Pierre Pouch of Montaubon hosted a reception in which gifts were exchanged. Madame Pouch presented both Vann and John with gifts along with a beautiful silver medallion. Vann and John honored the officials they had met with some gifts as well.
Another interesting place they toured with the OK-OC Association was the medieval castle of Carcassonne, which is one of the most famous places in all of France and possibly all of Europe.
The Forum of Languages was the last big event. The Forum took place in the town square of the beautiful city of Toulouse. Over 100 countries represented their languages at the various booths displaying their cultural items, such as clothing and food.
When asked to share their most memorable event of the trip, Vann said, “For me, teaching the school children and participating in the Forum of Languages.”
John said, “My answer to that same question is teaching the kids Osage and meeting all the friendly French people. It was very enjoyable being in a foreign country, sharing our heritage, and learning about their culture. Both Vann and I felt privileged to represent the language of the Osage Nation at the Forum of Languages in France. Additionally, it was a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the Osage Nation and the people of France. A big “thank you” goes to the Director of the Osage Language Program, Mr. Mogri Lookout, and the Speaker of the House, Mr. Archie Mason, for making this exchange of cultures possible. ” We also thank the Ok-Oc Association members especially Jean Claude and Monique Drouilhet.
24 mars 2007
Vanessa Jennings
Vanessa Jennings (Kiowa tribe)
Just a short note to tell you that there is a fantastic book by Dr. Emil Her Many Horses at the Smithsonian's new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The book is called "Identity by Design - Tradition, Change and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses". There is also a video clip that goes with that that you can find on the Web.
I have a Kiowa Battle Dress, women's leggings, belt, pouch set, whip and a full size lance in the exhibit. I am very proud of being included in the exhibit and the book. I hope that you will get to see both. The book is something that can be purchased from any book store, such as Hastings, Barnes and Noble and etc.
Vanessa Jennings
06 mars 2007
Celebration of Languages (Fete des Langues)
Toulouse,
France - May, 26-27, 2007
All the metics of the World on the Place du Capitole
Our Forum is the first in the world Celebration of Languages (Fete des
Langues) that puts into practice (presentation and promotion strategies)
as well as uses in theory (Saussure, Benveniste, Meschonnic) cultural equality
of all the languages of the World (including dialects, patois, “small”
languages as opposed to the “big” ones, as well as the linguistic absurdities
imposed by the politics) and thus:
- shatters
the ideological foundations of all nationalism, ethnocentrism or racism;
- contributes
to the creation of radical philosophy of cultural pluralism which is, as Felix
Castan wrote, “the only message that could ever be accepted and applied by all
the cultures in the world.”
The credit for having clandestinely forged the
message goes to Occitan literature.
It is up to France now to haul the banner up
and to make it its policy, both within and outside its borders, as it will
never be able to find a greater or more magnanimous one.
Claude Sicre
Toulouse, the 21st of December 2006
Presentation of the Forum of Languages 2001, Toulouse
One can understand that the major
international problems will not be regulated by nationalisms of the States, nor
by the abstracted universalism, which is only internalization, universalization, of the Western models. They will not be solved either by the alliance of the citizens of the world, nebula of phantoms outside of borders, nations, and history, nor by the humanitarism or the well-intentioned (and economicist) anti-mondialism which deny historicities and thus specificities of each human community. Regional nationalisms, or those of the peoples without states but claiming one, are often the only answers, in form of dead ends, which the powers installed leave to the occulted communities. Nationalisms which always pass by claims of a linguistico-cultural nature more or less locked up on a reactive identity-program, facing the aggressions negations, and manipulated by the polical world. It is time to think to what could be, for all
the communities, an identity-otherness transforming the relationships between the peoples and transforming these peoples themselves, in a logic of radical democracy and plurality. Only an international reflection, of
inter-communitary nature, on these problems will be able to achieve this goal. During a recent Forum, Henri Meschonnic spoke to us about a necessary Universal Déclaration about the Rights (and perhaps the duties) of Languages and Cultures, having to take its place beside the Universal Declaration of the Humans rights. There is already a Universal Declaration of the Linguistic Rights proposed by 66 NGO in 1996 which had the moral and technical support of the UNESCO. We are launching today the debate on this topic. It’s all the peoples which have to work on it.
On the basis of the Declaration of the Linguistic
Rights referred to above, we will be working on our own contribution, before sending it to all the linguistico-cultural communities of the world, which will have to criticize it, the rewrite it, to enter in discussions between each others (all others) to formulate proposals and counter-proposals. Formidable building site, radically pluralist by nature, extraordinary arena for the most demanding discussion of all because questionning the
very essence of each community and of all of them at the same time. And the most formidable occasion of opening for all. First of all for France and for us because, while speaking to the others about their values, many are the French problems that we will not be able to hide to ourselves anymore !
03 février 2007
OCCITAN CULTURE
OCCITAN
LANGUAGE & CULTURE
When William the Conqueror took possession of England, after the battle
of Hastings in 1066, the Counts of Toulouse governed a large area situated between the river Garonne and
the Rhône. Then in 1209 there began the tragedy of the so-called Albigensian
Crusade against the Cathars whom the Catholic church considered as heretics, a
view naturally shared by the French clergy and the King of France, who
succeeded finally in incorporating the County of Toulouse into his kingdom.
Good ol’ days…
Nevertheless, a culture was born under the name of “trobar” (from
Latin tröpvs, “tropare”
meaning “to compose texts to be sung”), and between the XIth and XIVth
centuries troubadour poets travelled over the whole of Europe. They originated
from the south of the river Loire, Guilhem de Peitius (William IX Count
of Poitiers) being considered as the first of them (1071-1126). They invented “fin’amor”,
a code of courtesy to honour the ladies to whom they dedicated their songs.
They had family connections with all the major European counties, especially
England, thanks to Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard The Lion-Heart (he composed
poems in Occitan himself), both of whom, at various times, ruled over the
South-West of France. This is the area that came to be known as Languedoc : “oc country” as Dante Aligheri named it,
when he came to visit it around 1300. The difference he established was between
two ways of saying “yes”, that is “òc ” in the South, as opposed to the North where they said “oïl
”(modern “oui”). In Toulouse, in 1323, there sprang up an important
literary movement referred to as “Consistoire du Gay Savoir” the oldest such
organization in Europe. In 1694, it became k known as the “Académie des
Jeux-Floraux” because the poets associated with it were awarded prizes of
flowers.
Modern times !
In 1539, a royal edict was signed in Villers-Cotterêts by the King of
France François I, which stipulated that henceforth French would replace Latin
as the official language of France, and as a result Occitan literature lost
status while its language survived only as a series of spoken dialects. After
the 1789 French Revolution, things did not improve : it was even forbidden to
speak Occitan at school ! But in the middle of the XIXth century, a rebirth took place with poets
like Jasmin, from Agen, whose songs enjoyed a very wide popularity, and also
Frédéric Mistral in Provence who created the Felibrige. This
organization, which covered the whole of the South of France, gave new impetus
to local felibres (poets) but there was, as yet, no unity and everyone
continued working in their own specific area. At the end of the century, a new
movement came into being, with Antonin Perbosc at his head. He it was who
coined the term Occitania, after studying the works of the Trobadours as
well as other Occitan texts, administrative and commercial, dating back to the
Middle Ages. New “schools” were founded, for example L’Escolo Carsinolo (The Quercy School) in Montauban, in 1895, or La Cloucado dels Clastres (The Cloisters’
School) in Moissac, where poets from different social origins could meet
altogether.
What
about now ?
It was not,
however, until the end of World War II that any real unity came to exist, and
this came about with the creation, in 1944, of the Institut d’Estudis
Occitans (Occitan Studies Institute) which developed a unified, single
spelling system for Occitan, but one adaptable to regional variations, and
promoted the publication of magazines and books in Occitan. It was an effective
way of proving that a real Occitan culture existed, a civilization that had to
be taken account of, a powerful movement from the “deep South” demanding the right “to live in his own
area” (the 1970’s Viure al Païs movement). Today, Occitan is going from
strength to strength, thanks to its language and culture being taught in
nursery schools (calandretas), in specialized Occitan-French sections), in high-schools and at
universities. The Occitan heritage is one which is proud to assert and promote
itself.
How to read modern occitan (similar to medieval
times) :
pronounce [o] like in “top” when you read « ò »; pronounce [u] like in “blue” when you read « o »;
pronounce [e] like in “red” when
you read « è »; pronounce [b] like in “bob” when you read « v »;
pronounce [nye] like in “new” when you read « nh » and [lye]
like in “lieu” when you read « lh »;
pronounce [э] slightly like in “poplar” when you read « a » at the end of a word ;
try the Scottish way for “r”, but do not pronounce « n » or « r » when in
the end.
Norbert Sabatié & Ian Short
introduction to Occitania
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> Carcassonne > Introduction to Occitania |
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Occitania (or Occitany) |
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Occitania is the name of the countries where the Occitan language is spoken, in France, Italy, and Spain. In all those countries but Spain, where the local variant of Occitan, the Aranese, is protected by law, the Occitan language is minorised. There is no compulsory teaching of the language, which is often taught by non-governmental organisations. In the past centuries, the inhabitants in the French part of Occitania were poised to emigrate to the northern France, in the Paris area and in other places. Occitany or Occitania, includes 32 départements of Southern France, the Aran valley in Catalonia, Piemont alpine valleys and the calabrian city of Guardia Piemontese in Italy. |
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the occitan language |
| Occitania
is the name given to the Occitan speaking area. That language was and still
is known under many names: roman (in the Middle Ages), language
of oc (used by Dante Alighieri), lenga mondina (from Raimond,
name of the Counts of Tolosa/Toulouse). The names of its dialects are sometimes
used to designate the whole language: provençal, gascon, limousin, auvergnat.
The Occitan language is a language of the Romance family, descending from Latin. Due to its minorised situation it suffers from a huge dialectal fragmentation. Three big dialectal areas are widely defined: Northern Occitan (Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine), Middle Occitan (Languedocian and Provençal), Gascon. Occitania originates from oc, meaning 'yes', in the so-called oc-language. Oc gave also its name to the province of Languedoc (litterally 'language of Oc'). Transition or interference areas exist between the Occitan and the neighbouring romance languages: with the French ; with the Gallo-italic dialects.
Two Occitan speaking enclaves remain, Labastida-Clarença, in the Basque country and La Gàrdia (Guardia Piemontese), in Calabria (Southern Italy). Foreign-speaking enclaves exist in Occitania: Ligurian ones in Provence (Biòt, Vallauris); French one in Gascony (Petita Gavacharia de Montsegur).
The first masterpieces of the european litterature come mainly from the Trobadors (troubadours). Knowing their language can help the reading of these texts and the penetration of their culture. Nowadays Occitan is spoken, above all in France, by speakers who are often ashamed of speaking their own language because of french educational system. If you know France you have certainly noticed that speakers from the South speak French with an "accent". This accent is caused by the Occitan substratum. If you come to them and show Occitan is not a contagious disease, it will help our language to recover its rights in its country. Moreover, because of its roots, Occitan can be an excellent bridge to those who want to learn Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French or Portuguese easily. Some claim (and justly!) that it is easier to shade one's thoughts in Occitan than in any other european language: Occitan has more than 160,000 words (French: about 40,000). Occitan's closest language is obviously Catalan. Lots of linguists even consider that Occitan and Catalan are the same language. Occitan is closer to Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian than French.
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the occitan symbols |
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The Occitan flag is the Languedoc cross. It was the County of Toulouse emblem before the annexion by France (1271) and then became the Languedoc province emblem. It is said it was brought to Occitany by Raimond de Sant Gèli, the Raimond IV of Toulouse, back from a Crusade in the XIIth century. The twelve terminations represent the 12 months of the zodiacal wheel. A christian interpretation of the 12 apostles came later.
The cross represents Occitania (Occitany). The charge is a 'cross cleché and pometty voided' - stylized key-handles. This flag is, in fact, the historic banner of arms of the counts of Toulouse. It can be said to represent Occitania only in that the counts were the most powerful nobles in the region. So this cross you'll see everywhere in Carcassonne and a large part of Languedoc is NOT a "cathar cross" (it never existed), but the Occitan cross. |
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You want to get an idea of what the occitan language look like ? Visit Carcassonne in the Occitan language - visitatz Carcassona en occitan
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02 février 2007
The History of Association Oklahoma-Occitania (OK-OC)