Making banaha

Banaha is a traditional Choctaw food that my coworker Jason Lewis learned how to make. Banaha is similar to tamales – both are made by wrapping corn meal with soaked corn husks and then boiling it. Jason mixed the corn meal with black eye peas. and hot peppers. You can also put in different vegetables and meat.

Chopped hot peppers. They have to be finely chopped.



Corn meal being stirred up.


Soaking corn husk wrappers.

Ready to be boiled!

Sharing Stories: Workshop report

For the past 2 weeks I was working with the Department of Chahta Immi (Tribal language and culture department). The preparation work that I did including making a workshop manual and Power Points for the sessions.

From May 25-27 we had the workshop. I was the main presenter. The topics we covered included:

1. storytelling methods & techniques

2. storytelling demonstrations

3. recording methods & techniques

4. a recording demonstration

5. storytelling in the bigger picture of the Department of Chahta Immi and the archives.

Stories are powerful. They are a way to connect with others around us.

Next week we’ll do some follow-up recording activities. Something of note was the fact that the Choctaw staff members who did presentation sessions spoke in Choctaw!

On a personal level, I feel like I’ve learned more about presenting to a Choctaw audience. I got some feedback and was able to improve throughout.

In Pennsylvania

I've been on the road this week. On Saturday afternoon I loaded some audio books onto my MP3 player, packed my car and left for Pennsylvania. I stayed over night at a hotel in Birmingham, AL. On Sunday I was in the car from 8:00-10:00, losing one hour when I crossed into the eastern time zone. I was very excited to see my parents when I finally arrived at their house in Pennsylvania. I had a chance to talk with my godmother Beth this afternoon. We were sitting on the porch in the cool evening air. ...I'm heading for North Carolina on Wednesday morning.

Language Learning Coach Visit

The week of May 1-5, we had a visit from Shedd Waskosky. He showed Laura-Christel, Jason and I a language learning process using the Growing Participator Approach. We had information sessions. Then we had language learning sessions with Elijah, Lillie and Le. The goal is to build-up language knowledge by reviewing vocabulary over and over, using physical objects ("realia") and Total Physical Response (TPR). This summer were going to begin having language learning sessions four evenings per week. Language learning is a major aspect of my internship.