Growing a Bigger Linguistics Through a Zapotec Agenda

Abstract The Ticha Project is a digital endeavor focused on knowledge repatriation and language reclamation, guided by a Zapotec agenda that centers Zapotec goals and authority. This decolonial practice forges a collaborative, reciprocal scholarship where Zapotec and non-Native experts work together in pursuit of overlapping goals, forming an interdisciplinary community which resists the individualism of academia and draws strength from an inclusive Zapotec collective. In this chapter the authors detail Ticha’s working philosophy through two interrelated projects: (1) Caseidyneën Saën, an e-book of pedagogical materials focused on Colonial Zapotec documents, and (2) the Conversatorios, workshops led by and for Zapotec individuals that serve as important sites of Indigenous knowledge production. The authors challenge readers to find their own community-centered agenda and to grow a bigger linguistics by embracing deeply localized research. Ticha Project na teiby zeiny guieb lo bi (ni na “digital”) ni yzicy xcal nanën quën xtizhën na. Rcazën gyenën teiby ni izhiu par ra Bunyza, ra ni bsanne ra xauzanën, Bunyzado, danoën. Rcazën gyicy ni nanën ni bzuca Dizhtily loën, chiru danoën Bunyza gyieneën gualnezh quën ra buny nan ni queity na ra Bunyza gacneën saën gyenën ropta rseinyën, chiru gyeinychieën teiby guezh nan ni sutyep lo ni rseidyrëng yu rseidy sutyepneën saën rataën. Lo teiby xnez gyets xte Ticha re rniën xa na xjab xtenën, chiru ygwiën lo styop ra zeiny ni cagyienyën ni ngabne sani: (1) Caseidyneën Saën na teiby gyets rseidy ni na teiby xnez gyets guieb lo bi (ni na “e-book”) ni rseidy nazh ra gyets Dizhzado, chiru (2) chi bdop ra Bunyza bgwe dizh nii bzub xliet xa na gal nan xte ra Bunyza. Ra ni cagyual nde rnabën load ual gacbe xii rcaz lazhad ganad tyen chile subru guecy ni racbe buny yu rseidy nezbag laty gunyberuad xai na lazhad.