The Land is Speaking: Jeannette Armstrong on the Ecology of Language

 

The article below synthesizes Dr. Jeannette Armstrong’s  insights on linguistic ecology, specifically focusing on the concepts she has shared at the Bioneers Conference regarding the  English language compared to Indigenous systems of thought.

​The Land is Speaking: Jeannette Armstrong on the Ecology of Language

​In the discourse of modern environmentalism, we often seek technical solutions to ecological crises. However, Syilx (Okanagan) scholar and author Dr. Jeannette Armstrong suggests that the root of our disconnection lies deeper than our technology—it is embedded in the very language we use to describe the world.

​During her insights at the Bioneers Conference, Armstrong challenged the dominance of the English language, labeling it as "young" and "displaced" when contrasted with the ancient, land-based languages of Indigenous peoples.

​The "Young" Language: English as a Tool of Distance

​Armstrong posits that English, in its modern form, evolved as a language of commerce, mobility, and colonization. It is a noun-heavy language, which has significant psychological consequences:

  • ​Objectification: English tends to turn the living world into a collection of "things." We speak of "the forest," "the river," or "the soil" as distinct objects separate from ourselves.
  • ​The "It" Factor: By assigning the pronoun "it" to non-human life, the language strips nature of its agency and personhood.
  • ​A Language of Displacement: Because English is designed to function anywhere—from London to New York to Sydney—it lacks the specific, localized ecological intelligence required to sustain a particular piece of ground over millennia.

​The "Old" Language: A Living Breath of the Land

​In contrast, Armstrong describes Indigenous languages like Syilx as "old" because they are the phonetic and conceptual record of a people’s relationship with a specific geography over thousands of years.

  • ​Verb-Based Reality: In many Indigenous languages, the world is not a collection of objects, but a series of ongoing processes. A "mountain" is not just a static noun; it is "the-rising-up-of-the-earth."
  • ​The Land’s Voice: Armstrong famously states that her language was "born of the land." The sounds and structures of the language mimic the rhythms of the Okanagan Valley. To speak the language is to give voice to the land itself.
  • ​The Witnessing Self: These older languages require the speaker to operate from a place of "Neutral Calm" and active witnessing. One cannot speak of a relative in the natural world without acknowledging one's reciprocal responsibility to that relative.

​Why the Distinction Matters for Our Future

​The "youth" of English allows for a clinical, corporate view of the earth—treating biological systems as "resources" to be managed by a "CEO" or "Executive Center." Armstrong argues that this mindset is what allows for ecological destruction.

​By contrast, the "old" languages contain the instructions for traditional forest stewardship. They offer a framework where humans are not "managers" of the environment, but a humble part of a "Blessing" or a larger "Healing" process.

​"The land has a way of speaking. If we are to survive, we must learn to be listeners again." — Jeannette C. Armstrong


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