Indigeneity in Historical Sociolinguistics Data: Who Gets to Be Minnesotan?

Abstract

Historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and combinations thereof are often called upon to contextualize descriptions of English varieties, but not always in ways that accurately capture Indigenous people or history. This study utilizes corpus methods and discourse analysis to explore the ways in which Native American speakers and languages are represented in nineteen scholarly and popular media texts on Minnesota English and its history: Are they mentioned? If so, how are they mentioned: by tribal name, in the present tense, or as past? Are Native Americans recognized as speakers of English—in addition to or in place of Native American languages? Despite the state’s rich and ongoing Indigenous presence, only two of the nineteen sources examined mention Native American languages. This study moves to problematize this exclusion and the broader trends that exacerbate it, suggesting steps toward a potential history of Minnesota English that not only includes but begins with Ojibwe and Dakota perspectives. When Indigenous history and influences are ignored, two false and damaging narratives are perpetuated: firstly, that history begins with colonial settlement, and secondly, that colonial settlement has completely erased Indigenous presence. These biases do not just flatten our understanding of historical sociolinguistic variation, they rob Indigenous people of legacy and agency.