Back የሜዳ ቀይ ሕንዳውያን እጅ ምልክት ቋንቋ Amharic Мова жэстаў паўночнаамерыканскіх індзейцаў Byelorussian Znakové jazyky indiánů z Velkých plání Czech Plains Indian Sign Language German Indiana gestlingvo Esperanto Lenguaje de señas del indio de las llanuras Spanish Tasankointiaanien viittomakieli Finnish Langue des signes des Indiens des Plaines French Flakte-Yndiaanske Gebeartetaal Frisian Lingua de sinais dos indios das chairas Galician

Plains Indian Sign Language

Not to be confused with Indo-Pakistani Sign Language.
Plains Indian Sign Language
Hand Talk
Plains Sign Language
First Nation Sign Language[1]
Langue des signes des Indiens des Plaines
Langue des signes des autochtones des Plaines[2][3]
(in French Canada)
Lenguaje de signos Indio de las Llanuras
(in Mexico)
Native toCanada, Mexico, USA
RegionCentral Canada and United States including the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains region; northern Mexico
EthnicityVarious Plains Indians
Native speakers
Unknown
Dialects
  • Navajo Sign Language
  • Blackfoot Sign Language
  • Cree Sign Language
  • Ojibwa Sign Language
None; illustrations of signs
Official status
Official language in
none
Recognised minority
language in
Recognised as official in courts, education and legislative assembly of Ontario.[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3psd
Glottologplai1235
ELPPlains Indian Sign Language
  The attested historical range of Plains Sign Language among other sign languages in the US and Canada (excl. ASL and LSQ)
Extracts of the films taken during the 1930 Conference on PISL conservation, showing General Hugh L. Scott and signers from various tribes[4]
A 1900 newspaper illustration claiming to showcase several of the signs of Plains Indian Sign Language

Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk or Plains Sign Language, is an endangered[5] language common to various Plains Nations across what is now central Canada, the central and western United States and northern Mexico.[6] This sign language was used historically as a lingua franca, notably for trading among tribes; it is still used for story-telling, oratory, various ceremonies, and by deaf people for ordinary daily use.[7]

In 1885, it was estimated that there were over 110,000 "sign-talking Indians", including Blackfoot Confederacy, Cheyenne, Sioux, Kiowa and Arapaho. As a result of several factors, including the European colonization of the Americas, the number of sign talkers declined sharply from European colonization onward. However, growing interest and preservation work on Plains Sign Language has increased its use and visibility in the 21st century.[6] Historically, some have likened its more formal register, used by men, to Church Latin in function.[8] It is primarily used today by elders and deaf members of Native American tribes.[5]

Some deaf Indigenous children attend schools for the deaf and learn American Sign Language (ASL) having already acquired Plains Sign Language.[7] A group studied in 1998 were able to understand each other, though this was likely through the use of International Sign.[7] Jeffrey E. Davis, a leading linguist in documentation efforts,[5] hypothesizes that this contact, combined with potential contact with Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (another potential antecedent to ASL) may suggest that ASL descends in part from Plains Sign Language.[9]: 24–27 

  1. ^ a b Recognition of Sign Language as an Official Language Act (Bill 273). Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2007.
  2. ^ Rice, Keren (2020). "Langues des signes autochtones au Canada". In Wilson-Smith, Anthony (ed.). L’Encyclopédie canadienne (in French).
  3. ^ Public Services and Procurement Canada (October 27, 2020). "TERMIUM Plus®". www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  4. ^ "Indian Sign Language Council of 1930". 9 June 2012 – via www.youtube.com.
  5. ^ a b c Davis, Jeffery E. (2016). "Sign Language, Indigenous". In Gertz, Genie; Boudreault, Patrick (eds.). The SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. SAGE Publications. pp. 783–786. ISBN 9781483346489.
  6. ^ a b Hilleary, Cecily (April 3, 2017). "Native American Hand Talkers Fight to Keep Sign Language Alive". Voice of America. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c McKay-Cody, Melanie Raylene (1998). "Plains Indian Sign Language: A comparative study of alternative and primary signers". In Carroll, Cathryn (ed.). Deaf Studies V: Toward 2000—Unity and Diversity. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 1893891097.
  8. ^ Neisser, Arden (1983). The Other Side of Silence. Gallaudet University Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 9780930323646.
  9. ^ Davis, Jeffrey E. (2010), Hand talk: Sign language among American Indian nations, Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521690300

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