hôbEthlE Ryan Hill

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) is excited to partner with the Henry Luce Foundation (Luce) for a third year of the Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship. In 2020, First Nations and Luce awarded the inaugural 10 $50,000 fellowships to advance and support the work of Indigenous knowledge holders and knowledge makers dedicated to creating positive community change. Beginning in 2021, we expanded the fellowship award to $75,000 over two years to support fellows committed to preserving and sharing Indigenous knowledge with future generations. In 2022, First Nations and Luce awarded 10 $75,000 fellowships.

2022 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow: Ryan Hill

Ryan Hill did not grow up speaking Yuchi, his native language. But when he first heard others speaking it on the ceremonial ground, he felt an instant connection to the language.

Ryan Hill, a Yuchi/Muscogee/Cherokee Native, has been named a 2022 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow by First Nations.

“The sounds of Yuchi called out to me. It turned something on and made me want to pursue it,” he vividly recalls that day his language-learning journey began. After years of rigourous self-study and working closely with fluent elders and proficient second-language speakers, Hill became an advanced speaker of the Yuchi language. “Now that I have this gift of language, I feel 10 times more intelligent than I was before. It has unlocked another side of my brain that I had not been using.”

Over the last 10 years, the 37-year-old Native (Yuchi/Muscogee/Cherokee) has been contributing to efforts to keep the Yuchi language alive and grow the pool of Native speakers. Yuchi is classified as an “isolate language,” meaning it is not related to any other Indigenous language in North America.

To date, Hill estimates that he has taught this unique language to more than 50 tribal members, including his 19-year-old brother, one of two fluent young speakers in his tribe. “He actually started learning the language before me, but I surpassed him and eventually became his teacher,” says the big brother.

Before Hill was named a 2022 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow by First Nations, he worked as a language instructor at the Muscogee Nation Euchee Language Learning Center in Kellyville, Oklahoma, teaching Yuchi to middle school and high school students.

“We have afterschool and summer programs where we pick up students from five area schools and bus them to the learning center for daily language classes,” explains Hill.

These days, he is devoting all his time to the Luce Fellowship, going “all in” to teach the Yuchi language by leveraging his passion and expertise in video production to make language-learning enjoyable for his students.

“I have a big interest in using video to teach the Yuchi language to learners. It doesn’t feel like work, but rather, it’s like living the dream. Videos and language-learning are the perfect combination for me!”

How he used his Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship

When Hill learned that he had been named a Luce fellow, he was both relieved and happy. “It made me feel like my language-learning path up to this point had a lot of meaning; it validated all my efforts.”

Through the Luce Fellowship, Hill created two separate series of Yuchi language videos ─ promotional and educational ─ to serve as learning tools. The videos will be uploaded to his YouTube channel and tailored to various levels of fluency ─ novice, intermediate, and advanced language learners of all ages.

Hill will combine his two passions of teaching the Yuchi language and video production to develop more Yuchi language speakers.

The promotional videos, targeted toward the younger generations of Yuchis, are five to 10 minutes long. They show the richness of the Yuchi language being spoken in a variety of natural settings, such as at the park or zoo, or by young people engaged in everyday activities, like basketball or shopping. “Something where we are just having fun and using the language naturally.” Hill hopes these videos will spark an interest in the language with younger tribal members.

In contrast, the educational videos offer more immersive learning centered around verbs, using both Yuchi and English. “Our language is built around verbs and how they change in relation to objects in the outside world. These videos will build a foundation upon common verbs and naming different nouns.” Hill adds that each video is no longer than three minutes because he does not want to “overwhelm beginning learners.”

Lastly, Hill allocated a portion of fellowship funds to attend video production workshops to fine-tune his skills and buy state-of-the-art equipment, including video and sound editing software and office supplies.

“This project is a monumental step in carrying forward the Yuchi language in this new age of technological advances and methods of teaching,” says Hill. “As of today, there is nothing like it for Yuchi language learners.”

Working with elders was a ‘miracle’

When Hill began his language-learning journey, he had the good fortune of working an internship with five elders who were first-language speakers. “Nowhere else in the world can you have an opportunity like that,” he says gratefully.

Hill learned the Yuchi language from Vada Tiger-Nichwander (left) and Martha Squire (right), who patiently mentored him before they passed away in their 90s.

But sadly, Hill says the tribe lost its last living first-language speaker a few years ago.

“I had worked closely with three fluent elder women who were in their 90s, but now there are none left,” says Hill, who credits his success with the Yuchi language to two women specifically: Vada Tiger-Nichwander and Martha Squire. “They taught me a lot about the history of the Yuchi people and my own family, which I otherwise would not have known without getting it through the vessel of the Yuchi language.”

The Luce fellow recalls going to the elders’ homes and hearing them talk with each other face-to-face and learning from these fluent first-language speakers who were very patient with him. “It was like a miracle to me. I was by myself but felt fortunate to be in the same room with these elders.”

Two years into his language-learning journey, he was asked to write down a one-year goal. Hill had written that he dreamed of having a conversation one-on-one with an elder someday without having to stop and slow down.

And then it happened. “One day, I took a youth group to visit the elders and I had a full-length conversation with Vada about the ceremonial ground without using English. I was able to demonstrate a language-speaking example to the other learners there, and later I realized that I had achieved my long-term goal.”

Hill says that cherished conversation with Vada, who has since passed, has been the highlight of his language-learning journey.

A bridge to the language

In August of 2021, Maxine Barnett, the last living first-language speaker of Yuchi, passed on, Hill tells us. He is now one of a handful of fluent speakers who has gladly accepted the torch to preserve the language and pass it on to the next generation.

Hill has helped his younger brother, Jaden, become fluent in Yuchi. “Once I find someone who has a real big interest in the language, like my brother, I work with him closely because it’s a rare thing to find,” he says.

“I feel it is my duty to carry it on and be the bridge between what the elders taught me and other language-learners who did not have the privilege that I did to sit among these first-language speakers and hear the rhythm and beautiful sounds of the Yuchi words spoken,” Hill shares.

The Luce fellow acknowledges that learning the language was not easy ─ especially since he was the only student who sat at the feet of the elders. “It’s hard to stay motivated when you are the only one interested in learning the language.”

There were times when he wanted to give up, Hill admits. But he overcame those impulses by seeing the bigger picture. “I realized that learning Yuchi was more important than feeling a little uncomfortable. This is about the life of the language.” And if he didn’t make the effort to teach it to the youth, who would?

He makes this promise: “As long as I am here in this world, I am going to do what I can for the Yuchi language.”