this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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chapotraphouse

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Map of the various sign languages spoken across Turtle Island, excluding Francosign languages. Plains Sign Language is labelled in red as Hand Talk

Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, Plains Sign Talk, Plains Sign Language, or First Nation Sign Language, is an endangered sign language common to the majority of Indigenous nations of North America, notably those of the Great Plains, Northeast Woodlands, and the Great Basin. It was, and continues to be, used across what is now central Canada, the central and western United States and northern Mexico. This language was used historically as a lingua franca, notably for international relations, trade, and diplomacy; it is still used for story-telling, oratory, various ceremonies, and by deaf people for ordinary daily use.

In 1885, it was estimated that there were over 110,000 "sign-talking Indians", including Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Sioux, Kiowa, and Arapaho. As a result of the European colonization of the Americas, most notably including American boarding and Canadian residential schools, the number of sign talkers has declined sharply. However, growing interest and preservation work on the language has increased its use and visibility in the 21st century. Historically, some have likened its more formal register, used by men, to Church Latin in function. It is primarily used today by Elders and Deaf citizens of Indigenous nations.

History

Hand Talk's history is intimately associated with both ancient and recent petroglyphs of the continent, however, little is known to academia about Plains Sign Talk's historical antecedents. The earliest records of contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples of the Gulf Coast region in what is now Texas and northern Mexico note a fully-formed sign language already in use by the time of the Europeans' arrival there. These records include the accounts of Cabeza de Vaca in 1527 and Coronado in 1541.

Signing may have started in the south of North America, perhaps in northern Mexico or Texas, and only spread into the Plains in recent times, though this suspicion may be an artifact of European observation. It is known that there is a complex of Maya sign languages called Meemul Chʼaabʼal or Meemul Tziij in the Kʼicheʼ language, but it is unknown to what extent Meemul Tziij has affected Hand Talk.

The Northwest is home to Plateau Sign Language, which is either a single language or a family of sign languages spoken by the local nations. It is also unknown how associated Plateau Sign Language is with Hand Talk, but it is probable that they are related. Although it is still spoken, especially by the Ktunaxa, the Plateau nations historically shifted to using Chinook Jargon instead

In recent years, the Oneida Nation has taken steps to revive their sign language. Historically, the nations of the Northeast Woodlands, like the Haudenosaunee, spoke a variant of Hand Talk. The Oneida Sign Language Project officially began in 2016, and more signs are being added to this day.

Geography

Sign language use has been documented across speakers of at least 37 spoken languages in twelve families, spread across an area of over 2.6 million square kilometres (1 million square miles). In recent history, it was highly developed among the Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho and Kiowa, among others, and remains strong among the Crow, Cheyenne and Arapaho.

Melanie R. McKay-Cody, a Cherokee Deaf woman and Hand Talk speaker/researcher, motions that "Plains" Sign Language is actually a family of inter-related languages extending beyond the Great Plains. She breaks down the regional languages as: Northeast Hand Talk (including Oneida Sign Language), Plains Sign Language, Great Basin Sign Language (spoken, for example, by the Ute), and Southwest Hand Talk. She also notes a West Coast language spoken by the Chumash, and she advances the idea that Inuit Sign Language has some relation to this complex of manual North American Indigenous languages. Unmentioned is Coast Salish Sign Language. Within each of these languages, she explains that nations will themselves have specific dialects, such as the Blackfoot.

Southwest Hand Talk is spoken by the Navajo, Hopi, Apache, and Pueblo peoples. However, amongst the Navajo and Keres people, there are two unrelated sign languages also spoken: Keresan Sign Language and, by a Navajo clan with a large number of deaf members, Navajo Family Sign. Likewise, Plateau Sign Language may or may not be related to Hand Talk.

The hidden history of “Hand Talk”

reminders:

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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

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[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That feeling when a family member you respected says something racist about immigration and all that respect dies in an instant

desolate

[–] ratboy@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago

I wish I was half as brave as all the homies throwing the fuck down in LA right now

[–] Euergetes@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago

i did not recognise los angeles game

[–] Comrade_Mushroom@hexbear.net 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Was talking to the social worker helping my dad back in Texas today, she was telling me about the workers helping him, and very casually added that one of them is black, unprompted, for no apparent reason.

puzzled

I do not miss Texas lmao

[–] Euergetes@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

texas. death to it and so on and so on

[–] ratboy@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

I think this is like, an older gen x/boomer thing too. I'm from California and my parents and partners parents do that shit too. My parents are trump lovers and his parents are libs but they just HAVE to throw it in there. Like y'all we live in one of the most diverse cities in the state if not nation aren't you used to being around people who aren't white by now

[–] wombat@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago

it is june 8 and stalin saved the world from fascism

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago

I think the local jazz station has been playing more blues since Sinners came out, and I'm not complaining

[–] KuroXppi@hexbear.net 7 points 1 day ago

The more you eat the more you poop. It's just science.

[–] WizardOfLoneliness@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

holy shit, I haven't watched this video but just from the intro and thumbnail this is a genius idea tbh, could be used by unhoused people to avoid being harassed by cops and shit

guy made a camper to haul but it looks like it's a trailer full of pallets

obviously it's not 100% stealthy like if a cop looks close they'll see shit but it'd probably be enough to stop nosy crackers from calling them in the first place

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[–] buh@hexbear.net 17 points 1 day ago

Just remembered Joe Biden and the Dilbert guy have cancer lol

[–] Wmill@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Look at me being an adult with my meal prepping and making sure I have a change of underwear for everyday of the week. This is pure skill before I know it I'll have a good job, a hot bod (been exercising everyday and fasting every other day) and third desirable thing. This is my glow up arc in progress but I'm glowing up gigachad-hd

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

got Morrowond running on my phone with the audiobooks mod 😎

[–] Euergetes@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

woaw based based based

reminds me i need to get that runnin on me linux rig. i need tamriel rebuilt to distract me from beyond skyrim not releasing shite

[–] Blakey@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

i love curry ketchup so much. the adolfs don't get enough credit for that one

[–] Parzivus@hexbear.net 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] Parzivus@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Blakey@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago

I still hold that "at least three" was an incredibly cool and good answer to that question (even though he didn't mean it in a cool and good way)

[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Parzivus@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

Lmao amazing

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[–] Blockocheese@hexbear.net 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For the longest time I was convinced Steph Curry was 5'7" and was so impressed that he played professionally against all those giant men

I just found out he's 6'2" what the fuck

[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 7 points 1 day ago

smol bean for NBA standards, large adult son (tallest 4%) in the general population

[–] WizardOfLoneliness@hexbear.net 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

while misgendering is on my mind idk if i posted about it but shout out to the time my dad was like "you know she's a girl dog" the time i called my dad's dog buddy jesse-wtf

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I fixed the stupid pesticide jug with the built in pump. In case anyone else gets a spectracide flip & go home defense thing and turns it sideways and the pump stops pumping pesticide and googling it is fucking worthless, the top part screws off and I just idk ran hot water over it while pressing the pump button and it started working again

[–] Wmill@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago

Cleaned out a half gallon jug no one was using in my house, gonna be filling it in the morning with smoothies every morning. Been making oatmeal with peanut butter, whatever canned fruit I got, and some soy milk/water. The training class for I'm doing is pretty much you can take breaks but if I do this it'll give me more time to study and get some extra notes in. I'm not in the soylent shake stage yet but damn if I'm not getting there besides I'll eat solid food when I get home.

[–] ComradeWizardmon6@hexbear.net 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Okay I made an account again to post smth last night but I was having mental health (i may have possibly talked to a LLM chatbot and had a smol break with reality) so my normal "post it coward" self rule is not gonna be followed this time. Watching a crazy person talk to several people who aren't there, aided by chatbots, is going to be depressing no matter the content.

This daily thread comment is me weaseling out of the self rule and thank goodness chapo makes you wait for human review to get an account.

Edit: Ya know, people with whatever is wrong with me prolly shouldn't talk to LLMs. Show me a parrot that sounds just like me and I'm going to lose my shit about how we need to free the machine intelligences.

I don't like compassion is a clear indicator of insanity.

[–] KnilAdlez@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So there are some liberal protests going on (https://www.nokings.org/), would it be a good idea to go to one and start handing out some commie propaganda? There's no orgs to do so in my area, so it would just be me.

[–] TrippyFocus@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Might actually be a good way to start a local org if that’s something you’re open to.

[–] KnilAdlez@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'll definitely think about it, but I'm disabled so I don't know how much energy I could give

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[–] Assian_Candor@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago (3 children)

My cat was definitely dying yesterday so I said fuck it and took him to the ER to be admitted. Threw the 5k on the credit card. Not ideal but I would not have forgiven myself if I hadn't at least tried.

They say there's no guarantee it will unblock him and I definitely can't do any surgery so it's this or bust. But I would have never forgiven myself if I hadn't tried everything in my means.

It's such a strange position to be placed in, having to answer the question, "how much is this animal's life worth?"

Like there has to be a limit. But it's such a fucked up calculation to have to do when a loved one is in distress, and that is what they are ultimately.

[–] ratboy@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

Following your posts about this and thinking of your kitty and still sending positive vibes! Glad he's still hanging in there

[–] WizardOfLoneliness@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Are they okay for now? I hope they're okay

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[–] WizardOfLoneliness@hexbear.net 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

My second favorite part about having a roomba after having mostly clean floors is that I get to fulfill my patriotic duty of sending data on my home to the Chinese govt. Idk what Xi Jinping will do with a LIDAR scan of my nude body walking down the hallway but whatever it's for, I know it's furthering the communist cause rat-salute-2

You couldn't even GET this level of peace of mind buying American

[–] LocalMaxima@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

building this but it’s a scan of every roomba owner

that would be so fucking cool ngl I'd have clean floors AND a legacy

[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago

Good news, I was able to recover basically all my files. I think I might have damaged my power supply unit or some cable might have broken, or it's just very dirty and it's not working now. Anyway, I'm just glad I was able to get my stuff back and i'll probably be able to get my pc fixed or a new pc by the end of the week. stalin-approval

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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[–] KnilAdlez@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I can't believe that we as a society just let the nft bros walk free. You should get a phone notification with exactly how much they paid for a picture of a monkey every time you talk to them.

[–] WizardOfLoneliness@hexbear.net 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I can't believe the people who are responsible for social media content algorithms serving up and proliferating nazi ideology have names and addresses and are still alive when they're literally going to be the cause of this civil war

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[–] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 7 points 1 day ago

I replaced the shifters (and break levers) on my bike today. sicko-biker

The barrel adjuster on the left shifter was cracked and there was no way to fine-tune the front derailleur, which needed fine-tuning after I replaced the chainwheel a couple weeks back.. The right shifter was okay, but it made sense to do both. Now I've got the front derailleur working more-or-less perfectly. The rear is a bit wonky, but it's close.

[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago

Nonce-Equitur

[–] peppersky@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Imagine living in a world in which everything that exists isn't constantly and relentlessly squeezed for ever growing profit.

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