Jessie Little Doe Baird (also Jessie Little Doe Fermino,[1][2] born 18 November 1963)[3] is a linguist known for her efforts to revive the Wampanoag (Wôpanâak) language. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010.
Jessie Little Doe Baird | |
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Born | (1963-11-18) November 18, 1963 (age 58) Wareham, Massachusetts, United States |
Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Occupation | Linguist |
Notable work | We Still Live Here - Âs Nutayunean |
Awards | MacArthur Fellowship |
She resides in Mashpee, Massachusetts.[4]
In 1992 or 1993, Baird experienced many dreams what she believed to be visions of her ancestors meeting her and speaking in their language in her language, which she did not understand at first. It was also affirmed that according to a prophecy as believed by her Wampanoag community that a woman of their kind would leave her home to bring back their language and "the children of those who had had a hand in breaking the language cycle would help heal it."[5] In around the same year, Baird began teaching the Wôpanâak language at tribal sites in Mashpee and Aquinnah.[6][7]
Baird studied for a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology three years later where she studied with linguist Dr. Kenneth L. Hale,[8][9] together they collaborated on creating a language database based on official written records, government correspondences and religious texts especially a 1663 Bible printed by Puritan minister John Eliot kept in the archives of MIT,[9][5] this led to a first +10,000-word dictionary complied by them in 1996.[9]
She and her work on Wôpanâak language reconstruction and revival are the subject of a PBS documentary, "We Still Live Here – Âs Nutayuneân", directed by Anne Makepeace.[10]
She also serves as the vice-chairwoman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council. [11]
In 2017, Jessie Little Doe Baird received an honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences from Yale University.[12]
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