Byline: Gloria M. McCarty
I was excited to read the editor’s note at the beginning of the bi-lingual story published in the article, Sour Sofkee, by Fus-Yvhikv (TMN, Dec.15, 2024, Vol. 54, Issue 24). I know some nations have a regular article usually produced by their language department and, as someone who learned to read English from newspapers and dictionaries, I appreciate the potential such opportunities offer. We definitely need more of that, and it seems we’d always want to encourage any efforts, especially of and for our youth. So I settled in to read a new story, happy to see others’ work in the language.
I didn’t get very far before I recognized the story as a piece of my late* mother, Margaret McKane Mauldin’s and my surviving aunt, Juanita McGirt’s excellent translation of Earnest Gouge’s writings for John R. Swanton. I was still happy to see the language with translation in the newspaper but, my enjoyment turned to dismay to realize there was no credit given to the Creek speakers who spent years writing; recording; translating; transcribing and creating audio recordings of these traditional tales.
The Mvskoke News reprinted story 6- Rabbit Steals Fire nearly word for word. (Gouge, E.:Martin, J.B;Translation by Mauldin, M; McGirt, J.;Forward: Womack, C., Totkv Mocvse – New Fire, Creek Folktales by Earnest Gouge, 2004, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, p.29-31)
At least three Mvskoke speakers, ancestors and elders spent years writing and translating these stories. They made difficult decisions as they worked to create side-by-side, line-for-line translations. The culmination of that work is an enduring gift of Creek language literature to the Mvskoke people.
It’s inexplicable why these rare gems of Mvskoke literature remain largely unknown but, it doesn’t seem helpful for our own press to disrespect the precious work of fellow citizens. Also, it is plagiarism to present someone else’s work as one’s own, as it appears the byline of the nom de plume Fus-Yvhikv does.
I’d like to think that this was an accident. Hopefully, the staff at The Mvskoke News understands what constitutes plagiarism and works to avoid it but, if not, The Buttry Diary offers a helpful free online quiz for reporters (Buttry, S., A quiz to teach journalists about plagiarism and attribution, 2012, WordPress, https://stevebuttry.wordpress.com ).
To be clear, my concern here is for the language. I don’t receive any financial benefit from the sale of the books and/or the available DVD of audio recordings. In a perfect world, hard copies of the book and recordings would be in every MCN home. But even in this imperfect world, our linguist friend, Jack B. Martin created accessibility in a fabulous online cultural treasure trove for anyone with access to the internet.
Interested citizens should go to the Muskogee (Seminole/Creek) Documentation Project, https://muskogee.pages.wm.edu/.
Find the Gouge Texts and the recordings there to hear my mother, Margaret McKane Mauldin’s beautiful voice reading these 29 stories and much, much more, for free. If there’s a hymn you always wanted to learn, you might find it there.
I look forward to the next issue of The Mvskoke News and hoping you’ll take this time to make the correction, but even more to promote the awareness of these excellent Creek language works to the citizens of our great nation.
Mvto,
Mvhayuce Gloria M. McCarty
Fus-Svhayv Ecovlke
* See Creek Language Instructor Remembered, by Gerald Wofford, Muscogee Nation News, March 1 2014, Vol. 44, Issue 5, p.2.