222 Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning
co-researcher, Dr. Sam Lutalo-Kiingi of Kyambogo University, to support the
documentation of ExNorthCamSL. This is their indigenous language, and it has
recently become threatened by the importation into local educational institutions
of Cameroon Sign Language (CSL), including two variants based on American
Sign Language (ASL) and French Sign Language (LSF; also see Lutalo-Kiingi & De
Clerck, 2015c; Chapter 5). In the evenings after the training sessions, we worked
intensively with him to devise a research proposal, which was ultimately selected by
the Endangered Languages Documentation program (ELDp) run by the School
of Oriental and African Studies in London. This enabled Dr. Lutalo-Kiingi to work
with the Extreme North deaf community, including training them on how to doc-
ument their sign language and cultural practices, and this provided auspicious op-
portunities to examine the dance from the closing ceremony. (Unfortunately, Dr.
Lutalo-Kiingi’s two-year ELDp postdoctoral Fellowship project, which he started in
2013, was put on hold in 2014 due to the conflict with Boko Haram in the area, and
remains so at the time of writing.)
During his fieldwork, Dr. Lutalo-Kiingi had noticed that these tree metaphors,
specifically involving maize and mango trees (local crops that are exported), were
now being used along with signs for unity to talk about development (also see
Lutalo-Kiingi & De Clerck 2015a). During deaf community meetings, attended by
a diverse group (including both men and women, older and younger deaf people,
and members with various educational backgrounds), collective views of identity
were expressed, referring to a shared use of ExNorthCamSL: “Every day we use the
same indigenous sign language [indigenous sign for ExNorthCamSL], all united as
one” (Lutalo-Kiingi, personal communication, July 14, 2013).
This expression of unity is somewhat remarkable in the light of language con-
tact and change in the area: Older ExNorthCamSL users note with concern that
they do not understand the imported sign language now learned by their younger
counterparts at the deaf school nearby. Although ExNorthCamSL is not used as
a language of instruction or taught subject, at the time of research (2013) it was
still being transmitted during gatherings on Sundays in the town center for “mon-
ey-go-rounds” (see Chapter 5) and daily at a kiosk run by a deaf woman where
signers come together after work to sit on a mat, have tea, and exchange news^2
(Lutalo-Kiingi & De Clerck, 2015a). In the expression of being united in their use
of ExNorthCamSL, the community seems to inspire feelings of connection that sup-
port linguistic transmission and cultural survival.
Apart from in the Extreme North, we had not seen spontaneous use of the
sign for unity in Cameroon. Instead, the emphasis had been on tensions and
challenges within the community (also see Chapter 5; De Clerck, 2011, 2012d).
When we presented the film of the WFD closing ceremony during the 2nd Sign
Language Workshop at the 7th World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL-7)- The impact of the conflict in the area on the transmission of ExNorthCamSL will hopefully be
able to be documented as soon as peace has returned to the region.