"Second" generation

I've been thinking about this notion of generations a lot lately. First, I had to write an essay comparing two autobiographies in which, ultimately, the biggest issue was that the author's belonged to a second generation; one was born to an Indian reservation and the other to Japanese immigrant parents. Thinking about their struggle for their identities, I also started thinking about the situation in Finland. We are right now in the stage, where our immigrant youth are born in Finland - it is their only home country - but their parents are often still very attached to their old home countries. Right now would be the moment to do something about it, to prevent or at least ease the clash of generations. Our moment to avoid the situation of France!

My title is in quotes because I also talked with my Nez Perce friend about the fate of Indian cultures - and the fate of the world overall. He said that in the end of the 1800s, during a time when a lot of Indian wars were fought and the last free tribes forced to reservation, a Nez Perce (?) chief had said that after seven generations there will be a generation to make it all right. And that's us! He might have been talking about the Indians - this 8th generation reviving the culture, correcting past mistakes - but it could also well extend to all of us. It makes me wonder - is there really a chance for peaceful relations? Nevertheless, the Indian youth seem to be doing their task. Their parents' generation was the first that was not widely taught to speak the Native languages. Now this young generation sees the loss and tries to make up for the lost time, tries to recapture the knowledge that is fast disappearing as the elders pass away. I think we can see the phenomenon also in the Sami cultures - it is no longer prohibited to speak the native languages, it is not a shame to be bicultural.

I know I sound idealistic but I really do hope that these ancient languages and cultures will be restored. (Says she, a member of a relatively small nation, speaker of a language that some people say is threatened to disappear, writing her blog entry in English ;)