Right: The poem "My Countryman" by José Salvador Cavero is written in Quechua in the book Lira Huamanguina, published in Ayacucho (Peru) in 1950

It is his interest in how Quechua has been reinvented throughout history, the country’s evolving language policy and the current state of bilingualism in Peru – a concept Canada also struggles with – that has earned Durston the , worth $25,000 in research funding. The prize is awarded annually to an outstanding new researcher. This is in addition to the three-year standard SSHRC research grant he received last year worth $60,000 for his project, “The Social History of Quechua Letters: Modern Peru, 1900-1975”.

Quechua’s written history dates back to the 16th century, when Spanish conquerors introduced the Roman alphabet and sought to convert the population to Christianity using indigenous language texts. “However, it is not until the start of the 20th century that we find written Quechua being used for a wide range of purposes,” says Durston. Intellectuals started writing plays, poetry, political propaganda, speeches, medical texts and newspaper and journal articles in Quechua to fuel national identity and nation-building by reaching a broader section of the population.

“Suddenly, we have this boom. New kinds of texts that haven’t appeared before start appearing,” says Durston. As Latin American countries moved away from Western influence, the rising middle class turned toward indigenous cultural traditions and developed an interest in the country’s indigenous language. “This was a high point of Latin American nationalism.” It’s also a period that has attracted little scholarly attention. “People today aren’t aware of the diversity and richness of what’s available.” Much of the material is housed in one library and is mostly forgotten.

Left: Alan Durston

One of the barriers preventing Quechua from becoming a more mainstream written language is its perceived association with the Incas. People think they have to write Quechua the way the Incas would have spoken it, but that’s absurd, says Durston. “Quechua is not just this fossil, this relic of the Incas; it’s a living language. You can write it the way people speak today.”

Quechua continues to be spoken by people not only in Peru, but Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, and by many who wouldn’t consider themselves indigenous. In some parts of Peru it is spoken universally. But since the 1950s, production of literary material in Quechua has dropped significantly. Most people writing in Quechua today have little training in it as there is such a dearth of available written material to read, says Durston.

Although Quechua was given official language status in the 1970s, it wasn’t promoted, he says. Unlike in Canada where all road signs, food items, government forms, documents and the like are in both official languages, Quechua doesn’t appear next to Spanish anywhere. “It hasn’t really succeeded as a written language in politics or law.”

He hopes his research, however, will increase interest in the current stock of written Quechua material and in producing more. “I do think my research has the potential to help Quechua in Peru,” says Durston.

As part of his project, he plans to write a book in both Spanish and English about his research and develop an online archive of written Quechua material that will be available to anyone. He is the author of , which looks at the world of colonial Quechua culture through language.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Alien invaders are among us. In spring and summer you see them every day. They are everywhere and respect no borders.

Fortunately, 91��ɫ biologist Chris Lortie and his colleague José Hierro at Universidad Nacional de La Pampa in Argentina are on the case. With a team of students from around the world, they are looking for answers about invasive plant species.

In Ontario, a common invasive species is purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), a purple wetland plant native to Europe and Asia which can be easily seen by roadsides, in ditches and in wilderness areas.

Left: Purple loosestrife

Currently, Lortie and Hierro’s team are studying a member of the sunflower family called the yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis), which hails from Eurasia – namely Turkey, Georgia, France and Spain, but is now invading California, Western Canada and Argentina. It is an international pest and requires international cooperation to analyze the problem, understand its biology and environmental impact, and it is hoped, researchers will find a way to control or eliminate it.

Right: Yellow starthistle

Lortie and Hierro first met as PhD students under renowned invasive species expert Professor Ray Callaway at the University of Montana. They have maintained a friendship over the years and collaborate on biology projects despite being separated by thousands of kilometres. “Dr. Callaway is probably the world’s most cited ecologist on invasive plant species,” says Lortie. “José and I learned a great deal from him. He’s very inspiring and we are excited to take our experience as foreign students back to the classrooms and labs as professors teaching students – many of them international students.”

Hierro agrees. “91��ɫ has so many outstanding students and faculty. It is a privilege to work with them – especially with excellent labs and equipment. You are very fortunate and the students who come will benefit. We gain knowledge from students who come here from around the world because they can impart information about their ecology to us that helps our research.

“In turn, we create students with broad skills and a global perspective of invasive species so we can provide action plans,” says Hierro. “We are trying to answer the question, ‘When exotic species is not native to an area, why are they so successful?’ The textbook example familiar to people in Ontario is purple loosestrife, but there are many, many more examples all around the world.”

Left: José L. Hierro of Argentina

Lortie and Hierro also enjoy their roles as mentors to a new generation of students from around the world. “Collaboration is key,” says Lortie. “José and I worked together first as students, now as educators. We are separated, but we work together on projects of mutual interest but also of good scientific merit because invasive species disrupt existing ecosystems and that can, potentially, do great harm if it disrupts food chains, agriculture, and so on. These problems are not just local, they are global and require global efforts to understand them and combat them.”

Lortie and Hierro currently have over 400 plants growing in 91��ɫ’s greenhouses and have exchange students from as far away as France, Mexico and South Africa taking part in research experiments.

Left: Chris Lortie

“I love being at 91��ɫ because there are so many opportunities for me to be myself and strengthen my character. I feel at home here and that has been really important in asserting myself as a young adult,” says Kate Baker Del Aguila, an international student from Mexico, whose family is currently living in Lebanon. She is a fourth-year biology major focusing on conservation biology and ecology. “As an assistant researcher this experience has been invaluable to my future endeavours as an ecologist. Studying away from home is a privilege, so I try to make the most of the experience. By contributing as a student, a research assistant and a volunteer, I feel I have done the most I can to not just be seen as an international student but rather as part of the 91��ɫ community.”

Right: Jabir Alidina and Kate Baker Del Aguila at work. Photo by José L. Hierro.

“It’s wonderful to have the opportunities to work and study away from home with students from around the world at 91��ɫ. It has a lively atmosphere,” says Hierro.

“I see ourselves in these students,” adds Lortie. “They want to learn and want to take that knowledge back home to help their own communities. It’s great.”

For students interested in exploring exchange or internship opportunities or for faculty interested in 91��ɫ's linkages, please visit the Web site, or drop by the office at 200 91��ɫ Lanes.

Submitted by Edward Fenner, 91��ɫ International

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