Our Amish Language
As my community modernized, we used Pennsylvania Dutch less and less. Now I’m trying to preserve it.
Eythana Miller
Reporting, essays, and oral history.
I’m a writer and oral historian from Libby, Montana. I write about language, community, economy, and arts, and I created Heritage in Translation, a Pennsylvania Dutch oral history of my home community. I also work to document Pennsylvania Dutch and support its continued vibrancy, in collaboration with Rose Fisher at MSU. You can learn more at the Pennsylvania Dutch Dialects Project.
Featured article + oral history
Featured work
Heritage in Translation
An oral history of an unconventional Amish community, where they share stories of Amish life and discuss the challenging years of transition out of traditionalism.
The interviews were conducted in Pennsylvania Dutch and are presented with English captions.
24 published pieces
Writing
10 pieces
Arts
The case for a global literary imagination
On translation, linguistic familiarity, and what American publishing misses when it rarely ventures beyond English.
An Amish novel flattened my community into fiction
A personal essay on creative freedom, insider knowledge, and what disappears when a living community becomes a setting.
The fastest growing American language you’ve never heard of
Pennsylvania Dutch, Standard German, and the strange illumination of finding the grammar of home in a college classroom.
The sweet velvet of familiar places
A memory of goat’s milk, winter chores, and the textures that make returning home feel familiar.
Stepping into an urban kaleidoscope: Seattle’s University District
A personal essay on pavement, belonging, and the lively thrum of Seattle’s University District.
Luna Ikuta | English | METAL Magazine
An interview about decellularized flowers, material experimentation, and making haunting work by hand.
Sayed Asif Mahmud | English | METAL Magazine
A conversation about photographing food, daily life, and resilience in Yemen.
Sofia Laskari | English | METAL Magazine
An interview on painting flesh, vulnerability, and the emotional discipline of a daily art practice.
Wara Vargas | English | METAL Magazine
A conversation with the Bolivian photojournalist about cultural memory, Indigenous advocacy, and the women in her work.
5 pieces
Politics & Local Issues
From JFK to Oakland: A repealed tariff policy’s effect on overconsumption
Following de minimis parcels through trade policy, the Port of Oakland, and America’s appetite for disposable abundance.
Unpacking the U.S.’s biggest financial institution: A conversation with professor Trevor Jackson
A discussion of the Federal Reserve, its unusual power, and how monetary decisions shape ordinary lives.
California student: I have college loans but don't want my debt forgiven. Here's why
A first-person argument about student debt, college access, and the costs that remain after forgiveness.
Prevalence of Shasta County Residents’ Early Trauma Explains High ACEs Scores; Hope Remains
Reporting on adverse childhood experiences in Shasta County and the local work of building resilience.
Why Student Debt Forgiveness Isn’t a Solution
An argument for addressing the underlying cost of college rather than treating debt relief as a substitute for broader access.
9 pieces
Food & Community
A Wise Elder
The long history of the Redding Farmers Market, told through the growers and organizers who made it a community fixture.
A Book to Love
Inside Shop Around the Corner Books and its place in downtown Redding’s reading community.
A Sweet Discovery
How a Weaverville confectionery became a gathering place and a source of work for local teenagers.
Better Together
The story of a pie maker and sourdough baker who built a business and community space together.
Climbing the Ladder
Two Redding artists on mentorship, creative practice, and helping art find an audience.
But First, Coffee
Jim Milestone’s painted tour of Redding’s independent coffee houses and the community around them.
Sharing Vines and Wine
A visit with the owners of Dakaro Cellars, where hospitality and local connection shape the work.
Artists at the Meal
Four Redding-area makers whose cakes, candles, bread, and ceramics help shape the gathering table.
Mission: Local Food Collaboration
How a Redding micro-farm’s collaborative boxes connect eaters with local producers.
About me
I’m a writer and oral historian from Libby, Montana, where I was raised in an unconventional Amish community that left traditionalism as I was growing up. Pennsylvania Dutch is my first language.
- 2013 — Eighth grade, Eagle Valley School · Libby, Montana
- 2018 — GED · Libby, Montana
- 2022 — A.A., Shasta College · Redding, California
- 2025 — B.A. in Political Economy, UC Berkeley
My reporting and essays have appeared in The Dial, The Daily Californian, CalMatters, METAL Magazine, and Edible Shasta-Butte, and are forthcoming in Anabaptist World in 2027.
I’m a 2022 California Humanities Emerging Journalist fellow and the recipient of a 2025 Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize.
Contact