A Letter from Nicasia Leontodes, Sign Herald & Creator of SignHeraldsOfTheSCA.com:

Hello all,

Conversations between the Sign Heralds and Voices of the Populace has only recently begun. This letter is in reference to similarities and differences in practices and views between both groups only from a signing perspective.

The Sign Heralds of the Society of Creative Anachronism have made strides with changing terminology used in our community (for example, moving away from using the title "Silent Herald" to "Sign Herald" since "Sign" doesn't perpetuate that the d/Deaf voice is being silenced ) and have been working toward editing their Handbook to include practices for signing outside of court settings. With growing numbers of Signers in each Kingdom, Sign Heralds aim to have more Signers available throughout events and accompanying classes. 

Chosen vocabulary is typically communicated with the d/Deaf community within each Kingdom, and when there is a recognized need for change on a grand scale, this eventually moves to a Society level (like Silent to Sign). Since there has historically been slow movement in getting things changed in the Sign Herald Handbook and in common practices amongst Sign Heralds between Kingdoms in the Society, a new group has formed out of the West Kingdom called the Voices of the Populace, created to ensure that there was a group that did not identify as "Heralds" because Heralds act as the "Voices of the Royals" according to the Sign Herald Handbook (pre-update), saying that the Handbook does not specify speaking for the SCAdian population. While the Sign Heralds are a branch of the College of Heralds, the Voices of the Populace are a branch of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office of the Society. Before the upcoming edits of the Sign Herald Handbook, the Voices of the Populace worked to include protocols to follow for signing outside of court settings. They also differ from Sign Heralds in that while Sign Heralds may be requested or volunteer their services throughout an event, their Handbook states that Voices of the Populace have an obligation to show up for the entirety of an event (though accessibility to sign language from either group will become much easier as more Signers join the Society!). A shared goal between Sign Heralds and Voices of the Populace is language equity in all SCA settings, such as in field shouts. The movement of Voices of the Populace has begun to expand out of the West Kingdom into the Kingdoms of An Tir, Outlands, and Caid.

As opposed to the title "Sign Herald," Voices of the Populace uses the term "Sign Emissary," Emissary being chosen as it means 'person who carries a message between parties.' A Sign Dignitary is a Signer that is still in training for becoming a Sign Emissary. After completing a class assigned by the Voices of the Populace (or having completed an equivalent of 2 semesters of college in American Sign Language and culture), they must take a practical exam and swear an oath of ethics to then be given the title of Emissary. 

The Head of the Voices of the Populace, Drötin Odd Inn Fundni, has made it known that Voices of the Populace would love to join under the same umbrella as the Sign Heralds once Sign Heralds move away from using the word "Herald" and adopt "Emissary" as they find the use of "Herald" incorrect when a translator is not treated like a translator. Until then, Sign Heralds and the Voices of the Populace consider each other allies in ensuring sign accessibility in the Society with efforts to create language equity and standardized language/signed vocabulary across the SCA (at least in American Sign Language).

Since reported concern of the use of "Herald" from the Voices of the Populace has not been brought up as a concern in other Kingdoms by their d/Deaf SCAdian populations, it will be up to the Sign Heralds in each Kingdom to eventually work on adopting this terminology in a cultural aspect within their Kingdom and eventually change Kingdom Law to formally adopt these title changes ONLY IF the d/Deaf population of that Kingdom requests this change be made. If terminology practices are more widespread across multiple Kingdoms, this can allow for changes in the Society as a whole. It is important to note that like ASL in the modern world, in the SCA there will be some variations, particularly in titles (the Principal Sign Herald goes by different names in each Kingdom, as can be seen on each Kingdom's website). Though there is an effort to continue to standardize Society sign vocabulary (Knight, Chivalry, Laurel, etc.), each Kingdom handles their own infrastructure and support which means it will be up to each Kingdom on how they choose to change and use their Kingdom terminology. Each Kingdom (and each region within each Kingdom) will be able to adapt and follow the interests of THEIR local d/Deaf community, including on a one-to-one basis (for example, if there is a d/Deaf SCAdian that does not want the Sign Herald to refer to themselves as a Herald, then the term Signer [SIGN+PERSON] may be used instead during events where this one individual may attend, even if this change is not going to formally be made on a Kingdom-scale). 

It takes time for such formal changes to be made in the SCA. For example, Atlantia JUST changed their Kingdom Law and policy to use "Sign Herald" instead of "Silent Herald," and this change took over a year to finalize, so there is a very low chance of a modification to changing terminology to "Sign Emissary," particularly when there is no objection to "Sign Herald" from the d/Deaf community in Atlantia. Even the Head Sign Emissary of the Outlands' email is still silentherald@outlandsheralds.org as of today. Again, change takes TIME in the SCA, even with strong efforts to move things forward. 

Until any such large-scale terminology changes are made in the Society, this website will remain SignHeraldsOfTheSCA as it is the most recognizable term for our particular branch of the College of Heralds across the Society in present day. Should there be a grand scale change on a Society level, the name of the website can change once the Society as a whole adopts any new terminology. 

Though this website was created with Sign Heralds as the focused Sign Group as there are presently more Sign Heralds in the SCA than there are Sign Emissaries, this site was designed so that any Signer, Officer, or other SCAdian could get involved with editing if they so choose. The Voices of the Populace have access to editing this website to ensure information under their group's tab(s) can always be up-to-date and also give them access to the shared opportunity of adding to the Introduction to ASL lesson page, the ASL Learning Resources page, and the SCA ASL Dictionary so that both Signing groups in the SCA can use a standardized source of vocabulary. 

If your Kingdom's d/Deaf SCAdian population is interested in changing Kingdom-level terminology from Sign Herald to Sign Emissary (or something else that the Kingdom's d/Deaf SCAdian population would prefer), please reach out to your Kingdom Herald to inquire how to begin this process. The Sign Heralds are presently communicating with the Voices of the Populace to in an effort to make their class, exam, and oath of ethics more available so that other Kingdoms may adopt this practice (if they so choose) to aid with beginning the process of standardizing tier levels of Signers.

The Society of Creative Anachronism is a volunteer-based organization. This SCAdian will point out that Sign Heralds also enjoy other aspects of the SCA and that they may not be able to attend one event to sign if they are attending another as they contribute to other things they do in the Society (which is what can make the obligation of attending every moment of every event impossible for each individual Signer, though the importance of showing up and providing access is still stressed and can be better addressed if there are more Signers of either kind in each Kingdom). Sign Heralds fall under the Herald's purview, name modifications cannot be made easily. It is to this SCAdian's understanding that while Sign Heralds sign on behalf of the Royals directly as well as through the Voice Heralds during court, the term "Herald" was used to include these Signers in the College of Heralds as a means of integrating all types of announcers that may be seen at court, though with the upcoming edits to our Sign Herald Handbook, it will be made clear that Sign Heralds are also used elsewhere in the Society outside of court settings. It is also important to note that there are conversations happening between the DEI Office and the College of Heralds about where Sign Heraldry should fall, though both sides have some pushback about making any changes for their own reasons. At the same time, since Voices of the Populace is presently DEI and Sign Heralds are presently in the College of Heralds, it could be very likely that both Signing Groups end up having a place in each and every Kingdom. 

Why is Nicasia ensuring there is tab on the Sign Herald website specifically for Voices of the Populace? Accessibility! If a d/Deaf SCAdian living in the East Kingdom (where there are presently no Sign Emissaries) were to travel to the West Kingdom or to the Outlands (where there are presently no Sign Heralds) and wanted to be able to find Signers to improve their SCA experience out-of-Kingdom, would it not be unfair to that SCAdian if contact information was not readily available to them through a site they are already familiar with? A d/Deaf SCAdian can have out-of-Kingdom contact information readily available to them for any Kingdom they visit (at least regarding USA and Canada with ASL at the moment), regardless of which Sign Group is more prevalent in the Kingdom that is being visited. Voices of the Populace and Sign Heralds share the duty to ensure accessibility is available to the populations they mutually serve. 

An important takeaway is that when voices in your Kingdom say change is needed, making that change happen will allow for a more welcoming environment for everyone. Though not all d/Deaf SCAdians in each Kingdom have shared the same conviction of disapproving the word "Herald" as has the Voices of the Populace, this new group was created because these SCAdians felt that their d/Deaf voices weren't being heard. February 2025 marks the beginning of outreach between Sign Heralds and the Voices of the Populace to move signing accessibility forward and ensure availability and standardization of our Society's signed vocabulary.

In summary, Sign Heralds and the Voices of the Populace are separate but equal groups of Signers and educators in the Society that do things just a bit differently. Both groups are very interested in working together to make for a better and more accessible experience for all present and future SCAdians!

Thank you for reading.

Yours in Service,

Lady Nicasia Leontodes

Deputy Sign Herald of the East Kingdom

A Letter from Drötin Odd Inn Fundni, Head Sign Emissary of Voices of the Populace: