Native Americans
are trying to prove that their languages are alive and thriving.
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The
preservation of Native American languages is heavily reliant
on the younger generation (Images via NewsOK)
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Since the arrival of European colonizers in the
Western hemisphere, Native American tribes have suffered in every
imaginable way. This marginalized group of people has endured
everything from cultural death to literal death and, in recent
decades, have begun dealing with the death of their tribal languages.
Linguicide the death of a language is quickly
becoming the grave reality for the 562 federally recognized Native
American tribes in the United States. Only 16 percent of the remaining
tribal languages are spoken as first languages by Native children,
and some languages have less than 10 fluent speakers.
One of the main facilitators of Native language death was the
implementation of boarding schools in the 1800s, which sought to
eradicate every aspect of tribal cultures by targeting younger generations.
These children were brutally punished for speaking in their mother
tongues, which led to them fearing retribution in adulthood and
refusing to transmit their languages to their children.
Establishing these boarding schools was only one of the numerous
ways in which the United States government directly attempted to
eliminate everything they despised about Native Americans. They
destroyed families, cultures and tribal identities, and tribes today
are left to clean up the mess that forced assimilation caused.
Most Americans will never have to think about what will happen
to their culture if their language ceases to exist. However, Native
Americans must ask this question daily as they watch their communities
suffer.
Language and culture are inextricable, and cultures die when
languages die. These tribes constantly live under the threat of
losing their histories, their stories, their religions and their
familial ties as their languages become moribund.
Though linguicide is a disastrous issue that almost all tribes
face, many tribes are successfully bringing their languages back
from the brink of extinction. Here are four Native American tribes
fighting against the lingering effects of colonialism as they preserve
their treasured languages.
1. Sioux Tribe
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A
child attending Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation's
(TVCDC's) Lakota Immersion Childcare program on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in South Dakota learns the letters of the
alphabet and corresponding Lakota words.PHOTO COURTESY OF
THUNDER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
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In 2000, the Sioux realized that only 14 percent of Natives
living on reservations in North and South Dakota speak Lakota. In
response, the language was officially considered "endangered." Lakota
is spoken by seven tribes and Dakota, which is closely related,
is spoken on only a few reservations.
Lakota speakers have implemented various language programs to
teach younger generations about the language. Language institutes
have been founded around the country, particularly on the now famous
Standing Rock Reservation. There are even some websites that teach
basic Lakota words and phrases and compare pronunciations in the
Lakota and Dakota dialects.
The Lakota Language Consortium is one of the most prominent
programs designed to help people learn the language, and their primary
focus is on children.
Their goal is to make Native children fluent in the language
by eighth grade and provide items such as textbooks, CDs and flash
cards, and the organization is trying to develop language games
to encourage children to study the language.
2. Cherokee Tribe
The Cherokee are one of the largest Native American tribes in
North America, but the tribe still worries about language loss.
In 2002, the Cherokee Nation conducted a survey that found that
there were no fluent Cherokee speakers under 40. The Cherokee Principal
Chief declared a state of emergency, which prompted Cherokees to
seriously consider the tribe's future.
Now, there are multiple language revitalization programs available.
In North Carolina, high school students are allowed to take a Cherokee
language course to satisfy the state's foreign language requirements.
Robert Bushyhead, a prominent Cherokee elder, worked with a linguist
before his death to compile a dictionary and grammar book which
is now used in high schools and colleges.
The tribe has also added new words to their lexicon to avoid
adopting anglicized words. The Cherokee Language Consortium was
founded in 2007 for this purpose, and the very first word that they
invented was O-'ZcT DfiVoJ (unole ayododi), the Cherokee word for
"balloon." Their adaption means, "It's something you put air in."
Young tribal members are also using Cherokee syllabary as emoticons,
and are introducing their language and syllabary into Facebook,
Google, Microsoft and other software programs.
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The
Cherokee Nation Immersion School began in 2001 as a language
preservation program. Cherokee Nation
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3. Pueblo Tribes
The Pueblos consist of multiple Native tribes with similar cultural
and religious backgrounds. These tribes, though similar, have vastly
different languages derived from four unrelated language families.
Each language is in danger of extinction. The Acoma Keres language,
for example, has less than 100 remaining speakers.
Keres speakers have dubbed video clips and cartoons on YouTube
to encourage youth interest in the language. The first cartoon they
dubbed was an episode of "Spongebob Squarepants" and they also have
started animating their own videos depicting tribal stories.
Other Pueblo languages have dictionaries and grammar books and
young Natives can attend preparatory schools, after-school programs
and weekend classes.
Since Pueblo languages were traditionally oral (as almost all
other Native languages were), some Pueblo tribes don't want their
languages written down, presenting a unique situation to those who
wish to know these languages.
Nevertheless, there are still resources for these tribes to
learn their languages as they learn from the last few living elders
who speak those languages fluently.
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Elizabeth
Anne Ka-hee, Keres Children Learning Centers language
and culture teacher, asks the students to name their family
clans in the Keres language.
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The Keres Children
Learning Center (KCLC), a Montessori preschool that immerses
students in the oral Cochiti Keres language, opened its doors in
2012. For several years prior, tribal leaders, education experts
and local families worked with co-founders Trisha Moquino and Olivia
Coriz to plan and shape a school that would match their vision.
4. Navajo Tribe
Even though the Navajo language is one of the most widely spoken
Native American languages, it is still at risk of disappearing.
The Navajo were one of the last to become bilingual as late
as 1930, 71 percent of Navajos spoke no English.
Nevertheless, the Census Bureau found that only 164,000 people
spoke Navajo in the home in 2014, which is down from about 173,000
in 2005.
To reverse the effects of assimilation, the Navajo are encouraging
younger generations to get involved in learning the language. Apps
and YouTube videos have been created to facilitate youth involvement
in language preservation, and there is even an app for toddlers
to learn the language.
In addition, popular movies such as "Finding Nemo" and "Star
Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" have been dubbed in the Navajo language.
There are also Navajo-run immersion and charter schools dedicated
to teaching children the language.
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Gwendolyn
Begaye, a fourth-grade teacher at Diné Bi Olta
school, discusses the book Charlottes Web
with her class. Instructors at the school are encouraged to
speak Navajo to students in every subject every day. Taylor
Notah/Cronkite News
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Bergan
Elementary School Teacher Carloyn Zuback teaches kindergartners
part of the day in English, and part of it in Blackfeet. The
school's aim is to have a class of fluent Blackfeet speakers
by the time the students graduate from high school. Credit
Courtesy Emily Ritter Saunders
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Hope for the Future
Though linguicide is currently the reality for almost every
Native tribe, young people are taking initiative to learn their
respective languages. Immersion schools and technology are two of
the most effective resources for learning tribal languages.
Considering the traumatic history of education as a colonizing
tool in Native communities, having schools run by fellow tribal
members dedicated to teaching tribe-specific programs assists in
encouraging students to look at education in a more positive light.
In addition, adding tribal words to apps and games gives kids
a way to communicate with people their age in a modern way.
Young Native Americans are tribes' most valuable resources.
They recognize the severity of language loss and realize that they
will cease to know their cultures when their languages die.
By learning and preserving their languages, young Natives are
proving that their cultures and languages are not dying or antiquated,
but are adaptable and can live forever.
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