Native American Boarding Schools: The Struggle for Language Preservation

Written by: Kelsie Bryant

            In the 19^th Century, we see the creation of Native American Boarding schools in America. They persisted for a long time, and there are people today who survived the horrific conditions and treatment of these schools. The main goal of these schools was to “civilize” the children; they were forcefully assimilated. They were taken from their families and now the idea of cultural preservation for some members of these native tribes seems impossible. One of the major impacts these boarding schools had was their effect of native languages.

            Native children were beat and submitted to horrific and inhumane acts if they were to speak their native language. After decades of this, we see a steep decline in language preservation for tribes all across the country. In contemporary times, we see a variety of patterns of language revival or, in some cases, extinction.

            Passing down languages is critical for native tribes in order to preserve their culture and kinship, especially in times of heavy government involvement. Many elders have found themselves unable to recall, let alone speak or teach their native languages. This ranges across many tribes, such as the Zia tribe.

           The Zia tribe, like many others, have witnessed a sharp decline in the presence of native language in younger generations. Harvard Magazine writes that the Zia, despite many of their tribes being subject to boarding school, were able to preserve their language up until the 1970s. However, Zia children today are only taught their language in their schools up until about middle school, “After which English wins out.” The efforts to preserve the Zia language have been difficult and full of heartache for the older generations of the tribe, but as assimilation still persists it’s hard to prevent this tragic loss.

            However, in some Native American schools today, we see the revival of language now that the government is slowly giving more and more freedom to native people. For example, the Sherman Indian High School in California has become a popular modern boarding school for Native American teenagers. Mostly coming from Wyoming, as this was reported by the Wyoming Public Media, these teenagers have generally not only found the school better than public, but it also gave them a sense of pride. The author of the article reports that a teacher who now teaches the Navajo language to students was a former student of these Native American boarding schools. However, when she was a student, she and many others were subject to beating and other forms of punishment for speaking their language by their white teachers. However, we can now see she has reclaimed her identity and, quite amazingly, preserved her Navajo language to the point where she could teach it in the future. This is incredibly significant, as the Navajo language is one of the most spoken Native American languages today.

            Without these teachers and the commitment put into preservation, we would see a sharp decrease in all languages. However, major steps by many tribes, especially the Navajo, have persisted in keeping the language alive.

            Another example is the Yuchi tribe’s effort to preserve language. In fact, as Cultural Survivor reports, Yuchi children are being immersed in their native language in some parts of their daily lives. For example, the picture provided shows the children engaging with their tribe’s effort to preserve the language.

            The major figure in preserving the Yuchi language is gOlaha Maxine (a title for grandmother). She is the last fluent speaker of the language, and she is highly regarded in the tribe for this aspect. She believes that god, gOhanTOnA, is the one who gave her this ability, as well as a long life that gives her the chance to pass on the language through stories and song, especially with the children.

            One current issue facing the Yuchi, however, is the preservation of The Yuchi House in Sapulpa. It is currently facing severe defunding, meaning a loss of material culture as well as a safe and designated space for reviving the language with other tribe members.

            So how does cultural relativism relate to this? Simply put, the cries for help of preservation fall on deaf ears. While the general populace might say they are not actively trying to assimilate native tribes anymore, there seems to be little interest in reviving the language and reversing what these boarding schools have done. Native culture is not being taken into account for many tribes across the United States due to being unrecognized, or just plain lackadaisical attitude towards their entire being.

           The future of preserving native languages that were almost wiped out by the boarding schools is unclear. Many tribes have made great strides, such as the Navajo who even used their language during World War II to help out the American allies. However, other tribes have almost completely lost their native language, so it’s hard to form a recovery plan.

References

Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: https://iupui.kanopy.com/video/our-spirits-don-t-speak-english-indian-boarding-school

The Yuchi Tribe: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/gone-enu-owadana-new-generation-yuchi-speakers

Current Native American Boarding Schools: https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/todays-remaining-native-american-boarding-schools-are-far-cry-their-history#stream/0

The Zia Tribe: https://harvardmagazine.com/2008/03/indian-boarding-schools