Written by: Tiffini Davis



        For this blog I will be talking about Native American Languages. One big issue today is the loss of Native American Languages. One might be wondering how did this happen. How did so many Native Language become loss? Well one big reason was because in the 1870’s the Federal Government Started boarding schools for Native american children. The Government would take Native American Children away from their families. They would then place the children into the boarding schools. The idea behind this was a phrase “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”. Essential the children were taught how to write and speak in English. They were also taught other skills that would help them to be a productive member of society. This was from the American governments point of view not the Native Americans point of view. This was one way languages were loss. Native American Parents would they themselves and make their own children quit speaking their native language. This was to prevent the government from taking the children away to the boarding schools.When the last person of a tribe died that language was loss. Diseases that wiped out whole tribes are also another reason for the loss of Native Languages. I have an excellent video that is a brief introduction and summary about Native American Languages. Here is the link for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=BzK5LhagClw I would recommend taking a quit look at it.
       Native American Languages are not only important to the Native Americans themselves. Even Americans have use Native American Languages. A great example, would be in World War I and World War II Native American Languages were used to send messages. In an Article called Native Languages - Native Words Native Warriors There is a section that talks about how many native languages were used as codes during World War I and World War II. The article also give a number of how many tribal member spoke that language who were code talkers. The Number of native languages used and code talkers double by World War II. [Here are the American Indian Code talkers’ Languages and the number of tribal members who served, if known. There were at least two code talkers from each tribe. World War II: Assiniboine, Chereokee, Chippewa / Onieda with (17 code talkers), Choctaw, Comache (17), Hopi (11), Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee / Creek and Seminole, Navajo (about 420), Pawnee, Sac and Fox / Meskwaki(19), and Sioux - Lakota and Dakota Dialects.](Native Languages - Native Words Native Warrior) Just image if there were at least two tribal members from each language the that would roughly be 840 tribal members for Navajo. This number is incredible.
        It wouldn’t be a blog About Native American Languages if I didn’t talk about actual Native American Languages. The following video shows five individuals who speak a different Native American Language. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1HmUm2AOdw
I like the video because it shows individuals of different ages. I also like the video for the five  native languages that it shows as well. Being able to hear those kind of gives a sense of connect that the language has for Native Peoples.
       To bring the b log back the the present day. There is a revitalization movement going on to bring back Native languages. For the children to learn the native language. In 1990 Congress passed an Act that recognized Native American Culture and Language. In 1992 the Act was update to have money that would go towards helping the acts to actually happen. Since then some school systems in the United States of America have been offering classes or course that teach Native American languages. However, there are many challenges that are being face right now with the revitalization. Having teachers that are fluent in the language itself. How the children are adapting to public schooling. Having enough funds or money for all of this to happen. The list goes on with some of the issues that are being faced. “According to the 2011 National Indian Education Study survey of school administrators, a quarter of the students in public schools with low Native enrollment receive Native Language instruction, while half of the students in high Native enrollment public schools do.”(Native American Languages Act: Twenty Years Later, Has It Made A Difference) There are steps being taken to help bring back and teach Native Languages to the New or younger generations.
      Overall I would say there have been some dark times. There have also been some good times for Native American language. There is a Revitalization happening. There are steps being taken for these languages to come back. In my Next Blog post I will go over more in depth on Native American Languages and Where they would have been spoken in North America.




Sources


Klug, Kelsey. Native American Languages Act: Twenty Years Later, Has It Made A Difference? July 18, 2012 https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/native-american-languages-act-twenty-years-later-has-it-made-difference

Native Languages - Native Words Native Warrior, National Musuem of the American Indian https://americanindian.si.edu/education/codetalkers/html/chapter2.html

American Indian Languages February 6, 2015 - Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&reload=9&v=BzK5LhagClw

Five Native American Languages November 25, 2013 - Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1HmUm2AOdw


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