Recent studies on Native American languages point towards an alarming problem in the United States today. Language loss, a global phenomenon, is accelerating among indigenous groups in the United States. A large majority of Native American vernaculars are spoken only by elders and the remainder are fast approaching that status, as growing numbers of children speak only English.
To many, the precedence of one “common” language seems like an achievement of globalization and hence they argue that it would be wiser to spend resources on improving the English speaking skills of Native Americans rather than resuscitating fading tongues. However, no language is just a collection of words and, therefore, languages are not so simply substitutable for each other. Each language is a unique tool for analyzing and synthesizing the world and to lose such a tool is to forget a way of constructing reality, blotting out a perspective evolved over many generations. Native American languages express ideas on which Native American cultures are anchored; a native language does not just reflect a culture - in a functional sense it is the culture. These languages are based on entirely different histories, scientific and natural-world understandings, spiritual beliefs, and political and legal ideas. They capture concepts that do not exist in English. In essence, they are based on different realities.
Realising the magnitude of this language-loss, most indigenous tribes today are making some type of effort toward a language-comeback. These efforts include everything from instituting apprenticeship programs, which pair a fluent elder with a student, to using, what may seem like an unusual tool because of the inherent reservations in Native American communities to being photographed or recorded in any form, technology such as YouTube videos of native speakers or Google Hangout video chats for live, long-distance conversations. The idea is to engage the younger members of the tribe who, in their effort to fit into the more popular culture, are quickly losing ties with their unique heritage.
To many, the precedence of one “common” language seems like an achievement of globalization and hence they argue that it would be wiser to spend resources on improving the English speaking skills of Native Americans rather than resuscitating fading tongues. However, no language is just a collection of words and, therefore, languages are not so simply substitutable for each other. Each language is a unique tool for analyzing and synthesizing the world and to lose such a tool is to forget a way of constructing reality, blotting out a perspective evolved over many generations. Native American languages express ideas on which Native American cultures are anchored; a native language does not just reflect a culture - in a functional sense it is the culture. These languages are based on entirely different histories, scientific and natural-world understandings, spiritual beliefs, and political and legal ideas. They capture concepts that do not exist in English. In essence, they are based on different realities.
Realising the magnitude of this language-loss, most indigenous tribes today are making some type of effort toward a language-comeback. These efforts include everything from instituting apprenticeship programs, which pair a fluent elder with a student, to using, what may seem like an unusual tool because of the inherent reservations in Native American communities to being photographed or recorded in any form, technology such as YouTube videos of native speakers or Google Hangout video chats for live, long-distance conversations. The idea is to engage the younger members of the tribe who, in their effort to fit into the more popular culture, are quickly losing ties with their unique heritage.
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