Essay - Keeping Native American Language Alive: How to Save Them and...

Keeping Native American Language Alive:

***** To Save Them and Why This is a paper that deals with preserving the ***** American Language. There are eight references used for this paper.

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The Native American Language is rapidly disappearing ***** there are numerous people and groups, including the United States government, working to revive and preserve this important part of American culture. The language differs from tribe to tribe and it's interesting to look at how each one is preserving their history, as well as exploring why many ***** American *****s ***** in danger of extinction.

Vanishing *****s

At the time Columbus discovered America, 1.5 million Native *****ns spoke in the 300 to 600 languages of their tribes. Today, only 211 of these languages still exist, with only 32 of them spoken by all ages. Of the Native American languages ***** are still *****, "more that half ***** spoken by fewer than 1,000 persons per language (Columbia Encyclopedia)."

There are a couple ***** exceptions such as the Cherokee with over 50,000 speakers and the Navajo which, with 150,000 *****, is used more ***** any o*****r Native American language (Columbia Encyclopedia).

The elderly members of the ***** are usu*****y the only ones who cont*****ue to speak in their native language (saving a culture, 2002).

***** predict "in a few years everyone will speak English, Mandar*****, and Spanish

Wuethrich)." One reason is because most endangered ***** do not have distinctions such adjectives between nouns.

A*****her reason is "documenting endangered languages is an extremely time-consuming process (www.ABCNEWS.com)." Unfortunately, some l*****guages will disappear without ever being documented because ***** linguists find this work tedious (www.ABCNEWS.com)..

***** the beginning of 2002, there were 15 ***** ***** could ***** fluent Ojibwe in Wiscons*****. By June, that number had dwindled to 13, proving time is running out for members of ***** tribe (Nijhu***** 11).

***** Eyak tongue, which has been around for ***** three millennia, and began the Navaho, Apache and Athabaskan languages, is also in danger of disappearing. Though, the few remaining speakers of the language hope to keep it alive, most members ***** the tribe s***** little interest in ***** this part of their culture (Bartholet 62). Two other ***** American languages ***** are in ***** ***** vanish*****g are Mohawk and Salish (Wuethrich).

The Role the Government Played

The United States government played a major role in the ***** of ***** Native American languages. For years, the government tried unsuccessfully ***** *****stitute policies that would get rid of all Native ***** languages ***** customs (saving a culture, 2002).

***** government felt the Indian's language was inferior and if it could get rid of the Indian's identity, there ***** be ***** resistance when they took over the ***** land (Bartholet *****).

***** 1887, the secretary of ***** interior determined it would ***** detrimental to the Indian's "education and civilization (saving a culture, 2002)" if ***** continued using their ***** language, and refused ***** allow any school on a reservation that didn't teach English exclusively.

Indian children