Native Americans Languages & Native Languages of the Americas:
Preserving and promoting American Indian languages
Native Americans Languages & Native Languages of the Americas:
Preserving and promoting American Indian languages
Revitalizing Indigenous Languages
Bands in Stead of Tribes
Abstract
Personal Abstract
In my personal opinion as too why that this has happened throughout history, this is that the nature of the conquerors using behavior patterns, which are used by the conquistadors who they are professional warriors, using Old World tactics, short-swords, and cavalry to conquer and control the native people living in peaceful harmony within the parameters of nature. A quick note to all the readers of my research paper, was somewhat disappointing, because most of the research on the subject matter was written by the native Americans captures. Furthermore, personally, my maternal and paternal, grandparents was of the Cherokee nations. One of the them hailed from the northern region of Florida’s coastal area, and fathered mother was from the South Carolina region.
Native Americans 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. Inevitably comparisons are drawn between the threat to language diversity and the (better-publicized) threat to biological diversity. Yet biomorphic metaphor — e.g. “language murder,” “language suicide” — can be simplistic and misleading. They tend to distort answers to critical questions in formulating a policy response: What causes language loss? How can it be reversed? Why should we care? The phenomenon of language loss is especially acute in North America. No doubt scores, perhaps hundreds, of tongues indigenous to this continent have vanished since 1492. The threat to linguistic resources is now recognized as
Historical Facts of Native American Languages Murder
According to the 1990 Census, more than one-third of American Indian and Alaska Native languages now have fewer than 100 speakers (Census Bureau, 1993). “Native North American languages” comprised 136 different groupings; of these, 47 were spoken in the home by fewer than 100 persons; an additional 22 were spoken by fewer than 200. And this is probably a conservative estimate of linguistic erosion, because the Census has no way of knowing how well or how often these people actually use the language.
What Causes Language Death?
Obvious parallels have been drawn between the extinction of languages and the extinction of plants and animals. In all probability, like the majority of creatures in natural history, the majority of languages in human history have passed from the scene: they have fallen victim to predators, changing environments, or more successful competitors. Moreover, the pace of extinction is clearly accelerating both for languages and for biological species. Today, by contrast, it is proceeding generically and globally. We appear to have entered a period of mass extinction — a threat to diversity both in our natural ecology and in what one might call our cultural ecology. Other ways, how does a language die? One obvious way is that its speakers can perish through disease or genocide. Christopher Columbus played a major role in the deaths of native American people, with his alleged discovery of the America’s. More often language death is the culmination of language shifts, in the cultural. These may include changes in values, rituals, or economic and political life resulting from trade, migration, intermarriage, religious conversion, or military conquest. Here the analogy begins to become misleading. Unlike natural species, languages have no genes and thus carry no mechanism for natural selection. Unlike, other metaphors, languages and ecology, survival, death, extinction, and genocide, can’t be classified as the same. Researchers shows that research literature demonstrates precisely the opposite: such structural changes are the result, not the cause, of language decline.
Significantly, (Edwards, 1985, pp. 51- 53), as if it were possible to separate external and internal factors in language loss and thereby assess blame. An onslaught on Native American languages, which were targeted by the U.S. government in a campaign of linguistic genocide in 1868, seemly was plan by the American government to create a situation to assist in the language murder. In the by the 1880s the policy was institutionalized in the boarding school system established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Under strict English Only rules, students were punished and humiliated for speaking their native language as part of a general campaign to wipe out every vestige of their Indian-ness. A BIA teacher in the early 1900s explained that the schools “went on the assumption that any Indian custom was, per se, objectionable, whereas the customs of whites were the ways of civilization. … [Children] were taught to despise every custom of their forefathers, including religion, language, songs, dress, ideas, methods of living” (Albert H. Kneale, quoted in Reyhner, 1992, p. 45). Under one Commissioner of Indian Affairs during the New Deal, condemned and prohibited these ethnocentric practices. Just too further highlights of the other problems, such as poverty, family breakdown, school failure, and substance abuse, after all, language death does not happen in privileged communities.
Native Bands Meaning
By definition, a band was a small, egalitarian, kin-based group of perhaps 10–50 people, while a tribe comprised a number of bands that were politically integrated (often through a council of elders or other leaders) and shared a language, religious beliefs, and other aspects of culture.
A Remedy of Native Language Revival in America Today
In today’s American tribal nations are, many Native American communities have developed a language maintenance or language revival program. Among those programs, approaches vary in fundamental ways, but all have the same general goal: to maintain and perpetuate the language of a particular community by teaching it to younger generations. (Genesis of the Project
Douglas R. Parks). Here’s some of the methods being used: the number of contemporary speakers of the language, that is, the size of the community of speakers; the degree of community interest in language maintenance, that is, whether support for the program is strong, mild, or apathetic; and, the talents and interests of the individuals who develop and implement the program — their educational background and skills, and the level of their knowledge of the language. Each of the programs shares the following goals:extensive, innovative language documentation that includes the creation of written and sound archives of Native American languages, thereby preserving for the future as much material as possible in a variety of formats; use of those documentary records as the basis for creating an array of teaching materials that will help preserve and revitalize these languages; use of the latest technology to create both documentary records and teaching materials; and a multidisciplinary approach to the creation of teaching materials that combines methods and insights from linguistics, anthropology, psychology, and education to produce the most effective learning tools possible.
Highlighted Specific Bands/Tribes
Is there a written Native American language?
No native writing system was known among North American Indians at the time of first European contact, unlike the Maya, Aztecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs of Mesoamerica who had native writing systems. … The most famous system is that invented by Sequoyah for Cherokee, his native language.
What is Cherokee language called?
Cherokee language, Cherokee name Tsalagi Gawonihisdi, North American Indian language, a member of the Iroquoian family, spoken by the Cherokee (Tsalagi) people originally inhabiting Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
The Cherokee, indigenous to the southeastern part of what is now the United States, are historically one of the most prominent Native American tribes in North America. Notable Cherokee include the following figures:
John Martin Thompson (1829–1927) was a successful lumberman who organized Cherokee military forces to support the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
Stand Watie (1806–1871) was a prominent military leader who became the only Native American to obtain the rank of Major General in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
Clement Rogers (1806–1871) was a notable Cherokee civic leader who served as a delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention.
Will Rogers (1879–1935) was a famous Cherokee actor and entertainer who became one of the highest-paid motion picture stars of his generation.
Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name, David M. Buerge
(Seattle Washington)
Seattle, being forthright in honoring Chief Seattle, did name thus this city after the famous Chief who once graces the lands of this vast area of the peninsula.
Significant areas of Washington state that Chief Seattle frequented are Olympia/Tacoma/Seattle/Everett. Lets encompassed a Native American Chief only being reserved in one area, at those times, there wasn’t any boundaries, so essence, it was just land to the people.
What Language Did Chief Seattle Speak?
Chief Seattle most probably spoke in the Lushootseed language, and someone then translated his words into Chinook Jargon, a limited trading language, that a third person then translated into English.
Lushootseed Language
Lushootseed is a language made up of a dialect continuum of several Salish tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is one of the Coast Salish languages.
What tribe was Chief Seattle?
Born sometime around 1790, Seattle (Seathl) was a chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes who lived around the Pacific Coast bay that is today called Puget Sound. He was the son of a Suquamish father and a Duwamish mother, a lineage that allowed him to gain influence in both tribes
Where did the Duwamish tribe live? Seattle
The Duwamish (Lushootseed: Dxʷdəwʔabš, [dxʷdɐwʔabʃ]) are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington, and the indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle, where they have been living since the end of the last glacial period (c. 8000 BCE, 10,000 years ago).
The Suquamish are one of more than twenty tribal groups that were parties to the Treaty of Point Elliott, signed near Mukilteo, on north Puget Sound
Unknown Fact Chief Seattle
Did Chief Seattle own slaves?
Like many of his contemporaries, he owned slaves captured during his raids. He was tall and broad, standing nearly six feet (1.8 m) tall; Hudson’s Bay Company traders gave him the nickname Le Gros (The Big Guy).
Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are
Herein are a introduction my readers to nine tribes: the Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Skokomish, Squaxin Island, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah. Written by members of the Olympic Peninsula Intertribal Cultural Advisory Committee.
What Language(s) did the Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula Speak?
The Klallam language has always been spoken on the north shore of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula from the Strait of Juan de Fuca inland into the mountains. It has also been spoken in some other areas such as Beacher Bay on the south of Vancouver Island and on some nearby smaller islands. The Klallam Language is the language of the people of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. The Klallam language, itself, has several dialects. Elwha Klallam, Becher Bay Klallam, Jamestown Klallam, and Little Boston Klallam are all very, very slightly different from one another in the pronunciation and usage of some words. Other Parts of the United States of America where this dialect is spoken Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Although Klallam is a separate language, it is very closely related to the dialects called Northern Straits: Saanich, Lummi, Samish, Songish, and Sooke. Saanich, Songish, and Sooke have been spoken on southern Vancouver Island and neighboring small islands.
Key Facts About the Elwha Klallam Tribe
The Elwha Klallam Tribe was fortunate to have so many Elders recorded as early as 1953. Over 21 Elders were recorded between 1953 and the present by linguists. By the time Congress passed the Native American Language Act in 1990, there were only eight people who could speak the language.
Iroquois
The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America
There are six languages spoken by the Iroquois Nations: Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora. These are related Iroquoian languages, but they are different enough that speakers of the six languages cannot easily understand each other.
What is a Native American storyteller called?
One of the most exceptional visual depictions of culture is the Native American Storyteller Doll — sometimes called Pueblo Storytellers.
What are the 3 Cherokee tribes?
Today three Cherokee tribes are federally recognized: the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) in Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation (CN) in Oklahoma, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) in North Carolina.
Which is the richest Native American tribe?
Shakopee Mdewakanton
Tidbits of Native American Fact
Today, the Shakopee Mdewakanton are believed to be the richest tribe in American history as measured by individual personal wealth: Each adult, according to court records and confirmed by one tribal member, receives a monthly payment of around $84,000, or $1.08 million a year.
Native American Word Sets Currently Available:
Algonquian Language Family
Arawakan Language Family
Athabaskan Language Family
Barbacoan Language Family
Caddoan Language Family
Cariban Language Family
Chibchan Language Family
Gulf Language Family
Hokan Language Family
Iroquoian Language Family
Jivaroan Language Family
Macro-Ge Language Family
Mayan Language Family
Muskogean Language Family
Oto-Manguean Language Family
Pano-Tacanan Language Family
Penutian Language Family
Salishan Language Family
Siouan Language Family
Tucanoan Language Family
Tupian Language Family
Uto-Aztecan Language Family
Wakashan Language Family
Other American Indian Languages
Other Native Languages of the Americas
Conclusion
To follow up my points on the subject and research in regards, as to how the American people can become sympathetic to the native Americans and their Languages, indigenous language renewal takes on an added significance. It becomes something of value not merely to academic researchers, but to native speakers themselves. This is true even in extreme cases where a language seems beyond repair. As one linguist sums up a project to revive a language, politics plays an important role in keeping the revival because of the threats those languages may bring to their doorsteps…,in general we’re all at a loss being suffered by the world, the loss of diversity in all things” including what could have become as a results of the those Native American languages remains in the forms of there creations.
It’s necessary to assume that if future generations are going to need sound and written archives as well as dictionaries and textbooks. Obviously, the present group of smaller numbers of active speakers still using the language, the more critical these extra resources become for anyone who is trying to teach or learn the language or who wishes to improve their proficiency.
Sources: References:
http://www.native-languages.org/vocabulary.htm. https://www.elwha.org/culture-history/klallam-language/.
Senate, U.S. (1992). Native American Languages Act of 1991: Hearing before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Swadesh, M. (1948). Sociologic notes on obsolescent languages. International Journal of American Linguistics, 14, 226–35.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. (1989). 1980 Census of Population: Characteristics of American Indians by Tribes and Selected Areas, PC80–2–1C. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Wurm, S. A. (1991). Language death and disappearance: Causes and circumstances. In R. H. Robins & E. Uhlenbeck (Eds.), Endangered Languages (pp. 1–18). Oxford: Berg.
Krauss, M. (1992a). The world’s languages in crisis. Language, 68, 6–10.
Pinker, S. (1994). The language instinct: How the mind creates language. New York: Morrow.
Renfrew, C. (1987).
Sasse, H.J. (1992). Theory of language death. In M. Brenzinger (Ed.),
Language death: Factual and theoretical explorations with special
reference to East Africa (pp. 7–30). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Schmidt, A. (1990). The loss of Australia’s Aboriginal language heritage. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1990.
Leap, W. (1993). American Indian English. Salt Lake City: University of Utah.
Brooks, J. (1998, April 9). Indians striving to save their languages. New York Times, A1.
Books Reference:
Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula (Who We Are)
Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name, David M. Buerge
Articles:
Impact Generosity and Opportunity at the UW, by Malavika Jagannathan
Unearthed and Retooled, by Hannelore Sudermann
Columns News From The UW Community, by Qinn Russell Brown
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