High Country Life

At one point in time, the United States spent one dollar for every seven cents dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous languages that had been lost as part of boarding school education programs; now however, only seven cents is spent revitalizing them; this lack of resources may deter those interested in learning these ancient tongues from even trying.

Indigenous languages contain invaluable cultural environmental knowledge that scientists, physicians and governments rely upon.

Identifying Languages at Risk

As indigenous languages around the world become endangered, revitalization efforts have helped revive some of them – for instance, Australia’s Kaurna language went extinct with the passing of its last speaker in 1929; since then it has seen over 50 speakers with various degrees of fluency revive it and carry it forward – these examples demonstrate just how powerful language revival efforts can be and show their importance in keeping voices alive.

While the causes of endangered languages differ for every language, some common threads emerge from data. Demographic factors, including population decline and socioeconomic changes that make retaining one’s native tongue more challenging for its speakers. Environmental threats, including climate change and deforestation also pose threats, pushing many languages towards the brink of extinction due to declining numbers of speakers or loss of resources.

Some of the most threatened languages reside in areas known as “language hotspots,” where many endangered languages are put at risk due to development pressures, economic demands and globalization. This list includes economically developed regions like North America and Australia as well as some tropical areas and Asia.

Reasons for the concentration of high-risk languages in these areas remain enigmatic; it could be tied to their remoteness and lack of infrastructure that would enable recording or connecting speakers of those languages with each other. Many of these communities also struggle financially and it’s common for young adults in these communities to prioritize acquiring languages that will help them find work over learning the languages of their ancestors.

One strategy employed by language activists to combat these trends is community-based language education programs, where individuals in local communities can come together and learn and preserve their native tongue. While these efforts may help, their impact is not definitive and some languages may continue their slide towards extinction regardless of what efforts educators and community members put forth to preserve it.

Preserving Languages in the High Country

The United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda emphasizes ‘leave no one behind.” While that goal may seem noble, language preservation is equally vital to maintaining Indigenous identities and cultures as well as emphasizing the relevance of history to contemporary American society and creating strong ties between generations.

Many tribes are taking steps to preserve their languages by teaching young children in their mother tongue, creating immersion schools in community centers and partnering with education agencies to offer Native classes in public schools. Language preservation and revitalization face many hurdles; tribes struggle to attract fluent speakers while other face financial hurdles that impede their efforts in creating curriculum and training teachers. Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma was forced to shut its adult language immersion program two years ago due to a combination of factors, including their fluent speaker passing away and an Administration for Native Americans grant running out after three years. “That just isn’t enough time,” states Christine Sims, an educator and community member from Sac and Fox tribal council.

Other communities are working collaboratively to preserve their heritage languages through projects such as the Navajo Code Talkers Memorial and Jicarilla Apache Language Documentation Project, an NSF-funded initiative which collects existing documentation and teaches it to future students. Such initiatives offer invaluable research and educational resources that enable Native communities to take control of their own revitalization efforts.

Community-based initiatives are actively working to address the complex dynamics surrounding language loss and revitalization through culturally responsive practices. Education departments can support these efforts by creating an enabling policy and programming environment, including flexibility in curriculum development that makes allowance for dialectical variations when teaching heritage languages, as well as professional development opportunities allowing educators to learn about heritage language teaching and learning.

Most importantly, educators should make a concerted effort to integrate local experts in their classrooms as co-teachers when heritage language instruction is required. Furthermore, educators should support culturally responsive standards and encourage students to read books, listen to music or watch videos in their heritage language. Furthermore, educators can promote traditional naming and kinship terms within the classroom environment, encouraging families to practice these terms at home as well.

Developing Language Education Programs

Indigenous communities that wish to preserve their languages and culture are taking steps through technology to preserve it and document it. From smartphone apps and website tools, tribal members use tech as a way of practicing and communicating their language.

At the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, speakers stressed the need for increased efforts to ensure students can receive education in their mother tongues. They underscored how this right, as stipulated by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, was essential in protecting indigenous languages. SAMARJIT SINGHA of the Greater Sylhet Indigenous Peoples Forum stressed the need for governments to prioritize multilingual education and encourage more schools to offer classes in indigenous languages. He pointed out that indigenous children often face multiple barriers in accessing public schooling such as bullying or an unfamiliarity with their native tongue resulting in dropout rates higher than the general population.

Linda Maaka INFANTE of the Indigenous Language Caucus emphasized the need to promote and protect indigenous languages and cultures through education systems. She recommended that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization fulfill their mandate of protecting language diversity as well as indigenous people’s cultures; treaty bodies, indigenous organizations and indigenous self-governments should consider language preservation a human right.

MANAKA INFANTE strongly recommended that all indigenous communities and governments establish indigenous languages learning centers. She explained how such centers could offer language classes, support the professional development of teachers, provide cultural information about indigenous groups as well as historical data. Furthermore, Ms. Infante stressed the need for language immersion programs which may provide greater support to Native teenage suicide attempts than non-Native peers.

Hohn works to incorporate language and culture into modern curricula to send the message that young people matter, their families matter and that their culture and language deserve study. She states this approach can be both self-affirming and empowering for students – often leading to academic success in school.

Hohn noted one tool being employed by language educators to preserve languages: FirstVoices by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council in British Columbia. Tribes can use FirstVoices to archive audio recordings such as prayers, sacred songs or conversations and keep them private or accessible only by approved users.

Developing Language Resources

Linguists and indigenous peoples both recognize the vital role intergenerational transmission plays in keeping languages alive, and many modern digital tools may play a part in doing so. Apps which enable users to learn basic words of a language, communicate in their mother tongue with friends or family and search local plant databases are great ways of building language skills and connecting cultural traditions.

Apps offer many communities access to more sophisticated tools that will allow their languages to flourish in the modern world, like FirstVoices’ keyboards and digital apps that help revitalize 13 Indigenous languages.

“As technology develops further, we expect more opportunities will emerge for us to pursue language revitalization efforts,” Hohn stated.

This project will create new Choctaw language learning resources in order to increase its usage by all generations of speakers, such as mobile language education apps, an online phrase book and curriculum packages for children from preschool through fifth grade. Furthermore, BMIC tribal members, teachers and community members will receive language training and certification through this initiative.

Dinjii Zhuh K’yaa language revival has been hindered by an inadequate supply of educational materials. To address this, this project aims to produce an aligned curricular suite of six storybooks and two language workbooks to provide learners with various types of instructional content, while supporting an experienced teacher who will design a curriculum and conduct classes within their community.

Despite these challenges, the community remains committed to continuing this work. Alongside an NSF grant, community members established the Mi-goo-ni-di Institute, Inc. under New Mexico Nonprofit Corporation Act in order to carry the project beyond the life of this grant.

The institute will collaborate with other language programs to produce textbooks for Jicarilla Apache language learning. Initial textbooks will contain lessons to take students from beginner to fluency; eventually, classroom teaching materials and video lessons that take a more scientific approach toward language preservation may also be developed by this initiative.