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thecolorofmyroomisblack · 6 years ago

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First-person: Documenting and revitalizing Native American languages

Author Colleen Fitzgerald is a program officer for the National Science Foundation’s Documenting Endangered Languages program.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 169 Native American languages are still spoken in the United States. But that number can be deceiving. As Richard E. Littlebear, president of Chief Dull Knife College says, “American indigenous languages are in danger of disappearing forever as spoken languages.”

Most speakers of these languages are elderly, says Littlebear, himself a fluent speaker of Cheyenne. That means there’s “an extreme urgency” to save the languages left on this continent, he says.

“Documentation is vital to the efforts of those who are speaking, writing, preserving and reviving their languages,” Littlebear says.

Recognizing the importance of revitalizing indigenous languages, Congress passed the Native American Languages Act and the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act to facilitate opportunities and funding for Native American languages. These laws are meant to help communities maintain and strengthen their languages, cultures and traditions.