The U.S. has spent more money erasing Native languages than saving them

[Judi Lynn]

As tribes fight to save their languages from extinction, has the government done enough?
Rebecca Nagle PERSPECTIVE
Nov. 5, 2019

Ricky Duvall’s first language was Cherokee. His mom spoke Cherokee; his grandparents spoke Cherokee; his siblings and cousins all spoke Cherokee. When he was growing up in Lyons Switch, Oklahoma, everyone around him spoke Cherokee.

But when Duvall went to kindergarten in the mid-1970s, everyone spoke English. As one of the few Cherokee-speaking kids in his class, he was told by his teachers to stop. At the time, he says, they believed Cherokee bilingual students weren’t as smart and would fall behind students who spoke only English — a theory that research has since proven unfounded. When Duvall spoke his own language, his teacher kept him inside for recess. He remembers being 6 years old, watching the other kids play through the window.

So Duvall worked hard to be a good student and speak English, and only English. First at school, then at home, and eventually everywhere. And like thousands of other Cherokee-first language speakers of his generation, he lost his language.

“Speakers under the age of 40 are few and far between,” Duvall says today. “It was everywhere when I was a kid. ... We’re losing it.”

More:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.21-22/indigenous-affairs-the-u-s-has-spent-more-money-erasing-native-languages-than-saving-them

[democrank]

1. Recommended

[mwooldri]

2. Only way I can think to save language is total immersion.

From cradle to grave... As much media in that language, and even to the extent of all public signs and billboards only in that language. If there must be bilingual signs, the primary language has priority.

Even the English tried to exterminate the Welsh language. Fortunately they were not successful. Had this been forty years ago, then if broadcasters that covered an area were compelled to have X% of content in an indigenous language then that could have helped matters. However with the proliferation of media that exists and with the Internet, it's now a case of making as much media as possible available in more languages.