The Endangered Native American Languages Campaign
Donate to the Endangered Languages Campaign and support Cultural Survival's work.
“Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop
and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions,
philosophies, writing systems and literatures.”
—The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
NATIVE LANGUAGES IN CRISIS: In today’s American Indian communities, language loss is a still-unfolding intergenerational trauma from coast to coast. Among the 155 indigenous languages still spoken in North America, 135 are spoken fluently only among older generations—and 50 of these Native languages are spoken by fewer than 5 people, all over 70 years of age. Nevertheless, Native communities remain resilient and cohesive, and younger generations share their elders’ commitment to sustaining cultural vitality and continuity.
Native American languages can and must be revitalized. There are proven techniques that guarantee academic proficiency and restore cycles of elders passing on ancestral languages to their children and grandchildren—master-apprentice training, “language nests,” “total physical response” techniques used in immersion settings like camps & retreats, and even full-scale immersion, or language-survival, schools. Among the 550+ federally recognized tribal nations in the U.S. and dozens of urban Native community centers, approximately 50 language immersion programs are currently in operation.
Unfortunately, while some groups have experienced great success in establishing language revitalization programs, most lack the financial, staff, and curricular resources to set up effective, sustainable programs to consistently give younger generations the skills to truly save their language—conversational fluency.
CURRENT CORE LANGUAGE PROGRAM PARTNERS: Beginning with four Native American language revitalization programs, Cultural Survival is working to augment the funding streams and technical support available to each by providing direct fundraising assistance to the project directors and staff. Each of these four programs is stretching its limited resources to pay for teacher salaries, certification and training, classroom space, and curriculum development.
Heroic program staff and a cadre of dedicated volunteers simultaneously manage all aspects of their day-to-day classes and community-based programs and work to mobilize fiscal support at both the tribal and federal levels. Their situations are characteristic of Native language program directors throughout the country.
The Northern Arapaho Council of Elders Immersion Schools in Ethete, WY;
The Sauk Language Department of the Sac & Fox Nation in Stroud, OK;
The Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project in Masphee, MA; and
The Euchee Language Project in Sapulpa, OK;
CAMPAIGN GOALS:
- Continue building a national coalition of tribal language programs to create improved networks for sharing success-stories and language events via regular e-news updates and other campaign activities;
- Convey the urgent need to revitalize Native American languages within the next decade to diverse constituencies through broad-based media and fundraising outreach—educate the public, tribal governments in communities with no ongoing language initiatives, foundations, corporations and businesses that employ or serve Native Americans;
- Target funding to where it’s needed most—at the grassroots program level in specific Native communities—beginning with a small core of programs to maximize immediate impact;
- Strengthen Native American language programs' capacity to fundraise on their own behalf;
- Bring together technology partners to build a website that will promote language revitalization, and provide language revitalization programs with a virtual space to share challenges, fund raising strategies, success-stories, and other resources designed to serve both language teachers and the learners in their communities.
Be a part of the Solution: Join Cultural Survival’s Revitalization Campaign
Native American languages have not reached the brink of silence because they became obsolete. Generations of Native communities survived government policies which officially outlawed ceremonial practices until 1978 and removed Native children from their communities to federal and church-run boarding schools designed to “Kill the Indian, Save the man” throughout much of the 20th century.
By contributing to the revitalization of Native American language-communities you can help ensure the flourishing of indigenous worldviews among countless future generations. The hard everyday work of Native language learning reconnects generations of tribal members through the immeasurable power of a shared heritage language restored to its rightful spoken place.
If we don't act now, in the next 10 years, 70 Native American languages will disappear. Ten years after that, only 20 of the original 300 will remain.
Please join us in our support for these and many other dynamic community language programs. Together, we can build a movement to return America's foundational linguistic heritage to its rightful spoken place.
But we cannot do it without your help, and the clock is ticking. We need your generous support now.
Language revitalization event 1:15-2:45pm April 24th at the 7th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues! American Indian/Native Hawaiian language revitalization
BRINGING OUR LANGUAGES HOME AGAIN THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS: Indigenous language practitioners are ever-attuned to the consensus-building aspects of language program development, the highly specialized guidance and leadership offered by community elders, and the power to effect generations of change by inspiring the youth of today to become tomorrow's local and international leaders. Join dedicated indigenous language practitioners in sharing local-level curricular, research and community engagement strategies for bringing ancestral languages home to indigenous families in the year of International Languages.
Dr. Lilikala K. Kame'eleihiwa of the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawai’ian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa; Dr. Richard A. Grounds of the Euchee/Yuchi Language Program; Marcus Briggs-Cloud of the University of Oklahoma and the Norman Office of Indian Education; and Ryan Wilson of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages and the Northern Arapaho Council of Elders will present their community’s work, discuss ongoing coalition-building across tribal and nation state boundaries, and highlight sources of inspiration which have served to strengthen revitalization efforts and build critical momentum across indigenous communities.
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