Native American Words
The Native American peoples suffered many things during the western push
of the new European American settlers, which displaced them from their traditional
lands. Among the many tragedies endured was the loss of their language, the
loss of their own Native American words and ways of expression. Government
oppression played a huge role in the near complete disappearance of many native
languages.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the government instituted
boarding schools for Native American children that they were forced to attend,
in which their Native American words and customs were forbidden, punished.
By the time the children left school, the majority barely had enough Native
American words left to communicate with elder relations and many had been
successfully taught a sort of contempt for those old fashioned ways of their
elders.
This stealing away of Native American words from the youth led to the extinction
of many of the lesser known languages of the smaller tribes and greatly reduced
the number of speakers of the languages of the larger tribes. Today, many
of those languages that survived the period of strong governmental efforts
at eradication are spoken only by a few elderly tribal members, and can be
expected to – for all practical purposes – follow the others into
forgotten history.
However, in recent decades many efforts have been made by researchers and
tribal members to reconstruct the disappeared languages and to strengthen
those that remain by making careful records of Native American words. There
are numerous collections of Native American words available now, and some
of the languages of the larger tribes are enjoying a resurgence of sorts.
The efforts to suppress Native American words as a part of destroying their
culture, after taking almost everything else that the indigenous peoples had
is a shameful blot on American history and governmental practices and policies.
It is fortunate that so many are dedicated to restoring Native American words
to their rightful place in culture, ensuring the survival of the few of these
indigenous languages that are left.
Joseph Paige © 2006
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