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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>You'll need a subscription to Chronicle of Higher Education
to read this article></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>A
Race to Rescue Native Tongues<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>By ELYSE ASHBURN</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Do you
speak American? Ojibwa, Inupiaq, Navajo, or Tututni? These languages once
described everyday life in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
with words like <i><span style='font-style:italic'>dibik-giizis</span></i>
(moon), <i><span style='font-style:italic'>láá'íí</span></i> (one), and <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>tulxata</span></i> (water) as common as latte, Big
Mac, and yes are now.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But along
with other Native American tongues, they have faded even more quickly than
their tribes have. In 2000 only about 380,000 people in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>
spoke an indigenous language at home, and about 1 percent of people were of
Native American descent, according to census figures. Of the 300 or so native
languages once spoken in North America, only about 150 are still
spoken — and the majority of those have just a handful of mostly
elderly speakers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://chronicle.com/subscribe/login?url=/weekly/v54/i05/05b01501.htm">http://chronicle.com/subscribe/login?url=/weekly/v54/i05/05b01501.htm</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'>Gary K. McCone</span></font><font color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Associate Director, Information Systems</span></font><font
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'>National Agricultural Library</span></font><font
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
</span></font><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>10301 Baltimore Avenue</span></font></st1:address></st1:Street><font
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
</span></font><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Beltsville</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>, <st1:State w:st="on">Maryland</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode
w:st="on">20705-2351</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'> <br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'>(301) 504-5018</span></font><font color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Fax. (301) 504-6968</span></font><font
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'>"We live in a moment of history where change is so
speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already
disappearing." -- R. D. Laing</span></font> <o:p></o:p></p>
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