Minnesota: Indian leaders, lawmakers try to save languages

[Harold Schiffman]

 Forwarded  From: : edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu


The Bemidji Pioneer



Indian leaders, lawmakers try to save languages



American Indian leaders fear their native languages are being lost,
calling the situation a crisis.



"When a person passes away, it is like a whole dictionary that is
gone," Lillian Rice told a Minnesota House committee.



A Native American's language, she added, "is the very sense of who we
are. ... Without that, we are lost."



Indian leaders are working to save languages, and now the Minnesota
Legislature is considering helping the cause. Bills to establish a
state-tribal organization to look into the issue are being considered,
along with providing $150,000 to help the cause.



Full story:

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/politics/index.cfm?page=article_bureau&id=50768&legislative_tag=1





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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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