"In many tongues, Alaskans debate English as official language"

Title of an article in the Christian Science Monitor, Tuesday, September
15, 1998, page 3 (and a wonderful photo on the front page).  Very good.
Thanks to Tina Wynecoop for this one.

It is important to consider the effects on Native American languages of
these populist moves to make English the ONLY official language of the
land.  The folks who start these initiatives up never seem to be thinking
of the indigenous languages -- and that's nice, insofar as it means they
have no conscious malice toward Natives.  But it's true that this also
means they aren't inclined to look out for endangered languages, period. =
=20

This article especially discusses the effects of the proposed Alaska law
on Yup'ik and other Native languages.  The quote at the end, from a =
leader
of the English - only movement,  says it all, perhaps: =20

"They're not going to be able to speak Yup'ik in Germany."



[Editorial remarks follow.  Sorry!]




If Yup'ik is neglected unto death, nobody will be able to speak Yup'ik
anywhere. =20

Humm.  Personally, I'd rather be forced to speak Chinook Jargon.  It's
prettier, and easier to learn.

Anyhow, why can't we make every language "official"?  I'm not following
these folks' logic.