Ten of 25 native languages still spoken in Oklahoma...(fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Ten of 25 native languages still spoken in Oklahoma are just one aging
generation away from extinction.

November 8, 2004, 11:29 AM
http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=2536072

Intertribal Wordpath Society linguist Alice Anderton says in September,
at least two native speakers of Caddo died. She says time is running
out for some Indian languages.

Although Oklahoma has more than 21,000 native speakers, ten tribes have
ten or fewer fluent speakers left. And Anderton says 15 tribes have
fewer than 100.

Over the last decade, many tribes have initiated language classes.

Choctaw now is offered in public high schools throughout the Choctaw
Nation, at community centers or via the Internet.

Comanche is taught at the Comanche Nation College in Lawton, and
University of Oklahoma students can study Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and
Kiowa. At Oklahoma State University, students can learn Muskogee.