Endangered languages of our ancestors can flourish again

[Andre Cramblit]

Endangered languages of our ancestors can flourish again
		
By Richard B. Williams	
	

		Endangered languages of our ancestors can flourish again - By  
Richard B. Williams <http://www.denverpost.comnull/ci_4242689? 
source=email>

		Indian Country faces a historically unparalleled affront to our  
cultural survival. Of the 300 Native languages spoken at the time of  
European contact, it is estimated only 20 of these languages will  
still be viable in 2050. View Full Story <http:// 
www.denverpost.comnull/ci_4242689?source=email>

Indian Country faces a historically unparalleled affront to our  
cultural survival. Of the 300 Native languages spoken at the time of  
European contact, it is estimated only 20 of these languages will  
still be viable in 2050. The rest will be irrevocably lost, and with  
them will go the traditional knowledge that has sustained our people  
since time immemorial.

The impact will not be limited to Indian Country alone. The loss of  
cultural, spiritual, medicinal and historical indigenous knowledge  
has ramifications for all.

If we continue to ignore these truths, this loss will come to pass  
just as certainly as the sun continues to rise and set in the sky.  
Yet, just as an eclipse shows us that sometimes the inevitable  
patterns of nature can be altered, so do we have the ability to  
change our future when it comes to saving our languages. But we  
cannot wait.

Fortunately, we are blessed to have the solution to language recovery  
in our hands. Offered to us by our indigenous brothers and sisters  
from around the globe, the language-immersion education programs  
developed by the Maori of New Zealand and Native Hawaiians have shown  
us that we can reverse the rapid loss of our languages.

 From them, we know that it is possible for our languages to flourish  
again.

Not that long ago, the Maori and Native Hawaiians faced exactly the  
same scenario that we now face. Fluent speakers had dwindled to only  
a mere handful of elders. Children not only struggled to grasp their  
cultural identity, but they also struggled to find success or meaning  
in education.

But then, a small group of dedicated parents started gathering to  
teach their children the languages that they were unwilling to let  
die. They gathered in living rooms, garages, backyards or wherever  
they could find space. As people began to notice the children  
speaking their languages, more parents flocked to these "language  
nests." With time, the living rooms became classrooms and the nests  
became fully developed immersion education systems.

Today, Maori and Hawaiian speakers number in the thousands. Children  
are no longer lost in the educational system. They are unafraid to  
succeed and thrive. As one Maori educator told me when I visited New  
Zealand in 2004, they are "fiercely Maori."
  <http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/std/clear.gif> 	

I dream of a day when we will have "fiercely Native" children  
succeeding at every level of education, speaking their languages and  
knowing who they are and from where they came. I believe in my heart  
that immersion education is the path that will lead us there.

Language immersion education is the only effective method to produce  
large numbers fluent speakers. Additionally, contrary to some  
people's fears, language immersion education actually improves Native  
students' academic achievement, rather than hinders it. The  
combination of mental acuity developed by becoming bilingual and the  
academic confidence engendered when Indian culture is embraced in the  
classroom has proven remarkably successful for Indian children.

Congress is currently considering Senate Bill 2674, which, if  
enacted, will promote language immersion education and provide much- 
needed funding for these programs. We must stand united to support  
this bill. Still, my experience with the Maori demonstrated to me  
that we cannot wait for Congress to sanction what we already know we  
must do.

We must follow the lead of the Piegan Institute in Montana and the  
Akwesasne Immersion School in New York state, which have already  
begun critical immersion work. We must support the fledgling  
immersion programs at Colville, Gros Ventre and others to build their  
own language nests and create new generations of Native leaders that  
will bring us out of poverty and despair.

And we must all recognize that Native languages not only connect us  
with our ancestors and our traditional ways, but also with each other.

They provide a window to the rich cultural heritage of Native people,  
a heritage that is woven throughout the beautiful tapestry that is  
this society as a whole.