Tribal languages near extinction (fwd link)

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Tribal languages near extinction
Will the push to save Cahuilla be enough?

Nicole C. Brambila • The Desert Sun • April 5, 2008

Christina Morreo smoothes the wrinkles on her left hand remembering the smack of
a teacher's ruler felt more than 50 years ago.

"In my earlier grades here in Mecca, I wouldn't say they were really mean, but
we did get punished to force us to speak English," the 61-year-old said. "I
spoke Cahuilla until I was in the fifth grade."

The dialect had been intricately woven into the fabric of her people - the
Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians - from parent to child for more than
2,000 years.

Not so for Morreo's children, who learned and spoke only English at home.

"Maybe, subconsciously, we didn't want our children going through what we went
through," she said. "So, we spoke English and they were ready for school."

Cahuilla is one of an estimated 3,000 languages in danger of becoming extinct,
experts say.

Full article link below:
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080405/NEWS06/804050309/1006/news01