Languages spoken in Oklahoma

[Richard Smith]

Phil,
"-still spoken-" hmmm
I think this list below may refer only to fluent speakers.
I attend and participate in traditional ceremonies and prayers of Wyandot
and Seneca/Cayuga where the language is spoken.
During ceremony one might actually be immersed in hours of
our Iroquoian languages "still spoken"
Ceremonies themselves have preserved language, dance, and song
Not even to mention our annual Wyandotte language classes where children
are speaking and singing the language in the public school

(yet neither Wyandot(te) nor Seneca/Cayuga are on the list)

I know Ardina Moore  and she is the last fluent speaker of Quapaw
She may be the only Osage speaker on that list as well (a sister language)
but she has MANY students who are Quapaw tribal members.

"still spoken"
to me those kind of lists start sounding like   "how many Indians are left?"

Richard Zane Smith
Wyandotte Oklahoma



On 7/15/08 11:15 PM, "phil cash cash" <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU> wrote:

> Hey, did you know that there are 23 languages still spoken in Oklahoma?  At
> least 14 additional languages are longer spoken.
> 
> Language (Lang. Family), Max. No. of Speakers
> 
> Caddo (Caddoan), 20
> Cherokee (Iroquoian), 9,000
> Cheyenne (Algonkian), 400
> Chickasaw (Muskogean), 600
> Chiricahua Apache (Na-Dene), 1
> Choctaw (Muskogean), 4,000
> Comanche (Uto-Aztecan), 100
> Yuchi (Isolate), 7
> Iowa (Siouan), 30
> Kickapoo (Algonkian), 400
> Kiowa (Tanoan), 400
> Muskogee: Creek and Seminole (Muskogean), 6,000
> Osage (Siouan), 1
> Otoe (Siouan), 3
> Ottawa (Algonkian), 3
> Pawnee (Caddoan), 7
> Plains Apache (Na-Dene), 3
> Ponca (Siouan), 33
> Potawatomi (Algonkian), 20
> Quapaw (Siouan), 1
> Sauk (Algonkian), 7
> Shawnee (Algonkian), 200
> Wichita (Caddoan), 5
> 
> Source: Cultural Survival 2007, Vol. 31:2 (citing Wordpath 2006 est.).  If you
> know speaker numbers and current conditions please let us know!
> 
> Phil Cash Cash
> UofA