traditions of assimilation...

[William J Poser]

Further to Phil's comments, there is a practical problem with an exclusive
focus on residential schools and other assimilatory policies as the cause
of the decline of native languages, namely that it distracts attention from
the fact that there have been, and are, other factors. In British Columbia,
for example, the three languages that are already extinct, Tsetsaut,
Nicola, and Pentlatch, died out for reasons other than assimilatory
colonial policies. The Tsetsaut were squeezed by more powerful and 
aggressive neighbors: the two remaining speakers from whom Boas recorded
what little is known of the language were slaves of the Tsimshian.
Similarly, the Nicola lived among the Thompson, by whom they were
absorbed. Pentlatch declined for similar reasons, together with massive
loss of population due to disease. (The diseases were of European
origin, so contact did play a role, but not assimilatory policies.)
Skiix (South Tsimishian), which has one remaining speaker, is a similar
case: it appears to have been absorbed by Heiltsuk. The children of the
one remaining speaker are able to speak Heiltsuk. Eyak, whose last speaker
recently passed away, is a similar case. Although at the very end English
also played a role, Eyak was reduced to a small number of speakers
by contact with Tlingit.

These historical cases show both that it is not only Europeans who
have assimilated other peoples and that sometimes small peoples are
absorbed by larger groups without any deliberate attempt at colonization
and assimilation.

More important for practical purposes is the fact that languages that
have not been significantly affected by explicit assimilationist
policies are nonetheless declining due simply to the overwhelming
power of major languages such as English. Navajo is an example. The
BIA schools and other attempts at assimilation cannot be said to have
had much of an effect on the language. In spite of these efforts, until
recently virtually all Navajos continued to speak Navajo. A large
percentage of elders even now speak no English. Nonetheless, Navajo
is declining badly, with at most 30% of preschool children, depending
on the area, able to speak Navajo. These are children who are not
punished for speaking Navajo. The loss of Navajo is due to the decision
by parents not to speak Navajo with their children in the belief
that English the route to a good education and good job (coupled with
the false belief that you can't have both good English and Navajo),
together with the appeal of English-medium popular culture to the
children.

This isn't to suggest that assimilationist policies didn't do great
damage, but the fact that even in their absence minority languages
are declining means that it isn't sufficient simply to provide
children the opportunity to learn their heritage language. If
communities do not recognize and address the pressures that are
causing languages like Navajo to decline, solving the transmission
problem and enabling children to learn the language will have no
effect because parents will not make the effort to pass the language
on to their children and the children will not be motivated to learn
it, use it, and pass it on to their own children.

Bill