[lg policy] Heritage Briefs Collection (c)2011 Center for Applied Linguistics September 2011 1

[Harold Schiffman]

Heritage Briefs Collection ©2011 Center for Applied Linguistics September 2011 1

Native American Language Policy in the United States Larisa Warhol,
Ph.D. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

It is estimated that there are 175 Native American languages spoken in
the United States (Krauss, 1998). Native American languages have a
unique position in the United States in policy and legislation of
federal, state, and tribal governments. Because the federal government
recognizes the sovereign (self-governing) status of Native American
tribes, tribal communities are able to put forward policies to protect
their languages (Wilkins & Lomawaima, 2001). This sovereign status is
not shared by other language minority communities. The United States
has created official federal language policy only for Native American
languages through the Native American Languages Act 1990/1992.
Official language policy is more prevalent in state governments, with
32 states declaring English as their official language. Yet some state
governments have also recognized and created language policies to
support Native American languages (McCoy, 2005). Tribes have also
created their own tribal language policies to protect their languages
(Zepeda, 1990). These recent trends contrast with historical policies
toward Native American languages. Historically, the federal government
employed schooling as the primary tool for cultural and linguistic
eradication to assimilate Native American communities. These historic
policies have had lingering effects on the current state of Native
American languages. Therefore, despite policies that now protect and
preserve Native American languages, 90% of Native American languages
are moribund or endangered (Moseley, 2010). At the same time, almost
all Native American communities are engaged in language maintenance
and revitalization efforts (Hinton & Hale, 2001; McCarty & Zepeda,
2006; Reyhner & Lockhart, 2009). This brief examines federal, state,
and tribal Native American language policies in the United States.

Complete pdf at:
http://www.cal.org/heritage/pdfs/briefs/native-american-language-policy.pdf

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal,
and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.
 A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman,
Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list