Importance Of Native American Language

“This is our language. It is the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the sound of the wind in the pines, the rustle of the leaves in the autumn. It is the sound of the birds singing in the forest and the wolves howling in the distance. This is our language, from which we obtain life, our means of knowing who we are, this sacred gift, bestowed upon us by our creator.” As it was described by that quote by Gordon Jourdain, a member of the Lac La Croix tribe, language is the most valuable component of life for Native Nations, most of which are deeply rooted with and have close ties to nature. Language, as in many cases, is able to describe a group of people and often times their culture. This statement is no truer than in Native American

Still, in countless cases, the spelling and frequently the pronunciation of these names were altered when Europeans began to “settle” North America. Never the less, it is clearly identified that Native American language helped shaped what would become the United States. The significance of language for Native Nations and why these languages are crucial to American History will be explained. As European languages began to affect many Native American languages, Europeans began to change the Native Americans that spoke these languages. This change came as a resolution for the Europeans to better understand Native Americans and the languages they spoke. It will be ultimately be shown that with the colonization of the Americas, how the purity and true meaning of Native American languages became suppressed and dominated by European

For many Native Americans, English has begun to take priority over their Native American languages, especially in Native youth. This has made the efforts to try to understand and study these languages extremely difficult. Yet, with the emergence of technology in the lasts century, the documentation of those Native American languages as well as research has become as easy as ever. Anthropologists have also been crucial to the collecting knowledge on Native American customs and culture and restoring their once forgotten meaning. For example, in the English language, many people would define “old woman” as a female who is elderly. However, because of its deep meanings, the Ojibwe language offers as sacred place for elder women, as someone who can reflect the culture, beliefs and values of that language. Due to the availability of documentation of Tribal languages, these languages are beginning to return to its normal meaning. Take for example, the decedents of the Native group, Dakota, after they settled in Canada, it has been a continuous effort by their descendants to try to restore and revitalize their language which has been an extremely important task for them. Language to Native Americans can be seen as the foundation of their identity. Just as any one person’s name to them in their first language is the sweetest thing that their ears may hear, the same is true for Native