When Columbus invaded America in the late 1400s, there were thousands of vital communities speaking their own languages and practicing their own cultures already here. That fateful day marked the beginning of a tragic decline in Native American cultures through the introduction of disease, systematic genocide and government efforts to subjugate and even eradicate the indigenous peoples in this country. These actions were largely motivated by the greed and religious fervor of the invaders, and were designed to take over the rich land and resources found on this, so called new world. According to Laura Paskus, only 155 of these once plentiful native languages survive, and the numbers of surviving languages continue to dwindle with each passing day(1).
The remnants of the Menominee tribe in central Wisconsin and the Ojibwa tribes in northern Wisconsin, struggle to this day to retain their languages and cultures. What kinds of efforts are being made to preserve these two groups there? How successful have these efforts been and how can they become more successful? What is at stake is not just language, but also a way of …show more content…
Paskus (1) states that of the 155 indigenous languages that remain in the U.S. today, 135 are spoken only by elders in their respective communities. This suggests that only twenty of these languages are being used by youngsters and all the rest are at a grave risk of dying out.
Another factor that may be influencing the decline of indigenous language use may be economic necessity; the reality that English is the language in which most business is conducted in the world outside the native community (Paskus,2), and the fact that native communities are no longer self-sufficient. The places where English is needed are increasing, and the places where indigenous languages are used are becoming less
The remnants of the Menominee tribe in central Wisconsin and the Ojibwa tribes in northern Wisconsin, struggle to this day to retain their languages and cultures. What kinds of efforts are being made to preserve these two groups there? How successful have these efforts been and how can they become more successful? What is at stake is not just language, but also a way of …show more content…
Paskus (1) states that of the 155 indigenous languages that remain in the U.S. today, 135 are spoken only by elders in their respective communities. This suggests that only twenty of these languages are being used by youngsters and all the rest are at a grave risk of dying out.
Another factor that may be influencing the decline of indigenous language use may be economic necessity; the reality that English is the language in which most business is conducted in the world outside the native community (Paskus,2), and the fact that native communities are no longer self-sufficient. The places where English is needed are increasing, and the places where indigenous languages are used are becoming less