The Loss of Language

Worldwide epidemic of the indigenous peoples

Team Dumb Meme: Julia, Keyana, Megan, Nathan,
Zachary
Agenda
Native language
The Sami
The Native American
The Navajo
State Care Programs
Conclusion
Questions

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The Sami

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Language in the Sami Culture
Ancestors lived in Scandinavia for 10,000 years
25-30k/100k people
Historical issues:
Hostile outsiders during Middle Ages
Forced Christianity
Colonization
Introduced to capitalism
Skill and trade with reindeer

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Introduction to trade
In order to trade, outsiders had to communicate
Language barrier
Many dialects
Adopted national language for ease of use

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Mid-1800s to WW2
Children forced into schools
Socially unacceptable to be Sami
Parents stopped teaching children language
Inferior

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Progress
Revitilization
Churches encouraging use of language
Support of government
Finding historical records
Keeping new records

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The Native American

1914 - Red Fox James, A Blackfoot tribal member

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Native American Language
Collection of words?

What is language to the natives?

What happens when it is lost?[2]

Native American
Hieroglyphics 9
Revitalization Interests
Language Extinction

Protection of a culture

Hawaiis efforts
1983 - Punana Leo Program

What has it accomplished?[2]

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The Navajo Language and Culture
Second Largest Tribe in the US
Largest Reservation in the US
Most robust language out of all tribes
Almost 70% speak the language inside their homes

The Navajos are still at risk for loss of language.

Only half of school aged children still speak Navajo

They consider the language to be severely threatened.

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Navajo Children at an Advantage
Students that speak both Navajo
and English have higher test scores
than their English only classmates.

The Tribal Government is working to

create a bilingual education.

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 Indigenous Children in State Care
The disproportionate number of indigenous children in
Canadas child welfare system is considered a humanitarian
crisis

Unfortunately, many people in Canada are reluctant to take a

child into their home that comes from an indigenous
background.

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 Statistics
In Manitoba (a province in Canada)
alone, 10,000 of the 11,000 children in
the child welfare system come from
indigenous cultures in Canada.

Although only 7% of children across

Canada are aboriginal, they make up
nearly half of all foster children in the
entire country.

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Cause and Effect
Why are they taken away in the first place?

How does this backfire for the childs development?

How does this cause loss of language?

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Conclusion
The past almost destroyed these peoples languages
Now we are actively saving them
Acceptance
Revilitilization
Government oppression

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Questions?

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References
[1] Cherrington, Mark. "The Last Word." Cultural Survival. Accessed
November 13, 2017.

[2] http://www.pbs.org/indiancountry/challenges/navajo.html

[3] Kassam, Ashifa. Ratio of indigenous children in Canada welfare system is

'humanitarian crisis'. The Guardian. Accessed November 14, 2017.

[4]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/04/indigenous-children-
canada-welfare-system-humanitarian-crisis

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