Indigenous Languages
B Y B I A N C A C A S T R O , E M M A E L L I O T T, C H I K A H O S O D A , J A S H U N D A L ,
AND HANISHA UMERIA
AREAS COVERED:
N O R T H A M E R I C A ( C A L I F O R N I A , N E W M E X I C O , U TA H , A R I Z O N A )
MEXICO
S O U T H A M E R I C A ( P E R U , P A R A G U A Y, B O L I V I A )
J A PA N
What is an Indigenous Language?
 A language that is native to the region and spoken by the
indigenous people (original inhabitants) in the area.
 Has been reduced to the status of a minority language.
 May not be recognised as a national language and may
have fallen out of use due to language death.
North America
CALIFORNIA
North America
 Approx 296 indigenous languages spoken (or formerly
spoken) in North America (north of Mexico)
 29 language families containing 269 of the languages
(others are unclassified or isolates)
California
California
 Nearly 100 different languages spoken in 1800 but less
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than 50 by 1994.
Official language of California has been English since 1986
No Californian Indian language is being learned as the
primary language of the household.
Even those who know the languages rarely use them.
No new speakers = language death. When the elders die,
the language will die with them.
 Uto-Aztecac: 1.95 million
 Hokan languages: 4000 speakers
 Penutian languages: 6800 speakers
Language Action in California
 Though they’re not being learned natively, many young
people around the state are trying to learn them as
second languages.
 Many feel the loss of language is a loss of personal history
and a loss of identity.
 Forming tribal language committees, school programs,
evening language classes.
 Audio and video-taping elders
Problems
 Basic problem: no longer the main language of any
household so children are not learning natively.
 Controversial nature of the task of preserving the
languages: many people believe it keeps the indigenous
population from assimilating to ‘mainstream’ American
culture.
 Various authorities criticise, ridicule or just ignore many
attempts to preserve languages.
 Not sufficient funding or hours of school-time made
available to help the language learning process.
 (fluent speakers / includes non fluent or second-language
speakers)
 Cocopa: 150 / 400 (introductory college course at nearby
college, summer youth program with language retention
activities
 Karuk: 10 / 60 (writing systems taught in some school
programs, has many singers)
 Cahuilla: 20 / 50 (individual efforts only)
References
 Hinton, L (1994), Flutes of Fire: Essays on Californian
Languages, Heyday Books, California
 http://www.native-languages.org/famhok.htm
 http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.as
p?by=family
 http://www.nahc.ca.gov/lanuage.html
North America
N AVA J O :
NEW MEXICO
U TA H
ARIZON
Navajo
 Native language spoken in New Mexico, Utah and
Arizona. The Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in
the United States, covering 27,673 square miles.
 The Navajos have a population of over 200,000 people, making their tribe
the largest Native American tribe in the United States. (178,000 speakers
of Navajo recorded in the 2000 Census)
 The Navajo people maintain many of their ancestors' beliefs and traditions.
They strive to continue speaking their challenging Navajo language,
although many Navajos also speak English.
 Most fluent native speakers of Navajo are not literate in the language and
for most Navajos who have had some schooling, English has been the only
language promoted by the various school systems on the Navajo Nation
during their lifetimes.
 There were various missionary schools that were set up around North America which
allowed native languages to be used as a media of instruction and religious
conversation. Allowing for the development of individual writing systems for these
Native Americans.
 But Western European policies of expedient tolerance toward Native languages
changed after the American Revolution as the new federal govt turned its attention to
‘pacifying’ Native peoples in their pursuit for their lands. As a result, Congress passed
the 1819 Civilization Fund Act to support missionary schooling.
 But by the late 19th Century, one of the primary tools to build the pathway for Anglo-
European settlement were federal schools. Therefore although in mission schools the
practice of teaching through the medium of native languages was possible and encouraged,
in federal schools rules were strictly enforced to not allow the speaking of Indigenous
languages.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2109000/Native-American-schoolgirl-bannedplaying-basketball-speaking-native-language.html
 Over the next few decades, BIA came under intense
criticism for these practices, which lead to officials
loosening the prohibitions against Native American
languages.
 One unintended consequence of the boarding school
system was the start of a relationship between the Native
peoples from various tribes, including the Navajo, who
grew up together in these schools and who in the context
of the 1960s American Indian and civil rights movements,
pushed for tribal sovereignity and educational reform.
Conclusion
 All Native American languages are endangered, as Native children have
become increasingly more socialised in English.
 The causes of this are complex and the consequences severe, because
unlike other speech communities they don’t have the external source of
speakers to replenish their numbers.
 “The loss of the indigenous language is terminal: language death”
WARNER 1999:72
 Therefore due this predicament, language revitalization is a significant
goal in Native American communities throughout the USA
 Schooling among other mediums therefore remains a crucial area for the
exercise of tribal sovereignity and self-determination.
Sources
 Census 2000
 K. Potowski ‘Language Diveristy in the USA’ 2010
Central America
MEXICO
Mexico
 Spanish = official language spoken by Mexican people
 However = not defined as the official language by
legislation
 The country is defined as multicultural & allows the
right to indigenous peoples to preserve and enrich
their languages as well as promoting bilingual and
intercultural education.
General Law of Linguistic Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
 This law recognizes the Mexico’s history makes its indigenous
languages national languages.
 these language = Same validity of Spanish in their territory,
location and context.
 However, legislators made no provisions for the official or legal
status of the Spanish Language.
 SO, indigenous peoples can use their native language in
communicating with government officials and request official
documents in that language.
 The Mexican state supports the preservations and
promotion of the use of the national languages through
the activities of the national institute of indigenous
languages.
Statistics
 Mexico = 6 Million indigenous speakers
 Only a small percent of Mexico's population speaks an
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indigenous language compared to other countries in
America:
Guatemala = 42.8%
Peru = 35%
Ecuador = 9.4%
Panama = 8.3%
Fact
 The only single indigenous language spoken by more
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than a million people in Mexico is the Nahuatl
languages and other Native American languages with a
large population of native speakers which are inclusive
of:
Quecha
Aymara
Guarani
Mayan (Only some)
South America
BOLIVIA
PA R A G U AY
PERU
A little background information on South America
 South America is one of the most
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linguistically diverse places in the
world.
There are approximately 350 living
languages
Over 100 languages are unclassified
by the governments of South
America
South America encompasses 43% of
the world’s 249 independent
linguistic stock
The majority of indigenous languages
in South America are endangered
Focus: Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru
Bolivia
Paraguay
Peru
Spanish, Quechua,
Centra Aymara
Paraguayan Guaraní,
Spanish
Spanish*
Number of
individual languages
47
22
104
Number of Living
Languages
37
20
92
Number of
languages that are a
2nd language
1
1
Number of
languages with no
known speakers
7
1
Official Language
12
Bolivia: Quechua
 Considered an official language but not regulated (as
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Spanish is)
35% of the population speak a form of Quechua
Also spoken in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and
Argentina by approximately 8 million people
Southern Quechua is the most widely spoken indigenous
language with 6 – 7 million speakers
There are as many as 40 Quechuan languages spoken
natively
Bolivia: Quechua’s Language Distribution
Bolivia: Quechua’s indigenous people
 Only very recently have the speakers of Quechua (who
vary in accordance with the language) developed some
form of common sense of political identity
 Highland Aymara and Quechua make up the majority of
Bolivia’s indigenous people and the highland Bolivian
population
 The Popular Participation Law (1994) meant that more
Quechua people are becoming more active in local and
national politics
Bolivia: Quechua’s Language Rights
 Advances have been made (by & for indigenous people)
to include constitutional recognition, popular
participation, bilingual education and greater
parliamentary representation
 Bolivia now has a Constituent Assembly rather than a
traditional parliament which includes a large number of
indigenous representatives
 The Bolivian National Education Reform (1994) aims for
an introduction of all 30 of Bolivia’s indigenous languages
including Spanish as subjects and sources in all Bolivian
schools
Paraguay: Guaraní
 Guaraní is an official language (since 1992) in Paraguay
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and is spoken by approximately 90% of the population
Spoken by approximately 4.6 million people in Paraguay
(small communities of speakers in Bolivia, Brazil and
Argentina)
A lot of Spanish vocabulary diffused into Guaraní
Spanish is used for formal and official situations and
Guaraní in private and informal settings
Guaraní is part of the Tupí-Guaraní language family
Paraguay: Guaraní’s indigenous people
 Guaraní was considered a language spoken by only lower
class citizens and people from the country
 Many of Paraguay’s indigenous population do not have the
legal title to their traditional territories; the state does not
protect them against the actions of corporate landowners
or other non-indigenous ranchers and farmers
 There is no outright discrimination against indigenous
people in Paraguayan legislation but access to health
services and education is a major problem
 Indigenous people suffer the highest infant mortality rate in
the country and have the highest rate of tuberculosis and
malaria
Paraguay: Guaraní’s Language Rights
 In 1992 an educational reform made it compulsory for
classes to be taught in both Guaraní and Spanish
 Constitution of 1992 recognised: Paraguay as a ‘pluricultural’ and ‘bilingual’ nation; the state’s duty to protect
and provide legal title to indigenous communal lands; and
acknowledged the validity of customary law
 The 1992 constitution did not specify indigenous rights in
terms of health and education
 Governments have, in general, failed to transform official
discourses of multiculturalism into practical reforms.
Peru: Aymara
 Aymara has around 2.2 million speakers spread across
Bolivia and Peru (where it is classified as an official
language), Chile and Argentina
 Official language in Peru is Spanish and in the areas in
which they are dominant, Aymara, Quechua and others
 They had no written language, but under the influence of
the Spanish adopted the Latin alphabet.
 Many different spelling systems have been devised but in
1985 the Peruvian government introduced a new spelling
system known as the Aymara Official alphabet
Peru: Aymara’s Language Distribution
Peru: Aymara’s indigenous people
 Many Aymara live in poverty in rural areas
 The Aymara faced great hardships under the Spanish
invasion during the 1500s; millions died working as
labourers in the mines
 Many Aymara are subsistence farmers in the high altitude
environment where they live; limits the types of crops
grown
 The Aymara have also recently entered the political world
in Bolivia and have elected senators and representatives
to the Bolivian congress
Peru: Aymara’s Language Rights
 Peruvian government recently create a multicultural state
institution (Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo de los
Pueblos Andinos, Amazónicas y Afro-Peruanos (INDEPA)
which includes Aymara and yechua representatives;
however it has not made any legislative or constitutional
changes
 Land rights are a major issue and demand if indigenous
organisations in Peru but no revisions have been made to
the policy of removal of the inalienability and indivisibility
of indigenous communal lands
Some References
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http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PE
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PY
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BO
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BO
Hornberger, Nancy H. Language policy, language education, language
rights: Indigenous, immigrant, and international perspectives (1998)
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/peru/peru-officially-recognizesindigenous-languages
http://goperu.about.com/od/cultureandsociety/tp/Languages-OfPeru.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901665.html
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/aymara.htm
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/guarani.htm
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/quechua.htm
Japan
AINU
-Population : 23,782 people
-Lived by hunting and gathering
-Had distinctive culture and life
style.
-Colonized by Japanese.
Japan’s nation building and Ainu
-Meiji Restoration 1868
Meiji government was established with central
power.
-Colonial policy towards Ainu
---Hokkaido Development Policy.
increased control on land by state: Ainu lost
their traditional land rights.
---massive immigration of Japanese people into
Hokkaido
-JP government enforced assimilation policy.
Assimilation Policy
-Former Aborigines Protection Act 1899.
• forced agriculture with allocated land.
• school is established for Ainu.
•Ainu language was banned at school.
--Ainu culture including religion, life style,
and language are disrupted.
--Ainu language became nearly extinct.
Present recognition of Ainu
Ainu New Law 1997
•Article 1: recognize Ainu as distinctive ethnic group and respect their
pride.
•Promote Ainu culture in Japanese society.
Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture
•Promoting Ainu tradition &history
Efforts to revitalize Ainu language
•Ainu radio programs
•Courses for learners of Ainu
•Role as a ritual language in ceremony
•Non-Ainu also promote Ainu language revitalization
online:http://www2.plala.or.jp/mosir/
REFERENCES
Chiisana Ainu Kyousitsu <http://www2.plala.or.jp/mosir/aynu.html>
DeChicchis, Joseph. 1995. “The Current State of the Ainu Language.” Mutilingual
Japan. Ed. Maher, John C and Yahiro Kyoko. Clevedon: Mutilingual
Matter
Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture.
<http://www.frpac.or.jp/>
Gottlieb, Nanette. 2005. Language and Society in Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Ogawa, Masahito. 1993. “The Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act and
Assimilatory Education.” Indigenous Minorities and Education. Ed. Loos,
Noel and Osanai Takeshi. Otowa: Sanyusha Publishing.