Native American Language
It is commonly accepted that Paleoindians migrated to North America via a land bridge about 12,000 years ago to become what we know today as Native Americans. From the North, Natives spread all across the continent, east, west, and south into South America. They created complex and diverse communities, which were, in North America, centered around a close connection to nature and the environment.
One fascinating facet of the rich history of Native Americans is
the incredible diversity of their languages. There were about 1000 distinct
languages spoken in North America alone before the arrival of Europeans. The
majority of these languages were complex; they were comparable in complexity to
Russian or Latin. With the exception of
some smaller languages, known as “isolates”, most of these languages could be
placed in language families. A language family is a collection of languages
with a common origin that separated into dialects over time. This means
that each language family had a distinct origin; each language originated at a
totally different time or place from any other language and bears no
significant relation to any other. Some of the most significant and widespread
language families are the Algic, Iroquoian, Muskogean, Siouan, Uto-Aztecan,
Athabaskan, Salishan, Eskimo-Aleut, and Mayan. The next map shows a general
overview of the languages in North America at the time of the first European
settlements:
It is interesting to note the geographical generalizations
that can be gathered from the map. Muskogean is in the Southeast; Algic in the
Eastern Midwest, Canadian outback, and Rocky Mountains; Siouan in the arid plains
of the Midwest; Uto-Aztecan in the East; and Athabaskan in the southern
deserts. Even though languages within families are related, a language could still be incomprehensible to a speaker of
another language in the same family. Individuals separated by 100 miles
probably would not have been able to communicate by speech. For inter-tribal
communication, sign language was used as a lingua
fraca.
The obvious question is why;
why are the languages among Native Americans in North America so incredibly
diverse? The origin for the diversity of the languages is unclear. One theory
states that multiple groups of people came across the land bridge at the same
time, each bringing their own language to North America. Another theory states
that multiple groups came over an extended time period. The land bridge could
have gone through several periods of existence, and different groups could have
crossed during different periods, bringing with them different languages.
Another theory suggests that some groups migrated across the Pacific Ocean in
addition to the groups that migrated via the land bridge. There is not enough evidence
to definitively disprove any of these theories, and more research is required
to discover the true nature of early Native American history.
What can be explained, however, is why all of these
different languages persisted in the same continent. This is because of the
nature of Native American beliefs. To westerners, the idea of a non-absolute
truth being applied to one’s basic principles is nearly incomprehensible. All
of the Abrahamic religions have a definite beginning of the universe and separation
of man from God and Eden. In contrast, Native American beliefs are more cyclic
and individual in nature, with each tribe having its own creation story. The
creation stories relate to the area in which the tribe exists, so there is no definite
separation of the people from the superior, and the people always return to the
land. Each creation story was able to coexist with the creation stories of
other tribes, even though they may have been mutually exclusive. This difference
in culture of Europeans and Native Americans is summed up by this quote from The
Earth Shall Weep;
“…the
Native American ability to syncretize two realities- to accept that different people
have
different truths or to believe that two apparently contradictory statements can be true in different ways- has baffled and frustrated Europeans brought up with the idea of a single, monolithic truth.”
different truths or to believe that two apparently contradictory statements can be true in different ways- has baffled and frustrated Europeans brought up with the idea of a single, monolithic truth.”
Native Americans believed that each tribe had its own
special relationship with the superior forces, and that each tribe could fulfill
its own tasks without worrying about what others were doing. Tribes believed that
their neighbors were created to be part of a different landscape. This lack of
concern for other tribes’ culture is what maintained the language
diversity. Tribes mostly lived within their own community, and there was little
need to talk to other tribes. Native Americans most likely thought of other
tribes in a similar way to how we think of other planets; they were their own
worlds. When it was necessary to trade, or perhaps during a war, communications
were done with sign language.
Today, this incredible diversity is dying. Approximately 200
of the original 1000 Native American languages still exist, and only 20
of these are still being learned by children from their parents. Most languages
are only spoken by older generations. Languages are important to study and
preserve because of the traditional wisdom in spoken history and stories, importance
in tracing the roots of humans, and learning about our past.
This picture shows a Native American making the sign language sign for "now".
This is an early illustration of the Native American sign fro battle.
Native American Sign Language -This source provided some limited information on sign language, but had an extensive database of pictures.
Native American Languages (Indiana University) -This source gave an overview of Native American language and gave me a rudimentary understanding of the technical aspects of language. It provided a lot of specific useful information about languages.
Languages in the present -This source provided information on the current state of Native American languages, as well as an argument as to why we should study linguistics.
The Earth Shall Weep -This source was extremely important and helped me form the basis to my argument about the connection between Native American spirituality/culture and language. This source the main reason I came up with my new theory.
i agree with the last sentence of the post. i was wondering was that your own opinion at the end of your post? i also thought it was a really good post.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Eshan. I have the same question as Jonathan, because in the next to last paragraph you speculated what could of happened to them. What is your opinion of all of this? Great post, with lots of detailed information.
ReplyDeletePurely from a scientific standpoint, languages should be recorded and detailed, at the very least. That way they can be accessed and studied by researchers in later generations. Even though the usefulness of dying language isn't always entirely clear, it may become essential for the study of the interaction between societies, or the early history of humans. Languages databases are also important for other several aspects of research that I am not really familiar with.
DeleteIn addition, there may be snippets of medicinal, or even social wisdom, that can become lost with languages, perhaps in the form of idioms.
From an ascetic standpoint, languages can be beautiful. They represent an incredible accomplishment of a society that can never be replicated exactly. For their beauty and complexity alone, languages should be preserved. In fact, people should continue to learn to speak these languages.