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91-563: Many indigenous peoples worldwide have stopped the generational passage of their ancestral languages and have instead adopted the majority language as part of their acculturation into their host culture . Furthermore, many indigenous languages have been subject to linguicide (language killing). Recognizing their vulnerability, the United Nations proclaimed 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages "to draw attention to

182-426: A college or university campus, a tribe, or any other organization that can provide startup funds, insurance, and volunteer workers. A powwow committee consists of several individuals who do all the planning before the event. If a pow wow has a sponsor, such as a tribe, college , or organization, many or all members of the committee may come from that group. The committee is responsible for recruiting and hiring

273-407: A host drum, which is accorded great respect. The members of drum groups are often family, extended family, or friends. Groups are then often named for families, geographic locations, tribal societies, or more colorful names. Many groups display their names on jackets, caps, vehicles, and chairs. Traditionally, only men would drum and women would sit behind the men, singing high harmonies. Beginning in

364-495: A beloved matriarch of her community. "As they bid her farewell, they also bid farewell to the Eyak language as Marie was the last fluent speaker of the language." Overall, there are many different reasons that can lead to the death of languages. The death of all speakers of an indigenous language can cause languages to become entirely extinct. Much of these deaths occurred during times of colonization, resulting in genocide, war, famine, and

455-485: A community with special collective rights . Language can also be considered as scientific knowledge in topics such as medicine, philosophy, botany, and more. It reflects a community's practices when dealing with the environment and each other. When a language is lost, this knowledge is often lost as well. In contrast, language revitalization is correlated with better health outcomes in indigenous communities. During language loss—sometimes referred to as obsolescence in

546-485: A dictionary, and teaching materials in the Hualapai language. The program coordinators sought input from Hualapai parents and elders to evaluate the developed curriculum and educational objectives, among other things. The organization's efforts have advanced the development and growth of programs focused on Native American languages and their speakers, both at the local and national levels. Most notably, these efforts resulted in

637-476: A different step to be used during them, but are open for dancers of any style. In addition to the open dances, contest dances for a particular style and age group are often held, with the top winners receiving a cash prize. To compete in a contest, the dancer must be in regalia appropriate for the competition. Larger pow wows have more specific categories. The dance categories vary somewhat by region, but general categories are as follows: Normal intertribal dancing

728-470: A dominant position in a country. Speakers of endangered languages may themselves come to associate their language with negative values such as poverty, illiteracy and social stigma, causing them to wish to adopt the dominant language that is associated with social and economical progress and modernity . Immigrants moving into an area may lead to the endangerment of the autochthonous language. Dialects and accents have seen similar levels of endangerment during

819-402: A drum to indicate his request for a song even if it is not that drum group's turn to sing. In some regions, it is considered disrespectful to leave a drum completely unattended. Some drum groups do not allow females to sit down at their drum but welcome them to stand behind the drummers and sing backup harmonies; the reasons for this point vaguely to a variety of tribal stories that attempt to tell

910-433: A fraction of the world's linguistic diversity, therefore their picture of what human language is—and can be—will be limited. Some linguists consider linguistic diversity to be analogous to biological diversity, and compare language endangerment to wildlife endangerment . Linguists, members of endangered language communities, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations such as UNESCO and

1001-442: A language associated with social or economic power or one spoken more widely, leading to the gradual decline and eventual death of the endangered language. The process of language shift is often influenced by factors such as globalisation, economic authorities, and the perceived prestige of certain languages. The ultimate result is the loss of linguistic diversity and cultural heritage within affected communities. The general consensus

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1092-409: A language is unlikely to survive another generation and will soon be extinct. The fourth stage is moribund , followed by the fifth stage extinction . Many projects are under way aimed at preventing or slowing language loss by revitalizing endangered languages and promoting education and literacy in minority languages, often involving joint projects between language communities and linguists. Across

1183-650: A larger sign language or dispersal of the deaf community) can lead to the endangerment and loss of their traditional sign language. Methods are being developed to assess the vitality of sign languages. While there is no definite threshold for identifying a language as endangered, UNESCO 's 2003 document entitled Language vitality and endangerment outlines nine factors for determining language vitality: Many languages, for example some in Indonesia , have tens of thousands of speakers but are endangered because children are no longer learning them, and speakers are shifting to using

1274-432: A pow-wow. In many cases, the head dancers are also responsible for leading the dancers during songs, and often dancers will not enter the arena unless the head dancers are already out dancing. The singers perform while singing. Host drummers are responsible for leading songs at the beginning and end of a pow-wow session, typically starting with a grand entry song, followed by a flag song, veterans or victory song. To conclude

1365-625: A respected member of the community to deliver an invocation. The host drum that did not perform the Grand Entry song will then perform a Flag Song, followed by a Victory or Veterans' Song, during which the flags and staffs are placed at the MC's table. The styles and types of dances at a pow wow are descended from the traditions of the Great Plains nations of Canada and the United States . Besides those for

1456-398: A shortened chorus. Sometimes a drum group will sing the song more than four times, particularly when the song feels good and the singers seize the moment for an extra pushup or two (or more), or when a dancer blows a whistle or passes his staff or fan over the drum to signal that the song is to be continued four extra pushups while he prays. Singing differs by region in that a high falsetto

1547-441: Is potential endangerment . This is when a language faces strong external pressure, but there are still communities of speakers who pass the language to their children. The second stage is endangerment . Once a language has reached the endangerment stage, there are only a few speakers left and children are, for the most part, not learning the language. The third stage of language extinction is seriously endangered . During this stage,

1638-455: Is also sometimes referred to as language revival or reversing language shift . For case studies of this process, see Anderson (2014). Applied linguistics and education are helpful in revitalizing endangered languages. Vocabulary and courses are available online for a number of endangered languages. Language maintenance refers to the support given to languages that need for their survival to be protected from outsiders who can ultimately affect

1729-453: Is an individual activity, but there are also couples and group dances. Couples dances include the two step and owl dance . During a two step, each couple follows the lead of the head dancers, forming a line behind them. In contrast, in an owl dance, each couple dances alone. Group dances include the Snake and Buffalo dance, where the group dances to mimic the motions of a snake at the beginning of

1820-569: Is contingent on the preservation of indigenous language. According to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, it is estimated that every two weeks, one indigenous language disappears . A language is considered healthy when it gains new speakers, and becomes endangered when children stop learning or speaking it. Therefore, implementing indigenous languages into early education can help prevent indigenous languages from disappearing. Hundreds of indigenous languages around

1911-584: Is often covered by either a committee-built arbor or tent, or each group, particularly the MC and the drums, will provide their own. While most of the time, a tent provides shelter from the sun, rain can also plague outdoor events. It is particularly important to protect the drums used by the drum groups, as they are sensitive to temperature changes and, if it rains, they cannot get wet. Most vendors provide their own tents or shelters at an outdoor pow wow. Pow-wow etiquette includes guidelines regarding acceptable behavior, such as rules for photography and protocol during

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2002-492: Is often set up as a series of large circles. The center circle is the dance arena , outside of which is a larger circle consisting of the MC's table, drum groups, and sitting areas for dancers and their families. Beyond these two circles for participants is an area for spectators, while outside of all are designated areas with vendor's booths, where one can buy food, music, jewelry, souvenirs, arts and crafts, beadwork, leather, and regalia supplies. At outdoor pow wows, this circle

2093-493: Is particularly evident in intertribal songs, such as the AIM Song , which cannot be biased towards a certain language . The song structure consists of four pushups , singing through the chorus and verse four times. In each chorus, the melody is introduced or led off by the lead singer, who is then seconded by another singer. The second singer begins to vary the melody before the leader's first line ends. They are then joined by

2184-523: Is protected and also to ensure that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through he provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means. Article 14 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning. 2. Indigenous individuals, particularly children, have

2275-400: Is that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently spoken. Some linguists estimate that between 50% and 90% of them will be severely endangered or dead by the year 2100. The 20 most common languages , each with more than 50 million speakers, are spoken by 50% of the world's population, but most languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. The first step towards language death

2366-402: Is used in the north, while in the south, a lower range is used. "To the unfamiliar listener, Indian singing sounds exotic, different, and difficult to comprehend," and the contrast in the quality or timbre of voice used in traditional Indian and European music may have much to do with that difficulty. However, "to the trained ear, melodies flow, ascend and descend" while dancers react to changes in

2457-492: The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages , there are four main types of causes of language endangerment: Causes that put the populations that speak the languages in physical danger, such as: Causes that prevent or discourage speakers from using a language, such as: Often multiple of these causes act at the same time. Poverty, disease and disasters often affect minority groups disproportionately, for example causing

2548-710: The Northwest Pacific Plateau . Other hotspots are Oklahoma and the Southern Cone of South America. Almost all of the study of language endangerment has been with spoken languages. A UNESCO study of endangered languages does not mention sign languages. However, some sign languages are also endangered, such as Alipur Village Sign Language (AVSL) of India, Adamorobe Sign Language of Ghana, Ban Khor Sign Language of Thailand, and Plains Indian Sign Language . Many sign languages are used by small communities; small changes in their environment (such as contact with

2639-777: The critical loss of indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote indigenous languages." Indigenous languages are disappearing for various reasons, including the mass extinction of entire speaker communities by natural disaster or genocide, aging communities in which the language is not passed on, and oppressive language planning policies that actively seek to eradicate languages. In North America since 1600, at least 52 Native American languages have disappeared. Additionally, there are over 500 different indigenous groups in Latin America, yet at least 20 percent of them are estimated to have lost their mother tongue. There may be more than 7,000 languages that exist in

2730-611: The national language (e.g. Indonesian ) in place of local languages. In contrast, a language with only 500 speakers might be considered very much alive if it is the primary language of a community, and is the first (or only) spoken language of all children in that community. Asserting that "Language diversity is essential to the human heritage", UNESCO's Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages offers this definition of an endangered language: "... when its speakers cease to use it, use it in an increasingly reduced number of communicative domains, and cease to pass it on from one generation to

2821-404: The "Hot Five" method five beats are used, with the first hard beat four beats before the second, after which the beats alternate. To understand drum protocol, a drum may be thought of as a person or being and is to be regarded and respected as such. Drum etiquette is highly important. There are regional variations. The drum is the central symbol of Oklahoma pow wows and is located in the center of

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2912-528: The "first" pow wow. Initially, public dances that most resemble what are now known as pow wows were most common in the Great Plains region of the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a time when the United States government destroyed many Native communities in the hopes of acquiring land for economic exploitation. In 1923, Charles H. Burke , Commissioner of Indian Affairs in

3003-439: The "hard beats" used to indicate sections of the song. The "traditional method" consists of a pronounced strike by all singers every other beat. These may appear in the first or second line of a song, the end of a section, before the repetition of a song. A cluster of three hard beats (on consecutive beats) may be used at the end of a series of hard beats, while a few beats in the first line of a song indicate performer enthusiasm. In

3094-472: The 21st century due to similar reasons. Language endangerment affects both the languages themselves and the people that speak them. This also affects the essence of a culture. As communities lose their language, they often lose parts of their cultural traditions that are tied to that language. Examples include songs, myths, poetry, local remedies, ecological and geological knowledge, as well as language behaviors that are not easily translated. Furthermore,

3185-671: The European Union are actively working to save and stabilize endangered languages. Once a language is determined to be endangered, there are three steps that can be taken in order to stabilize or rescue the language. The first is language documentation, the second is language revitalization and the third is language maintenance. Language documentation is the documentation in writing and audio-visual recording of grammar , vocabulary, and oral traditions (e.g. stories, songs, religious texts) of endangered languages. It entails producing descriptive grammars, collections of texts and dictionaries of

3276-437: The Grand Entry. Common practices emphasize respect for participants and traditions. The clothing worn by participants is referred to as 'regalia' and should not be called a 'costume.' Additionally, certain rules promote courtesy, such as refraining from touching or playing the drums unless one is part of the drum group. It is also important to avoid touching individuals or their regalia without permission. Certain tribes, including

3367-488: The International Labour Organization also recognizes and upholds the linguistic rights of indigenous communities. Local indigenous communities have also made efforts to create indigenous-focused pedagogical programs and combat English monolingualism in schools. For example, in the 1970s, Native Hawaiian language neared extinction. However, the community was able to revitalize the language by advocating for

3458-547: The Pascua Yaqui and Hopi, prohibit photography and sketching during ceremonies. A pow-wow session begins with the Grand Entry and a prayer. The Eagle Staff leads the Grand Entry, followed by flags and then the dancers, while one of the host drums performs an opening song. This event is considered sacred, and some pow-wows prohibit filming or photography during this time, though others permit it. When military veterans or active duty service members are present, they are often given

3549-608: The U.S. as experts aiming to share their knowledge and expand their skills". Pow-wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow ) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or public, indoors or outdoors. Dancing events can be competitive with monetary prizes. Powwows vary in length from single-day to weeklong events. In mainstream American culture, such as 20th-century Western movies or by military personnel,

3640-658: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognize indigenous communities' rights to self determination and revitalization of indigenous language and education. Article 13 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. 2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that this right

3731-482: The United States, passed legislation modeled on Circular 1665, which he published in 1921. This legislation restricted the times of the year in which Native Americans could practice traditional dance, which Burke deemed as a direct threat to the Christian religion. However, many Native communities continued to gather together in secret to practice their cultures' dance and music in defiance of this and other legislation. By

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3822-541: The Yuchi tribe were fluent in the language. These remaining speakers spoke Yuchi fluently before they went to school and have maintained the language despite strong pressure to abandon it. The situation was not limited to Oklahoma. In the Northwest Pacific plateau, there are no speakers left of the indigenous tribal languages from that area all the way to British Columbia . Oregon's Siletz reservation , established in 1855,

3913-415: The best language revitalization programs in the United States. The organization was created in 1975 when linguist, Akira Yamamoto, began learning the Hualapai language and culture. Yamamoto was driven by a desire to develop resources that would help preserve the language for children. After receiving a three-year grant from Title VII 's Bilingual Education Act , Yamamoto managed to establish an orthography,

4004-480: The cities or to other countries, thus dispersing the speakers. Cultural dominance occurs when literature and higher education is only accessible in the majority language. Political dominance occurs when education and political activity is carried out exclusively in a majority language. Historically, in colonies, and elsewhere where speakers of different languages have come into contact, some languages have been considered superior to others: often one language has attained

4095-571: The context of public storytelling events. The term "treasure language" references the desire of speakers to sustain the use of their mother tongue into the future: [The] notion of treasure fit the idea of something that had been buried and almost lost, but was being rediscovered and now shown and shared. And the word treasure also evoked the notion of something belonging exclusively to the Rama people, who now attributed it real value and had become eager and proud of being able to show it to others. Accordingly,

4186-567: The contributions of linguists globally. Ethnologue's 2005 count of languages in its database, excluding duplicates in different countries, was 6,912, of which 32.8% (2,269) were in Asia, and 30.3% (2,092) in Africa. This contemporary tally must be regarded as a variable number within a range. Areas with a particularly large number of languages that are nearing extinction include: Eastern Siberia , Central Siberia , Northern Australia , Central America , and

4277-461: The cycles of language death and emergence of new languages through creolization as a continuous ongoing process. A majority of linguists do consider that language loss is an ethical problem, as they consider that most communities would prefer to maintain their languages if given a real choice. They also consider it a scientific problem, because language loss on the scale currently taking place will mean that future linguists will only have access to

4368-421: The dance floor and pow wow (which are themselves shaped in concentric circles). Southern drums are suspended by four posts, one for each direction. Northern drums are set up on the outside of the dance area, with the host drum in the best position. Drummer-singers are expected to remain at their drum and ready to sing at any moment's notice; a dancer might approach the drum and whistle, fan, or gesture his staff over

4459-513: The dance, then changes to mimic the actions of a herd of buffalo. At pow wows, where there is a large Southern Plains community in the area, the Gourd Dance is often included before the start of the pow wow sessions. The gourd dance originated with the Kiowa tribe and spread from there. It is a society dance for veterans and their families. Unlike other dances, the gourd dance is normally performed with

4550-516: The death of indigenous languages, and is a common practice in various regions across the world. Bilingual education and the use of non-dominant languages in educational settings have historically been outlawed in many areas globally, such as Australia, the United States, Serbia, and East Africa. Although some repressive policies have been reversed in more recent years, the impacts of the established restrictive language policies had already taken their toll. The preservation of Indigenous Peoples and culture

4641-408: The dispersal of speaker populations and decreased survival rates for those who stay behind. Among the causes of language endangerment cultural, political and economic marginalization accounts for most of the world's language endangerment. Scholars distinguish between several types of marginalization: Economic dominance negatively affects minority languages when poverty leads people to migrate towards

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4732-458: The drum in the center of the dance arena, not on the side. Though there are many genres unique to different tribes , pow wow music is characterized by pan or intertribalism with the Plains cultures , the originators of the modern pow wow, predominating. For information on dancing, see Dances . There may be many drums at a pow wow, especially weekend or week-long ones, but each pow wow features

4823-517: The earliest is GIDS (Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale) proposed by Joshua Fishman in 1991. In 2011 an entire issue of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development was devoted to the study of ethnolinguistic vitality, Vol. 32.2, 2011, with several authors presenting their own tools for measuring language vitality. A number of other published works on measuring language vitality have been published, prepared by authors with varying situations and applications in mind. According to

4914-399: The early 19th century. Until the early 20th century, most Yuchi tribe members spoke the language fluently. Then, government boarding schools severely punished American Indian students who were overheard speaking their own language. To avoid beatings and other punishments, Yuchi and other Indian children abandoned their native languages in favor of English. In 2005, only five elderly members of

5005-409: The entire chorus for the rest of the pushup. Three down strokes or hard beats mark the end of the chorus and beginning of the verse, and during these dancers will alter their dancing such as by hopping low like fancy dancers. An increase in tempo and volume on the last five beats marks the end of the final verse. The dancing stops on the final beat and then a tail , or coda , finishes the song with

5096-606: The establishment of the American Indian Languages Development Institute and the creation and passage of the Native American Languages Act . The term "treasure language" was proposed by the Rama people of Nicaragua as an alternative to heritage language , indigenous language, and "ethnic language" since those names are considered pejorative in the local context. The term is now also used in

5187-916: The extinction of wildlife upon the introduction of a dangerous predator or extreme change in habitat to the death of indigenous language upon cultural, social, and environmental changes and forced assimilation. Other tribes of Native Americans were also forced into government schools and reservations. They were also treated badly if they did not become "civilized", which meant they were to go to Christian churches and speak English. They were forced to give up their tribal religious beliefs and languages. Now, Native Americans are trying to regain some of their lost heritage. They gather at " pow-wow " to share culture, stories, remedies, dances, music, rhythms, recipes and heritage with anyone who wants to learn them. In January 2008, in Anchorage, Alaska, friends and relatives gathered to bid their last farewell to 89 year old Marie Smith Jones,

5278-433: The head staff is an honor, showing respect for the person's skills or dedication. The master of ceremonies , or MC, is the voice of the pow wow. It is his job to keep the singers, dancers, and public informed as to what is happening. The MC sets the schedule of events and maintains the drum rotation , or order of when each drum group gets to sing. The MC is also responsible for filling any dead air time that may occur during

5369-410: The head staff, publicizing the powwow, securing a location, and recruiting vendors who pay for the right to set up and sell food or merchandise at the powwow. The head staff of a pow-wow are the people who run the event on the day or days it occurs. They are generally hired by the powwow committee several months in advance, as the quality of the head staff can affect attendance. To be chosen as part of

5460-560: The history of drumming as each group understands it. The drum is offered gifts of tobacco during giveaways and musicians acknowledge this by standing. While the drum is central to pow wows, "the drum only helps them keep beat. Dancers key on the melody of the song. Rhythms , tones, pitch all help create their ' moves '." (p. 85) Note that Bill Runs Above did not mention the lyrics of the songs, and while they are no doubt important, most lyrics of most songs employ vocables , syllable sounds such as "ya," "hey," and "loi" (p. 86). This

5551-431: The honor for carrying the flags and eagle staffs. These individuals are followed by the head dancers, after which the remaining dancers typically enter the arena in a designated order: Men's Traditional, Men's Grass Dance, Men's Fancy, Women's Traditional, Women's Jingle, and Women's Fancy. This sequence is then followed by teens and small children in the same order. After the Grand Entry, the master of ceremonies (MC) invites

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5642-568: The introduction of indigenous language in schools. Additionally, the Kamchatkan government has also aimed to make the Itelmen language more accessible by mass media broadcasting native language content and sharing songs in Itelmen via online platforms and apps within the Itelmen community . The Hualapai Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program based in Peach Springs, Arizona has been recognized as one of

5733-612: The language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead language ". If no one can speak the language at all, it becomes an " extinct language ". A dead language may still be studied through recordings or writings, but it is still dead or extinct unless there are fluent speakers. Although languages have always become extinct throughout human history, they are currently dying at an accelerated rate because of globalization , mass migration , cultural replacement, imperialism , neocolonialism and linguicide (language killing). Language shift most commonly occurs when speakers switch to

5824-716: The languages used in 1950, over 75% of them are now extinct or moribund in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Meanwhile, less than 10% of languages in sub-Saharan Africa have gone extinct or are moribund. Overall findings show that "19% of the world's living languages are no longer being learned by children," which is a leading cause of lingual extinction. Although small languages face risks of extinction, languages at severe risk of extinction have particularly been said to have an estimated threshold of about 330 speakers or less. Small languages have been quantified to have less than 35,000 speakers, and nearly all languages with 35,000 or more speakers have been found to be all growing at around

5915-416: The languages, and it requires the establishment of a secure archive where the material can be stored once it is produced so that it can be accessed by future generations of speakers or scientists. Language revitalization is the process by which a language community through political, community, and educational means attempts to increase the number of active speakers of the endangered language. This process

6006-399: The linguistic literature—the language that is being lost generally undergoes changes as speakers make their language more similar to the language that they are shifting to. For example, gradually losing grammatical or phonological complexities that are not found in the dominant language. Generally the accelerated pace of language endangerment is considered to be a problem by linguists and by

6097-544: The mid-1970s, women began drumming with men and seconding , or singing, an octave higher, the song. Today, there are mixed-gender and all-female drum groups. The supplies a drum group carries include the drum, rawhide headed, a cloth bag for padded drum sticks, the drum stand, folding chairs for sitting, and, in some cases, a public address system. The drum head, stand, microphone stands, and PA box are often decorated with paintings or eagle feathers, fur, flags, and strips of colored cloth. Readily noticeable in performances are

6188-456: The mid-twentieth century, powwows were also being held in the Great Lakes region. Planning for a powwow generally begins months, perhaps even a year, before the event by a group of people usually referred to as a powwow committee. Pow wows may be sponsored by a tribal organization, an American Native community within an urban area, a Native American Studies program, or an American Native club on

6279-455: The next. That is, there are no new speakers, adults or children." UNESCO operates with four levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct" (no living speakers), based on intergenerational transfer: "vulnerable" (not spoken by children outside the home), "definitely endangered" (children not speaking), "severely endangered" (only spoken by the oldest generations), and "critically endangered" (spoken by few members of

6370-482: The number of speakers of a language. UNESCO seeks to prevent language extinction by promoting and supporting the language in education, culture, communication and information, and science. Another option is "post-vernacular maintenance": the teaching of some words and concepts of the lost language, rather than revival proper. As of June 2012 the United States has a J-1 specialist visa , which allows indigenous language experts who do not have academic training to enter

6461-723: The oldest generation, often semi-speakers ). UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger categorises 2,473 languages by level of endangerment. Using an alternative scheme of classification, linguist Michael E. Krauss defines languages as "safe" if it is considered that children will probably be speaking them in 100 years; "endangered" if children will probably not be speaking them in 100 years (approximately 60–80% of languages fall into this category) and "moribund" if children are not speaking them now. Many scholars have devised techniques for determining whether languages are endangered. One of

6552-406: The opening and closing of a pow wow session, the most common is the intertribal , where a Drum will sing a song, and anyone who wants to can come and dance. Similar dances are the round dance ; crow hop when performed by a northern drum or a horse stealing song by a southern drum; there is also "double beat", "sneakup" and, for Women's Traditional and Jingle, "sidestep". Each of these songs have

6643-550: The pow wow, often with jokes. The MC often runs any raffles or other contests that may happen during the pow wow. The head dancers consist of the Head Man Dancer and the Head Woman Dancer, and often Head Teen Dancers, Head Little Boy and Girl Dancers, Head Golden Age Dancers, and a Head Gourd Dancer if the pow wow has a Gourd Dance . The head dancers lead the other dancers in the grand entry or parade of dancers that opens

6734-475: The pow-wow, they also perform a flag song, retreat song, and a closing song. Additionally, if a pow-wow has gourd dancing, the Southern Host Drum is often the drum that sings all the gourd songs, though another drum can perform them. The host drums are often called upon to sing special songs during the pow-wow. Famous host drums include Black Lodge Singers , Cozad Singers , and Yellowhammer . A pow wow

6825-544: The remaining languages surviving. Reasons for these declines can be attributed to the spread of diseases, such as the measles and smallpox epidemics, forced displacement of inhabitants by settlers, and social, political, and economic isolation and exclusion. Some researchers blame the extinction of language in Australia on a decline in "biolinguistic diversity", a term which identifies a parallel between an area's biodiversity and an area's linguistic diversity. This phenomenon compares

6916-472: The right to all levels and forms of education of the State without discrimination. 3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language. Article 16 1. Indigenous peoples have

7007-478: The right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination. 2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States, without prejudice to ensuring full freedom of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately reflect indigenous cultural diversity. The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169) of

7098-474: The same rates. Oklahoma provides the backdrop for an example of language loss in the developed world. It boasts the highest density of indigenous languages in the United States. That includes languages originally spoken in the region, as well as those of Native American tribes from other areas that were forcibly relocated onto reservations there. The US government drove the Yuchi from Tennessee to Oklahoma in

7189-661: The social structure of one's community is often reflected through speech and language behavior. This pattern is even more prominent in dialects. This may in turn affect the sense of identity of the individual and the community as a whole, producing a weakened social cohesion as their values and traditions are replaced with new ones. This is sometimes characterized as anomie . Losing a language may also have political consequences as some countries confer different political statuses or privileges on minority ethnic groups, often defining ethnicity in terms of language. In turn, communities that lose their language may also lose political legitimacy as

7280-502: The speakers. However, some linguists, such as the phonetician Peter Ladefoged , have argued that language death is a natural part of the process of human cultural development, and that languages die because communities stop speaking them for their own reasons. Ladefoged argued that linguists should simply document and describe languages scientifically, but not seek to interfere with the processes of language loss. A similar view has been argued at length by linguist Salikoko Mufwene , who sees

7371-469: The spread of disease. Additionally, the concept of "biolinguistic diversity" is a prevalent phenomenon in academic discussions surrounding linguistic extinction. This concept argues that there are clear similarities between the wildlife extinction due to dangerous environmental alterations and the linguistic extinction due to colonialism, and the forced erasure and replacement of indigenous language and culture. Finally, restrictive language policies contribute to

7462-466: The structure of the melody and the song. Boye Ladd says, "If you give me a stink song, I'll dance stink. If you give me good music, I'll give you a great show," implying that one can appreciate the music through the dancing, which is readily appreciated by everyone. But others say that today's contemporary contest dancers should dance their best no matter how well or poorly the drum group singing for their contest is. Generally, Native American singing follows

7553-605: The teaching of public school curriculums solely in Hawaiian. This effort eventually resulted in the Hawaiian language being reinstated as the official language of the State of Hawaii in 1978 . Similar efforts were made in Kamchatka, Russia, where indigenous peoples of the region fought for the preservation of the Itelmen language. Itelmen speakers and the Kamchatkan government have launched several native language development programs, such as

7644-479: The term powwow was used to refer to any type of meeting. This usage is now considered by some Native Americans to be an offensive case of appropriation because of the cultural significance powwows hold. The word powwow is derived from the Narragansett word powwaw , meaning "spiritual leader." The term has variants, including Powaw , Pawaw , Powah, Pauwau and Pawau . A number of nations claim to have held

7735-457: The term may be considered to be distinct from endangered language for which objective criteria are available, or heritage language, which describes an end-state for a language for which individuals are more fluent in a dominant language. Endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when

7826-490: The world are taught by traditional means, including vocabulary, grammar, readings, and recordings. About 6,000 others can be learned to some extent by listening to recordings made for other purposes, such as religious texts for which translations are available in more widely-known languages. There have been many efforts made by the United Nations to guarantee the protection of indigenous languages. Articles 13, 14, and 16 of

7917-457: The world is not known, and it is not well defined what constitutes a separate language as opposed to a dialect. Estimates vary depending on the extent and means of the research undertaken, and the definition of a distinct language and the current state of knowledge of remote and isolated language communities. The number of known languages varies over time as some of them become extinct and others are newly discovered. An accurate number of languages in

8008-414: The world today, though many of them have not been recorded because they belong to tribes in rural areas of the world or are not easily accessible. Some languages are very close to disappearing: Forty six languages are known to have just one native speaker while 357 languages have fewer than 50 speakers. Rare languages are more likely to show evidence of decline than more common ones. It was found that among

8099-418: The world was not yet known until the use of universal, systematic surveys in the later half of the twentieth century. The majority of linguists in the early twentieth century refrained from making estimates. Before then, estimates were frequently the product of guesswork and very low. One of the most active research agencies is SIL International , which maintains a database, Ethnologue , kept up to date by

8190-413: The world, many countries have enacted specific legislation aimed at protecting and stabilizing the language of indigenous speech communities . Recognizing that most of the world's endangered languages are unlikely to be revitalized, many linguists are also working on documenting the thousands of languages of the world about which little or nothing is known. The total number of contemporary languages in

8281-545: Was home to the endangered language Siletz Dee-ni . The reservation held members of 27 different Indian bands speaking many languages. In order to communicate, people adopted Chinook Jargon , a pidgin or hybrid language. Between the use of Chinook Jargon and the increased presence of English, the number of speakers of indigenous languages dwindled. The extinction of indigenous language can be seen outside of North America, as well. Of Australia's at least 250 aboriginal languages, most have now gone extinct with very low likelihood of

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