Indigenous languages of the Americas

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…

Vanishing voices was the source that inspired this paper. Many languages soon will disappear before people know they exist. Language has a huge impact on culture, it is the basis for communication between the people who make up the culture and traditions. Many small languages have to learn large languages to connect with those in the surrounding world. Aka, a language in Palizi a hamlet in Arunachal Pradesh, is on the endangered language list. Many stories are told throughout generations in Aka…

The Cree is one of the largest of the largest groups in North America, with over 200,000 members and counting. Canada has over 135 registered bands. Intertribal marriage is to be blamed for such a large population. The language they speak is known as Algonquian, a subfamily of Native American languages. The Cree are tied together through their culture and that is of great significance to them and has survived through many years and hardships. At a time, the Cree were also found in the United…

The Blackfoot language is an endangered Native American language with only about 3,000 fluent speakers remaining. Cultural communities who use this language are the Blackfoot tribe bands which are the North Piegan, the South Piegan, the Blood, and the Siksika who reside in the northern plains of Montana, Idaho, and Alberta, Canada (Redish and Lewis "Blackfoot Indian Fact Sheet"). Each tribe band has the same culture and uses the same language, however they differentiate politically. The overall…

Spanish conquest of the Americas would generally be known to have formally begun with the defeat of the mighty Mexica, (a lot commonly referred to as the Aztec), empire in 1521. Led by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés, they first came into contact with the Americas in 1519. Out of a pure coincidence (or perhaps due to the intervention of the Almighty) two translators joined Cortes’ band of conquistadores: a Spanish man left behind as a result of a shipwreck, Jerónimo Aguilar, and a Nahua girl…

Along with other cultural elements, such as food, language, costume, festivals and celebrations constitute as an important role in displaying the syncretism and combination of indigenous traditions and customs and Catholic influence in Latin America. The Latin American festivals and celebrations especially are closely tied to religious practices of the Catholic Church so most of them take place on days according to the liturgical seasons in Catholic Christianity. In Latin America, Christian…

To become aware, one must learn about social problems and unlearn problematic attitudes and ideas. “The Canary Effect” brought light to social injustice faced by Indigenous Peoples in the past which explains some problems Indigenous people face today. One of the biggest setbacks Indigenous peoples face today is being the aftermath of a mass genocide. To start it off, Christopher Columbus “discovered America” (He washed up on the shore in Honduras). From there, it became about white people the…

20th century was quite the time for America. It was growing tremendously into the world superpower that it is today and the so called “American dream” was beginning to look like the real deal for certain people. A lot of factors have gone into this, but a question one might have is did race play a role in the shaping of America during this time and if so, how significant was its impact? I argue that through the use of harmful tactics, such as assimilation and dehumanization, race had a…

The land we live on, known as the Americas was home to an abundant amount of societies that were diverse in language and social structure before colonization, war, and disease had set its course. According to the text Give me Liberty in the year of 1492 when Christopher Columbus had ventured out making contact with the West Indian Islands is when a motion was set, causing harsh impacts on the development of history. The Americas came to be the way they are due to some of the power countries that…

Genocide is defined as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. This includes forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. During colonization of the Americas many Indian tribes died do to starvation, massacres, and slavery. But the genocide of Indigenous groups didn’t stop there; in fact it continues to this day. Indigenous children are removed from their families and placed into the foster care system at…