Indigenous languages are being displaced at an alarming rate. The ramifications of language loss to the speakers' culture and to the wider culture, and its connection to issues of repression and acculturation are discussed. Reversing language shift is the practice of social justice and requires collaboration between indigenous communities and…

Culturally appropriate means of conducting language research among American Indians is critical for maintaining cooperation and for increasing the depth of data collected. The apprentice-elder and fictive kinship models used in research with two Siouan-speaking tribes are discussed, as well as their practical applications, the importance of…

Academic fieldworkers in language-endangered communities must be able to undertake all aspects of linguistic work, elicit linguistic information from speakers, document naturally occurring speech data, present research results in a comprehensible manner to the community and to academia, and develop cooperative programs based on mutual trust.…

The O'odham Nation is developing an O'odham dictionary in collaboration with the University of Arizona. The project is unique because it is conducted by tribal members and funded by the tribe. The group is proposing locating language centers throughout the reservation to mobilize community involvement in the project and to assist the Nation's…

To successfully maintain endangered Native American languages, Native communities must collectively recognize their language's vulnerability and commit to its continuity. Linguists need more experience with fieldwork and pragmatics, knowledge of various language transmission practices in cultures other than their own, an understanding of cultural…

The Peruvian national indigenous federation established a bilingual, intercultural teachers' training program to counter stereotypes of indigenous people portrayed in the authoritarian, monolingual Spanish national curriculum, and to enhance language preservation, ethnic mobilization, and cultural survival. A complementary transitional bilingual…

A White Mountain Apache (WMA) doctoral student collaborating with a non-Indian linguist on a grammar book project discusses the status of the WMA language; causes of WMA language shift; aspects of insider-outsider collaboration; implications for revitalization and maintenance of indigenous languages; and the responsibilities of individuals,…

Indigenous literacy affirms indigenous identity; connects native speakers to the culture and each other; and stimulates other, more diffuse forces for language maintenance. Collaborative, grassroots Native language programs in the United States, New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada, and Puerto Rico are described. Immersion and literacy programs include…

Linguists working with endangered American Indian languages must realize that fieldwork is a cooperative venture, requiring that control be relinguished to the community. The relationship with the tribe must be negotiated, and linguists must return something concrete to the community in terms of language revival. Working in language teams that…