Uses brain research conducted by Dr. Roger Sperry to show that traditional Native Americans are more dominant in right hemisphere thinking, setting them apart from a modern left hemisphere-oriented society (especially emphasized in schools). Describes some characteristics of Native American thinking that illustrate a right hemisphere orientation…

Hypothesizes that Native Americans in the Southwest have a historical and contemporary aversion to writing and other relatively permanent means of data storage. Contributing factors include religion, oral traditions based on memory, cultural secrecy. Available from Linguistic Association of the Southwest, Department of English, University of…

Briefly describes some elements of the culture of the Boruca Indians of Costa Rica and discusses threats to their tribal existence. Notes recurring motifs in six narratives which illustrate Boruca life and culture and which are presented in the original Boruca and in Spanish and English translations. (SB)

The account includes Tlingits, Haidas, and Eskimos among such incongruities as oil, pipelines, totems, and ancient words, with education as the unifying bottom line. (Editor)

Describes the Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program, which seeks to save endangered Native Californian languages by pairing speakers and nonspeakers and providing the pairs with materials, technical support, and personal support. Briefly discusses the history of American Indian genocide and language extinction in California. Includes…

Indigenous languages are powerful symbols of self-determination and sovereignty for tribal communities in the United States, and many community-based programs have been developed to support and maintain them. The successes of these programs, however, have been difficult to replicate at large research institutions. This article examines the issues…

Early federal government policies for American indigenous people alternated between extermination and assimilation. Imposing the colonists' and immigrants' language on indigenous people was important for achieving the latter. In the 1970-90's, federally funded grants for bilingual education for indigenous schools were offered to accommodate Native…

This journal volume by and about Indian, Inuit, and Metis native Canadian women, contains articles, interviews, book reviews, fiction, poetry, journal entries and art. It is dedicated to the grandmothers who managed to hold on to old ways, teachings, and feelings, and to pass them on. Poems and stories create personal portraits and reminiscences…

This primary level story and coloring book in the Seminole language is developed for use in a bilingual education setting. Each page contains a large pen-and-ink drawing and a few lines of large-type text. An English translation of the story is provided at the end of the book. (AMH)

Intended for teachers and other educators teaching English in the educational system of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), this compilation of the first three issues of English for American Indians includes the following articles on English as a Second Language (ESL): (1) "Language Drill and Young Children" (a teaching approach of…

This volume contains twenty-five of the papers presented at the Seventh Algonquian conference. Topics covered in the papers include recently discovered linguistic fragments of Ocanahowan, the Wittiko people, ethno-history and archeology of the Mushuan, color terms in Narragansett, the Christian holidays of the Wabanaki, dialects of the Eastern…

The article uses an interdisciplinary approach to reexamine the literary form and merit of a Zuni ritual narrative poem from the midwinter Shalako ceremonies. After describing the poem's cultural context, the article addresses its shape, structure, language, and style. The article includes the English language text of the poem. (SB)

This report concerns public bilingual elementary schools for rural Indian (non-Spanish-speaking) children in Mexico. Materials production efforts as well as completed and projected research projects are described. (SJL)

Languages reflect and reinforce cultural values, giving insights into their speakers' world view and relationships to the natural environment. Indigenous languages help us to respect local knowledge and extend our sense of community to the larger world. However, despite bilingual education in schools, all Native American languages are endangered;…

Discusses possibility of losing 90% of the existing 6,000 modern languages and importance of preserving languages and cultures. Government policies, including those of the United States, have contributed to this loss by imposing state languages to peoples and forbidding and punishing the use of native languages. Of the 207 native languages of…