A language dies when you don't have children learning it at home

"A language dies when you don't have children picking it up in the home," says Scott DeLancey, a University of Oregon linguist.

Here in America's Northwest, there are signs policymakers are beginning to take some notice. Last May, the Oregon State Legislature passed a resolution honoring Ms. Johnson's grandmother, Gladys Thompson, for her efforts to teach Kiksht and "her dedication to the preservation of Indian ways."

In 2006, the National Science Foundation awarded $5 million to support efforts to digitally record more than 60 endangered languages around the world. Included was $263,000 to document stories and conversations in Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian, spoken along the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska and islands off British Columbia.

"At least it's a validation of the implications of what is to be lost," says Patricia Shaw, director of the First Nations Languages Program in Vancouver, British Columbia.

...Read more aboutPacific Northwest indigenous languages

The Great Sioux Nation

The Great Sioux Nation is actually made up of 18 separate tribes, or bands in the US, and 12 in Canada. These are divided into three divisions: the Lakota Sioux, Dakota Sioux, and the Nakota Sioux.



Each division speaks a different, but similar, Sioux language dialect.



The individual Sioux Tribes are scattered across several reservations and communities in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and also in Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan in Canada.

The Yankton-Yanktonai, the smallest division, reside on the Yankton reservation in South Dakota and the Northern portion of Standing Rock Reservation, while the Santee live mostly in Minnesota and Nebraska, but include bands in the Sisseton-Wahpeton, Flandreau, and Crow Creek Reservations in South Dakota. The Lakota are the westernmost of the three groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota.

The Yankton-Yanktonai are a branch of Sioux peoples who moved into northern Minnesota. They originally constituted of two main ethnic groups: the Yankton ("campers at the end") and Yanktonai ("lesser campers at the end"). Economically, they were involved in quarrying pipestone.

...Read more about the Sioux Indians

Canadian Historical Indian Treaties

In Canada, Aboriginal Peoples and various Pre-Confederation and Post-Confederation governments have concluded 68 major native american treaties. These treaties cover most of Ontario, the Prairie Provinces; and parts of Vancouver Island, Northwest Territories, and Atlantic Canada. In Quebec, there were Treaties of Peace and Friendship; however, these treaties were usually not written down, and are therefore not included...Read more about First Nations Treaties

ancient sla-hal bones identified

Sla-Hal, Bone Game, or Stick Game are three ways to call a very popular game played amongst Northwestern Indian Tribes. Indian people of all ages have enjoyed gathering and participating in this exciting and traditional game for generations. Since time immemorial, some in the Pacific Northwest tribes say. And now there's physical proof.

A set of 14,000-year-old rodshaped bones now in the Washington State Historical Society Museum is evidence that it’s not just a saying, a couple from the Snoqualmie Tribe say.

The bones, found in the late ’80s with many other artifacts in Douglas County, are a complete set of sla-hal bones — the oldest found, said Marvin Kempf of Rockport.

...Read the rest of this article at the native americans megasite.

Misconceptions about native americans of North America

Probably the biggest misconception non-indians have about native american indians is that they are all the same, that they share a common culture, common beliefs, and a common governmental structure. Many people picture the Plains Indian tribes as representative of all Indians because of their romanticized portrayal in Hollywood movies.

In reality,there are well over 1,000 separate native american indian tribes in the United States and Canada, and hundreds more in Mexico, Central America and South America. While they do share some general philosophies on life, just as most non-indian people in the United States, Canada, and Europe do, each tribe has their own culture, beliefs, languages, and religions, similar to differences separate countries in Europe and North America do, or different states in the US have different traditions.

Individual indian tribes vary in size from less than ten surviving members to more than half a million tribal members. Some tribes have reservation lands, some do not. About half of all native american tribal members continue to live on reservations, the other half live off reservations in predominately anglo towns and cities. Most live in houses just like you do, whether on or off the reservations. The Plains Indian tribes use tipis mainly on special occasions, like powwow gatherings. Other native americans never lived in tipis at all, even in the old days. Some tribes built their homes from bark, woven reeds, bent sticks, thatched palms, partially submerged pits in the ground or side of a hill, or adobe bricks.

...Read more about native american indians