Indigenous Languages of USA

Historically, approximately 500 native languages were spoken in North America, according to data from the National Museum of the American Indian. Many of them were and still are spoken within the territory that belongs to the USA.

But those familiar with the history of colonization and independence in the USA, as well as other countries in the Americas, know about the resistance of indigenous peoples to keep their language and culture alive.

Despite English dominating the corporate and social world, the fight for the survival of indigenous languages is political and strong.

Currently, more than half of the country's multilingualism is represented by indigenous languages. Navajo, Cherokee, Dakota, Choctaw, Keres... How many of them have you heard of?

Getting to know them is the first step to understanding the importance of preserving them.

Indigenous Language Families of North America

Some of the indigenous languages existing today in the USA belong to the major native language families of North America.

Others, however, constitute linguistic isolates, meaning their variations throughout history make it difficult to determine a common family.

Check out the map below for the major language families of indigenous languages in North America.

Some of the key linguistic groups for indigenous languages spoken today in the USA are: Algic (Algonquin), Iroquoian, Athabaskan, Muskogean, Siouan, Uto-Aztecan, Salishan, and Eskimo-Aleut. Check out the distribution in the map below.

Top 5 Indigenous Languages of the USA

Today, approximately 167 indigenous languages are spoken in the US, and it’s estimated that only 20 of these languages will remain by 2050.

We highlight 5 indigenous languages of North America that are among the most spoken in the USA, according to the United States Census Bureau. And we've brought some interesting facts about the history of these languages.

1. Navajo

Navajo is the most widely spoken indigenous language in the United States. Currently, the tribe has over 300,000 members.

Navajo is part of the Athabaskan language family and is very close to Apache, which is also in the same language family. Even the famous Star Wars movie has been translated into the language!

The Navajo nation works to preserve its language and culture. It has created programs to teach the language and even many bilingual schools. Now there are even institutes, community colleges, and technical universities with classes in the Navajo language.

Curious to learn more about this tribe and its language? You can visit the Navajo National Museum, located in Arizona (USA).

2. Yupik‍

Yupik refers to several different languages, with Central Yup’ik being the most commonly spoken in Alaska. It is spoken in the US state of Alaska, as well as some surrounding islands.

All Yupik languages belong to the Eskimo-Aleut language family.

Central Alaskan Yup'ik has several dialects that differ slightly in terms of morphology but are all mutually intelligible.

There was never a writing system for any Yupik language until the arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries who introduced the Latin alphabet.

In the 1960s, Irene Reed and others from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks developed a modern writing system for the language, leading to the establishment of the state's first bilingual school programs in four Yup'ik villages in the early 1970s.

3. Sioux (Dakotas)‍

Sioux is an interesting language due to the number of dialects it has.

You might not be familiar with the name Sioux, but you may have heard of its main varieties: Lakota, Western Dakota, and Eastern Dakota. Each variety has some subtypes, all with some lexical and phonetic differences, but are mutually intelligible.

More than 30,000 people speak a Sioux dialect or another in the United States and Canada. It can be found in the Dakotas, as well as northern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, and northeastern Montana.

4. Keresan or Keres

The Keresan languages are actually a group of seven mutually intelligible dialects among neighboring villages. They are used in religious ceremonies, storytelling, and everyday communication within the community.

It is spoken by many tribes in the New Mexico area and other parts of the Southwest. Some dialects of the language include Acoma Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, and Cochiti Pueblo.

It is considered a linguistic isolate and has a rather complicated tone system.

Linguists have had difficulty categorizing it and relating it to other languages, but some say it is related to Wichita.

5. Cherokee

Cherokee is an indigenous language of the Iroquoian language family. It is spoken by the Cherokee people, who live in Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Carolina, and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Cherokee is probably the most extensively documented indigenous language in the country, largely due to the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by Sequoyah in 1821.

Among the preservation efforts for the language is The Cherokee Immersion School (Park Hill, Oklahoma), a Cherokee language immersion school for children from pre-school to grade 8. Education is a great kee to keeping the language alive.

Cherokee is also a polysynthetic language. This means that many Cherokee words are composed of different parts that can stand alone. "Word-phrases" are prevalent in polysynthetic languages, where an entire sentence can be a very long word.

Curiosity: Did you know that indigenous languages were used as Code Talk among fighters in World War I and World War II?

For instance, Navajo. Around 420 Navajos served as Code Talkers. 

See the map below showing the main tribes and home communities of the Code Talkers during World War I and II.

Political Representation

The preservation of language and culture depends on political factors. Some notable milestones were:

• 1972 - When Congress passed the Indian Education Act, allowing Native American tribes to teach their own languages, making it legal to teach children in indigenous languages and giving tribes authority to control schools.
  
  
• 1990 - when Congress passed the Native American Languages Act, designed to preserve, protect, and promote Native Americans’ rights to use their indigenous languages anywhere.
  
  
• 2018 - When two Native American women were voted into the House of Representatives, giving Native American communities visibility in government. Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo from New Mexico, and Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation from Kansas, are the first Native American women to serve in Congress.

The Importance of Preserving Indigenous Languages

These languages we've brought here are just a small part of the many indigenous languages spoken in the United States. Many are endangered or nearly disappearing completely, as we lose their older native speakers.

Some factors explain these challenges, including historical discrimination against indigenous peoples and their culture, and the enormous pressure indigenous communities face to adapt to English, mainly due to work and education.

When a language dies, so does a people's culture. That's why it's so important to preserve native languages, to make historical reparations, preserve cultural richness, and allow future generations to know their stories.

Fortunately, there are still enough native language speakers to keep it alive! Indigenous languages are extremely important for maintaining identity.

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