Previously, many Native American
languages were used primarily to communicate about the rural environments that
the Native American’s were living in; but now, with modern technology and urban
settings, many native languages have changed by adapting new words and phrases to
describe modern society.
The first thing that stuck out to
me while researching how technology has influenced native languages was not
that native languages have had to change due to technology; rather, technology
has been used to preserve certain native languages. Social media, blog posts,
and online dictionaries have all been used in the past decade in some form to
help preserve many native languages by gathering those interested in the cause
in one place together. For example, I came across a Facebook group called “Lakota Language for
Beginners” that has over 23,000 members. Large gatherings of these
native speakers (and even non speakers who are still interested in the cause)
online creates a sense of community, and allows those who know the language to
work with others in preservation efforts.
Marie Wilcox, the last fluent
speaker of Wukchumni (a small tribe
with 200 members) dedicated much of her life to create the first Wukchimni dictionary by remembering
certain words that her grandparent’s spoke to her as a child as an effort to
keep the tribe educated on their native language (Bentley). She did this all on
her own, with the help of her grandson to create an audio version of the
dictionary. In situations like Marie’s, if she had online resources to reach
out to others who might have known some Wukchumni
words, it is possible that she could have used these resources to help her write
her dictionary.
On the “Lakota Language for
Beginner’s” Facebook group page, pinned at the top is an extensive post (shared
by the groups administration) on how members can contribute to preventing the
language from becoming even more “critically endangered” than it already is,
through learning. The lessons are beginner level and are completely free, and
offered through the Facebook page.
Curious to see how
Native American’s use Facebook (and other social media forms) on a usual basis,
I clicked on one of the “Lakota Language for Beginner’s” admin’s, Uŋpa Nuŋpa’s,
personal Facebook page. Uŋpa is a very active voice in the Native American
community when it comes to preserving native traditions and languages. He uses
his Facebook page to spread awareness of the importance of learning the Lakota
Language. Several other Native Americans are connected with him on Facebook, and I'm sure if I had looked deeper, I could have found many more that were online.
While native Languages have not added new words or phrases based on the influence of technology, the influence of technology has helped preserve several languages and connect speakers across the United States with each other. I never would have though that using technology would have any benefit for Native Americans, but after doing this research my perspective has really changed.
Works Cited:
Bentley, Andrew. Native American Blog by National Relief
Charities, NRCprograms.org. "Two Worlds: Native Language Meets Technology
N.p., 27 Mar. 2015. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lakotabeginners/
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