Why Should We Keep Tribal Languages Alive?

By Sonny Skyhawk: April 6, 2012

"I canʼt stress enough the importance of retaining our tribal languages, when it comes to the core relevance or existence of our people. Our languages can teach us many things through daily use. Language can teach us respect, for ourselves and each other, our elders, women and most importantly, the things that allowed us to exist."

I don't think that anyone realizes how bad the loss of languages is becoming, not just tribal languages but other Native languages. It is said that 6,000 languages are at risk of "dying" out. That is a terribly high number of languages from all over the world. I understand that it might not seem that important to some, but language is a way of communication and a way of life for most people. What would it be like if English didn't exist anymore, that you were the last native speaker? How terrible would that be? To loose your culture and ability to connect with the outside world. This doesn't seem fair. It is especially bad with Native populations as a whole. Who is going to teach the children? I think this needs to be addressed or help or at least put into the spot light! Where are the celebs now?! I hope that something can be done in the future to help this.