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Article: Languages should be preserved.
- Article from:
- Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK)
- Article date:
- February 12, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Tulsa World. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: S.E. Ruckman
Feb. 12--Language is sort of like Play-Doh. It can be molded to fit the needs of those using it. An anthropologist friend recently encouraged me to think of spoken American Indian languages that way.
When the first explorers found their way into North America, the continent teemed with hundreds of languages and peoples. Less than a third of those languages are still intact. In Oklahoma, about 26 tribes of the state's 38 federally recognized tribes speak their language, a tribal-language teacher tells me. Four tribal languages are still being learned by children in the home. Many Oklahoma residents don't see the ...