In this article the author, Armstrong , talks about herself, her parents and where they come from. She explains how the world reacts with each other while she looks down the mountain with her dad and his mom. Her and her people believe that we have four capacities to make a whole person: the physical self, the emotional self, the thinking-intellectual self, and the spiritual self. She says that at birth she is already one with the land, you are born into a family and community, you can never be separated because it will always be in your blood and soul, so it is her responsibility to speak her language and take care of her land.

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.

In this article, “Nearly Gone, But Not Forgotten” by Klug, K. It talks about how Native Americans lost control of their children's education over a century ago, when the United States government began forcing Native students into residential schools. Native children were severely punished for using their own languages instead of English. Generations of Native people thought that their children would be better off learning to speak only English, it would spare their children the same suffering, so parents stopped passing on their languages. Indigenous languages are now in danger of losing their last native speakers. Native American communities want to revitalize their languages, but face many obstacles of raising a generation to speak their language as their first language when young Native people continue to attend school with English and live in an English-speaking society. One major problem is about "highly qualified" teachers, NCLB requires teachers to have a bachelor's degree, however, the only available Native American speakers are community elders, most of whom don't possess teaching credentials or university degrees in their native languages, they are the last fluent speakers, and therefore the most qualified teachers.

Klug, K. (2012, 09). [NEARLY] GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. Cultural Survival Quarterly, 36, 12-13. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/nearly-gone-not-forgotten/docview/1069227139/se-2?accountid=39531

In this audio, “American Indian Schools Haunt Many” by, The National Public Radio. It talks about how the government believed that sending tens of thousands of Indians would solve the ‘Indian problem’. Many Native Americans were sent to a boarding school, some were taken forcibly or by armed forces. They were taken so they could be taught something that they weren't used to, many of them suffered, they were abused and had their culture desecrated. Even to this day many are still traumatized about what happened and what they experienced. An Army officer, Richard Pratt founded the first boarding school, his philosophy was that, “The only good Indian was a dead one. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man”. Bill Wright, a Pattwin Indian, was 6 years old when he was sent to Stewart Indian School in Nevada where he wasn’t able to express his culture, from long hair to speaking not even a single Indian word. He didn’t only lose the knowledge of his language, but his Native American name. He talked about how his grandma wanted him to speak their language to her and he told her that he didn’t understand her, she asked him who he was and he said, “Billy”. And she replied with, 'Your name's not Billy, your name's 'TAH-ruhm.' The school's intention was to transfer people inside and out, their language, religion, family structure, economics, the way you make a living, the way you express emotion, basically everything.

Bear, Charla. “American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many.” NPR, NPR, 12 May 2008, https://www.npr.org/2008/05/12/16516865/american-indian-boarding-schools-haunt-many.

In the article, “The Future of Indigenous Language Rights.” by Samantha Freedman, in order to spread awareness about the loss of Indigenous languages and to encourage their strength and revival, UNESCO published the Strategic Outcome Document of the International Year of Indigenous Languages on November 15. The document states that the protection of Indigenous languages is linked to Indigenous prosperity in many other areas of life, including peacebuilding, cultural knowledge, human rights, and economic development. The ability of Indigenous Peoples to use their languages and have their languages respected is essential to guaranteeing them, they include freedom of thought, opinion, and expression, and access to education, health, and information, among others. So to promote Idigenous language reconciliation, the state governments must acknowledge the “profound trauma caused among many Indigenous Peoples by the loss or severe deterioration of their languages'' and “ensure that concerns about the importance of truth, the need for apology and for forgiveness are integrated into reconciliation processes and frameworks.” Language is so important because within them they carry “complex systems of knowledge...reflecting distinctive worldviews and perspectives,” it is necessary in maintaining and passing on Indigenous culture and knowledge.

Samantha F. (2019, December 11). “The Future of Indigenous Language Rights.” Cultural Survival. Accessed December 15, 2021, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/future-indigenous-language-rights

In this Article,“Indigenous Continuance: Collaboration and Syncretism.” by Simon J. It helps us understand that Native Language is important. We learn that as Indigenous peoples, we have cultural knowledge, we know ourselves within the cultural world of the Indigenous tribal communities that we are born into. It is so important to understand that our existence is dependent upon this acknowledgment, realization, agreement, and acceptance on Native American Language. But in today’s society, a number of us do not acknowledge our Indigenous tribal identities, because we feel like we cannot. “No matter what we do to practice our Indigenous traditions and customs and no matter how hard we try to live according to the cultural philosophies of our tribal elders, we still feel Americanized.” Some Native American people feel invalid when they do acknowledge, claim, and announce their Indigenous identities, sometimes they can feel like we are imposters who are American Indian trying to pose as Indigenous tribal peoples. It is no wonder why they don’t feel like we are accepted or recognized when we identify ourselves as Indigenous tribal peoples. And because of the history of colonialism, it has limited us from our culture and in a manner of speaking, it has determined us, our identity, and our feelings about ourselves.

Simon J. Ortiz. (2011, July 28). “Indigenous Continuance: Collaboration and Syncretism.” The American Indian Quarterly. Accessed December 15, 2021, from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/447046

In this video clip, “Our Mother’s Voices.” by YDI Developing Lives. I it talks about different interviews from Indigenous people in Laguna Pueblo and how they feel about their language and culture. They say that their culture should be taken care of, especially because Native communities are sovereign. Language It is important because it identifies the true meaning of where they come from and it is a way to communicate. To this day, some community members don’t know how to speak their Indigenous language or don’t understand it. They one barely holding on to their language, elders are the ones that have the most knowledge of their language. Some young childrens and teens don’t really know the language because of the society we’ve been forced to grow into. If they were to lose their language in the future, the future generations won’t know anything because it wouldn’t be taught down because today's era wasn’t taught. It impacts Native American Identity and their sovereign nations/communities, so it is important to maintain their languages. Their language is being taught in school, but it is really up to that person to learn but it is hard because of the outside world's influence. The governor of Laguna stated that, “It doesn’t matter who the governor is or who the counselor is, it’s a community thing.” There should be more classes that teach their language on their reservation because the only classes are the ones in schools. We need to find a way for our elders to take on the responsibility for teaching then language, some families are not fluent in their language and it is not passed down enough so it can make it hard to learn and understand it if you don’t have it at home, because of this community elders are the main source. Who’s gonna be able to pass down their culture and songs? If they are not passed down the government can take over their communities and their land. Our children in our communities are all we have and whatever they learn now shapes the outcome of the communities that they come from.

YDI Developing Lives (2013, January 3rd). “Our Mothers Voices.” Youtube. Accessed December 16, 2021 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCdNAmfsL2k