Languages

The study of native languages, many of which were not written until recently, has been based mainly on reports, generally not systematic, from anthropologists, linguists, missionaries and other people who came into contact with Indian peoples. As diseases and other calamities devoured entire nations, several languages and dialects were extinct. Many natives abandoned their mother tongue due to assimilation pressure. Indian children were punished for speaking their own language in hospitals run by religious and state organizations. However, a large number of native languages are still spoken: Navajo is the language spoken by approximately 100,000 people. In other situations, only a small group of elders can use the common language, as in the case of the osage, which is only spoken by half a dozen individuals.

The linguistic diversity is notable in a relatively small population such as India (a little over a million and a half inhabitants). It is estimated that about 300 Indian languages may exist, which in turn can be divided into about 2,000 dialects. At least 57 language families include atapasca, iroquesa, muskogi, salish, and sioux. In California alone, there are twenty different language families, representing a greater diversity than that found throughout Europe. Seventeen more linguistic families can be found west of the Rocky Mountains, while the remaining twenty are found in the rest of the North American continent. According to the researchers, the 57 families are organized into six "macrofamilies" or groups: esquimal-aleutian, na-Dené, macro-algonquina, macrosio, aztec-tanoana and hokan. Some experts go further and suggest a single macrofilum, the "amerindian", which is the ancestor of all native languages. Although they have attempted to connect Indian with Asian languages, most experts believe that Indian is too theoretical.

The great diversity of languages was due in part to the geographical isolation of many peoples, which caused great disparities in dialects of the same root, as happened among the tsimshian, whose various dialects are incomprehensible to those who speak one of them. It is important to consider the possibility of multiple migrations from Asia at different times. But the constant movement of people across the continent was the most important cause. The languages of the peoples that have come as far away as the dogribs (from the Northwest Territories) and the Navajo and Apache (of the southwest of the U.S.), all speak Atapasco languages, can relate to each other.

In addition, there was a great deal of pollution between some languages and others. Each tribe adopted words from other tribes and from the white population.

Some words, such as tipi sioux, were integrated into the vocabulary of Indians and whites. Original terms, such as "powwow" and "caucus", were incorporated into American English. Many names of provinces, states, cities and geographical places in the United States and Canada have their Indian origins, such as Connecticut (which means "Long River"), Ontario (who means "Spainful Water") and Chicago (what means "Onion Field"). The development of free and hybrid languages for commercial and other purposes was due to linguistic contamination. The sign language of the prairie Indians was the most well-known lingua franca. On the northwest coast, traffickers used the "chinook jargon", a combination of European words and chinook.

English has completely overtaken many native languages today as a lingua franca. However, many languages are coming back to life, including some that were thought to be extinct, such as the gros-ventre, which was no longer spoken when ancient recordings were found in a museum; now, young gros-ventrers are learning their ancestral language. Many Indian schools teach the tribal language, and universities also include native language classes. For example, five Indian languages are taught at the University of Oklahoma.