![]() It has been more than a generation since Comanche was spoken as a family language, and it is difficult. ![]() As a teacher recited the words for the numbers 1 to 10 in Comanche, the group repeated them and wrote them down. "We tell these parents to follow their little ones around and expose them to as much Comanche as possible," said Ronald Red Elk, a leader of the CLCPC.Īt the school in Walters, the group of students represented a generational cross-section of the tribe, from young children to their parents and two elders. The group has also taught the language to some families, even going as far as to give financial incentives for some to teach their children Comanche. The Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee (CLCPC) has created a dictionary, developed language courses and CDs of Comanche songs and holds annual courses in five Oklahoma towns in which large numbers of Comanche live. In Oklahoma, the 14,000-strong Comanche people, who little more than a century ago were rulers of the Great Plains, are trying to pull back their language from the brink. Most people think of trying to save exotic languages as something that happens in Africa or South American jungles. To many Americans, the development comes as a surprise. Tribal colleges from South Dakota to Michigan to Minnesota are doing courses in Indian languages. In Wyoming, the Arapaho tribe have set up a school to educate their children in their native language, not English. ![]() ![]() Efforts range from college courses and immersion schools for young people to simply recording the languages before the last native speakers die. Across America, similar scenes are being played out as Native American tribes try to revive their languages, many of which are on the edge of extinction. ![]()
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