OKLAHOMA ( KFDX/KJTL ) — Language can be a powerful way of connecting with one another, our history, and our identity. That’s something that Native American tribes know well as they reconnect with languages that became lost.
Language is part of every culture worldwide, but for Native American tribes, words are more than just words.
Gordon Yellowman, tribal historian for the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes, explained that the native language of these tribes is alive in their culture and a big part of their identity.
“Cheyenne Arapaho language is very important because it’s one of the things that is part of our identity as Cheyenne people,” Yellowman said, repeating himself in the Cheyenne and Arapaho languages. “It’s part of our identity, our cultural and ceremonial way of life, and just the way we live.”
Unfortunately, the language was lost after the U.S. government created initiatives to run and support over 400 Native American boarding schools across the country from 1819 to 1969. The boarding schools had one purpose — to forcefully strip Native Americans of their culture and heritage, including their language, in an effort to “civilize” indigenous students.