Language Maintenance and Language Renewal among Cherokee People in Oklahoma.

There was a time in the Americas when many different languages were spoken by the diverse native peoples. This situation changed rapidly as waves of Europeans arrived, containing and controlling the native peoples, often forcing them to forfeit language and culture. Today remnants of some Native American tribes are striving to find ways to maintain or renew their own languages This paper explores some of the issues involved, and then focuses on efforts to maintain and renew Oklahoma Cherokee. (Author)