Keeping a language alive

Speaking one’s native language is more than just a way of communication; it is a matter of maintaining culture. It is our best resource for staying connected to our history and where we come from. When we learn to speak the language that our ancestors spoke, we are connecting to them and keeping their traditions alive. Sadly, for the Crow Indian tribe and many other tribes, their native language is beginning to die out. What can we do to preserve such a rich and beautiful language and keep it from being forgotten?

Thanks to advancements in technology and the popularity of apps and smartphones, we can now make learning new languages easier and prevent them from being forgotten. The Crow Language Consortium, in partnership with the Crow Indian Tribe, The Language Conservancy and Little Big Horn College, are taking advantage of these technological advances with the Crow Language app.

Boasting over 10,000 entries and audio files recorded by Crow speakers, the Crow Language app is ready for launch after four years of development. There is still a desire to learn Crow Language amongst younger members of the Crow people, but unless it is something learned throughout childhood by speaking with other family members, the chances of speaking it fluently, and therefore preserving it are small. According to their press release since the ’60s, the fluency rate has dropped from 85% to less than 20% today. However, thanks to the efforts of the Crow people and partners, the Crow language can make a recovery.

Janine Pease is the project manager of the program. She stated that “the Crow people have been waiting for an app like this for years. We are so pleased that this finally happened. We know that young learners of Crow will find this an indispensable resource for their learning.”

Having such a beautiful and scarce language at your fingertips is a promising and progressive step toward preserving the Crow Indian language. The Language Conservancy will host an app launch event virtually through Zoom on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 1 p.m. MST and it will be open to the public at https://zoom.us/j/92107670641.