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Language : A Key Element Essay

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Language: a key element to any society. Inside of a language there is a whole network of stories, living tales that pass through generations of families, a rich history that cannot be destroyed, only forgotten. The language, the structure of a society, is dissipating into the past. Communication, the glue which holds a society together, is being lost to the diminishing numbers of Native Americans due to the influence of colonization and government policies. Endangerment of languages exist across North America and continues to be a problem, risking the cultural diversity that the world is composed of. These cultures are struggling to keep their story alive and they must be maintained and encouraged to grow.
One of the most prominent Native American tribes in the United States are the Cherokee Indians. Originally they had a vast territory of land stretching from the Midwest, reaching its boundaries from the Appalachian Mountains to the present day Atlanta, Georgia (Thornton). The word “Cherokee” is derived from a Creek word meaning “people of a different language” (Miller, J). Their language is more properly known as Tsalagi: An Iroquoian language with syllables invented by a native Cherokee (“Native Languages…”). With a staggering estimated population of 370,000 there are only currently 22,000 people that people speak Tsalagi. The number of people learning the Cherokee language has dropped from 75% to almost 5%. (“Native Languages…”). At this rate Tsalagi will soon die out as

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