A member of any indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America, especially those indigenous to what is now the United States
Heritage/Mother Tongue Languages
Mother tongues are the language one typically learns first and can hold strong spiritual connections for Native Americans
Heritage tongue is when someone is raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken
Language Endangerment
The idea that as a language and the members who remain speaking it get older, it has the potential to die out or become “extinct”
Indigenous Languages
The many different languages that different groups of indigenous peoples across the United States speak or have spoken in the past
Language Revitalization
Efforts across the United States to “revitalize” an endangered language and decrease its risk of becoming extinct
To bring back the language and culture that have been lost over the years in indigenous communities
Sovereignty
Self rule
A vision of Native American societies as autonomous cultures, part of the modern world but holding their traditions, able to work as equals with non-tribal governments