Post by Okwes on Jul 24, 2007 10:48:03 GMT -5
Okla. Indians Balk at English-Only Bill
By TIM TALLEY, Associated Press Writer
* OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation to make English the state's official
language has run into opposition from American Indians, who say their
native tongues are dying fast enough without any help from lawmakers.
As Oklahoma observes its centennial year, the English-only issue points
up divisions that persist more than a century after Indians were
forcibly marched to the region and then endured a series of land grabs.
Many of Oklahoma's 37 federally recognized tribes are fighting to save
their languages and cultures from extinction years after the end of
organized efforts to stamp them out.
Critics of the English-only Legislation point out that Oklahoma's very
name is formed from two Choctaw Indian words _ "okla" and "homma" _ that
mean "red man."
"If you go to English only, what are we going to call the state of
Oklahoma?" said Terry Ragan, director of the Choctaw Nation's language
program. "Even town names in the state will have to be named
differently."
Supporters of the legislation say it could end bilingual state
government documents, such as driver's license tests, and force
immigrants to learn English and assimilate into American society.
Advertisements English-only legislation has been adopted in 28 states
and measures are pending in 12 states, said Rob Toonkel, director of
communications for U.S. English, Inc. of Washington, D.C., an
interest-group that supports making English the nation's official
language. A similar measure has been filed in Congress.
The national English-only movement does not want to deprive American
Indians of their native languages but is aimed at standardizing
government documents into a single language as a symbol of unity for
immigrant populations, Toonkel said.
"It's very much an assimilation issue," he said. "We should make sure
they become part of the country."
But assimilation is a charged word for many American Indians, whose
ancestors were forced from their traditional lands and sent on the Trail
of Tears in the 19th century.
English-only restrictions were imposed in Indian Territory to expunge
tribal languages and culture, said Kirke Kickingbird, an Oklahoma City
attorney and member of the Kiowa tribe.
"That whole era was really about assimilation," he said.
Chad Smith, chief of the 250,000-member Cherokee Nation, the largest
American Indian tribe in the United States, said the state's image is
harmed when cultural differences are not embraced.
"There's a message sent to those outside of Oklahoma that we're
intolerant, we're colloquial and we want to isolate ourselves from the
rest of the world," Smith said.
"To our tribes it says that if there's an official language, your
language is secondary and all other languages are secondary," said
Smith, who has also criticized athletic teams using Indian mascots and
names.
Supporters point out that the legislation doesn't interfere with the
teaching or learning of American Indian languages. But critics said a
government policy could impede efforts to revive tribal languages.
The Intertribal Wordpath Society, a nonprofit group based in Norman,
estimates that only about 9,000 people are fluent in the Cherokee
language and 4,000 in the Choctaw language.
Fewer than a dozen people are fluent in other American Indian languages,
including those of the Osage, Pawnee and Chiricahua Apache tribes,
according to the group.
"We have absolutely nothing against English. It's great if people speak
English," said Alice Anderton, a former linguist at the University of
Oklahoma and executive director of the Intertribal Wordpath Society.
"But it's great if people speak English plus some other language of
heritage."