According to White (2006) of a peer-reviewed journal article of Studies in American Indian Literatures, the inability to speak Native American languages throughout the United States has created an evident divide between native family members showing a great loss of their community. Furthermore, this has been a continuity for many years as it has raised issues through its possible struggle to maintain culture. According to Paredez (2009), an established scholar on Latino cultural studies at the University of Texas, the bodies of Latin people were constantly celebrated in recent years in the United States due to rejection of the presence of their culture by surrounding cultures. This describes a connection to Native American difficulties as they struggle to maintain their language and culture to pass on to further generations in a social yet difficult environment. As reported by the peer-reviewed New Zealand Journal of History (2004), “History is the shaping of the past by those living in the present.” (p. 203), perhaps explaining that the understanding of cultural history is heavily influenced. This may imply that Native American language and history are taken through a variety of external forces which can cause difficulties in maintaining culture. As McCarty (2006) of the American Indian Quarterly clarifies that smaller languages of Native Americans are actively replaced with languages that have larger expansion and communication. Despite Native American languages still surviving, it is essential to realize that their current situation may not be ideal and is a major concern due to certain causes. This analysis leads to the question: To what extent have external influences contributed to the decline of Native American languages and affected their cultural history and identity? All in all, an exploration through the various governmental, social, and colonial points of views shows that it is highly necessary to address the causes of Native American language loss and the breakdown of identity and history. These recognitions will eventually bring more awareness towards the issue by explaining the impact the loss of languages has on Native Americans’ culture which could facilitate further action.

Starting from a governmental point of view, governmental policies may have slightly varied effects on the loss of language and culture of different Native Americans in the United States but overall, they all experience a significant impact. White (2006) of the peer-reviewed journal, American Indian Quarterly, states “Only within the last quarter of the twentieth century have the Canadian and American governments implemented efforts to address the problem of reversing language shift among its Indigenous people.” (p. 91). This explains that the lack of effort by the US government to create appropriate policies to keep from declined usage of Native American languages has further damaged their cultural identity and history. Further adding on, Romero-Little et al. (2007) of Tesol Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal, asserts that the government have been placing policies within Native American schools to decrease the use of native languages. This describes that the government takes part in creating a difficult environment for Natives in which they can’t preserve their culture because their language is crucial for growth. On the other hand, Beaulieu (2008) of the peer-reviewed Journal of American Indian Education, disagrees by indicating, “The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006, and a significant national effort to ensure that the use of native languages and cultural knowledge in the education of Native Americans is truly supported and sustained through the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.” (p. 11). Beaulieu explains that the US government is providing all the proper programs possible for the personal growth of Native Americans and that they solely require cooperation. Adding on to the previous point of view, programs such as the Native American Languages Act and the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act that were passed by the US government in recent years, have aided to boost and support revitalization of Native American languages which has been shown as incredibly effective in maintaining culture (Warhol, 2012). Despite these opposing views, Nagle (2019) of High Country News, a non-profit organization, expands on the perspectives of White and Romero-Little et al. by describing, “Whatever the debt may be, the U.S. is far away from providing the funding to tribes necessary to prevent a wave of language extinction. Instead, tribes are competing with each other for funding that is a mere fraction of what the U.S. was willing to pay for their possible eradication.” (par. 23). This means that rather than the government helping to calm the situation down and smoothly operate the revitalization of Native American languages, they are doing the opposite by creating an inefficient system which causes conflicts between different tribes for economic support and doesn’t make progress towards the true issue of maintaining local cultures. Expanding on the previous claim, as reported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (2023), an official United Stated federal agency, the federal boarding school system for Native American children has limited the use of cultural languages and therefore the US government is causing cultural distress and suffocation. Although some believe that modern governmental policy measures have been assisting the steady growth of Native American languages, the general impact of strategies and approaches from the past and present have been shown to be overwhelmingly injurious. As mentioned before, due to the ineffective government techniques that were placed there has been an inconsistent distribution of financial services, unavailability for thorough collaboration within local tribes, and most-importantly the continuity of the suppression of Native American languages across the United States. After gathering the information given, it is reasonable to state that numerous factors, including the repression of languages resulting from the US government have led to major harm on the conservation of Native American traditions. 

Moving on to a colonial viewpoint of the issue at hand, past colonization of Native Americans has had complex effects, but led to a continuity of Native American language and culture loss after each generation. As described by Binney (2004) of the peer-reviewed New Zealand Journal of History, “It is only relatively recently that Western-trained historians have come to realize that they have been perpetuating colonialist attitudes in their so-called objective histories.” (p. 204). This confirms that European colonizers and people who created difficulties for the Indigenous only had their personal benefits in mind when settling which could have detrimental effects. This may very well be hinting at the situation between Native Americans and colonizers, primarily consisting of regular language loss, leading to a loss of cultural identity. Further validating the issue, Mifflin (2009) of The American Archivist, a peer-reviewed journal, indicates, “External pressures from colonists and internal dynamics within Native American cultures resulted instead in a redefinition of Native communities, modification of loyalties, new networks among Native Americans, and readjustments to Native identities.” (p. 345). Describing that imperial forces and their strict policies of assimilation within the society entirely reduced the use of Native American traditions and most importantly languages. However, as reported by Tadili and Koumachi (2024) of the peer-reviewed International Journal of Advanced Research in Innovation, Management & Social Sciences, although there was some native language loss that occurred due to the colonization of other nations, overall, there were minimal effects and the colonists’ reasons were justifiable due to their desires for integration in colonies. Though they argue against colonizers causing havoc for Native Americans, it can still be found that language and culture loss is occurring to a certain extent across the nation. This point is further illustrated by Sayedayn (2021) of a long standing historical foundation, the John Dewey Society, who explains that colonization had a minor number of negative consequences towards the downfall of Native American languages and instead influenced their own culture onto the local society in alternate ways. Even so, as previously mentioned by Binney and Mifflin, the migration and settling of colonizers itself forces exposure of Native Americans to foreigners which in turn, naturally generates the collapse of native languages and the loss of culture due to harsh policies. Regardless of the conflicting opinions, Harvey and Rivett (2017) of the peer-reviewed journal, Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, turn them down by reporting, “In some places, over time, new forms of linguistic intermixture arose, as Natives adapted the words of the newcomers into their own languages.” (p. 451). They explain that through imperialization by outside powers, not only did Native Americans lose pieces of their own traditional languages which may still have lasting effects, they also blended with various external languages which caused more significant depletion of native language use, resulting in the loss of personal history and identity. Mandewo (2021) of The Indigenous Organization acknowledges the previous point as they finalize the matter by describing, “Legislation like the Indian Act that forbade the expression of culture further suppressed indigenous languages.” (par. 2). Mandewo further clarifies the problem by providing an example of colonial policies which heavily restricted any cultural displays and included the use of native languages. After reviewing these pieces of evidence, it is clear that constant restraint of Native American languages due to severe foreign colonization has seriously damaged the continued protection of native lifestyles, resulting in the persisting loss of linguistic and cultural traditions.

Lastly shifting to the social aspect of the matter in question, globalization within the current world may have differing affects for certain Native American tribes, but overall, has a large impact on Native American languages as they dissipate and eventually remove most cultural histories and identities of natives across the United States. This can be found, as Ahlers (2006) of the peer-reviewed Journal of Linguistic Anthropology explains, that for many Native Americans, the use of the English language for self-expression is extremely complicated due to its ties to dominant culture in the region, which is causing native language use to not properly represent the wider identities of Native Americans. This point can further be expanded on by Lutz (2007) of Cultural Survival, a nonprofit organization focusing on Native American rights, as they address that natives did not start to naturally lose their languages by themselves but instead, they are taken away by people of other cultures who reside in the United States due to their belief in assimilation and benefits it could provide which don’t justify the negative outcomes. Conversely, Pinsky (2012) of the University of Maryland Department of English, argues against this perspective by stating, “As language is the primary means of communication between humans, the adoption of a common language is central to cooperation between ethnic groups in the domestic sphere, and between nations in the international sphere.” (par. 1). This describes that the use of one largely globalized language is essential due to the number of benefits it may provide such as fostering collaboration and boosting development. Adding on to this position, as reported by an accredited association of many universities, International Language Centers, a primary language such as English that is used in every region is largely beneficial because it can be used for many purposes such as business and technology which ignites further collaboration to reveal new opportunities. However, this may not consider the harm that would be done to the maintenance of Native American languages which could sever the cultural identity and history of many native people. While there may be some benefits for a sole global language, this is overridden as Ricento (2010) of a scholarly publication, The Handbook of Language and Globalization, explains that even if it may seem that Native Americans should simply skip learning traditional languages because it is more realistic for lasting in the current social atmosphere, it is a crucial part of their identity and history which may cause severe personal toll and the absence of expression if lost forever. Through these pieces of information, it can be found that globalization may have minimal benefits but ultimately destroy the language and eventually the culture of Native Americans.

To conclude, the central problem regarding the loss of Native American languages has undoubtedly been the harsh impact on how well Native Americans can express their identity and if they are capable of maintaining history and tradition. Furthermore, factors such as the governmental policies that the US government places, strict colonial reforms made by outside powers, and push for globalization of dominant languages through various techniques continue to negatively affect the Native American population and the conservation of their culture. There are currently minimal programs to support the revitalization of native languages across the United States but as the issue and its causes are increasingly addressed and recognized by the government and strong organizations, the Native American language will gradually be revived and their culture preserved.

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