[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 14, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1240-E1241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                APACHE LANGUAGE KEY TO CULTURE'S SURVIVAL

                                 ______


                             HON. ED PASTOR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 1995
  Mr. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, there are fewer eloquent leaders in Arizona, 
or the Nation, than Chairman Ronnie Lupe of the White 
[[Page E1241]] Mountain Apache Tribe. Time and again Chairman Lupe has 
seized the attention of a large crowd in a busy meeting with his 
passion and spirit as he speaks of his Apache people and their 
heritage.
  Mr. Speaker, Chairman Lupe's eloquence is not confined to the English 
language. He is as eloquent and as forceful in his sacred Apache 
language as well.
  In a recent article published in the newspaper ``Indian Country 
Today'', Chairman Lupe writes of the threats posed by today's cultural 
influences on native America languages.
  I would call the attention of all my colleagues to this excellent and 
forceful article:
                    [From the Indian Country Today]

               Apache Language Key to Culture's Survival

                             (By Ron Lupe)

       A recent article in the Arizona Republic rekindled my deep 
     concern about the preservation of our Apache language.
       This article, which reported on a meeting of linguists, 
     said that in the opinion of the experts, half of all spoken 
     languages will become extinct in the next century. It further 
     stated that there are currently 6,000 languages spoken in the 
     world, but in the next 100 years half of them will become 
     extinct.
       The thought of the possibility that our sacred Apache 
     language could be among those that become extinct was truly 
     upsetting. To me, that is thinking the impossible. Not only 
     would it mean an end to our spoken language, but it would be 
     the demise of the cultural richness we reflect in our Apache 
     language and express in our prayers.
       Who would we be without our language?
       Yet, as I go around our reservation, I hear fewer and fewer 
     of our younger children speaking Apache. I see less emphasis 
     on the speaking of our language in our homes. And while the 
     recent efforts of the school district to incorporate the 
     teaching of the Apache language in the lower grades is 
     commendable, I'm afraid that alone will not be enough to 
     reverse these trends.
       According to the newspaper report, the culprits in the 
     extinction of Native languages are no longer official 
     government policies, as it was back in the boarding school 
     and early reservation days.
       Rather, it's the pervasive influence of the electronic 
     media. The ever-present television, the videos, the music 
     tapes and CDs and all of the other media influences that come 
     to us in the dominant English language are having a 
     destructive effect on the survival of Native languages.
       The trend is true not only for the White Mountain Apache 
     but for people all around the world. The influence of the 
     modern electronic media is powerful and we see it operating 
     on our own lives, as well as the lives of our children and 
     our grandchildren.
       It will take an extraordinary effort to counteract the 
     dominating influences that are undermining the preservation 
     of our Apache language.
       It's interesting that the federal government will go to 
     great lengths to protect endangered species like the loach 
     minnow or small plants and insects, and yet it does very 
     little to preserve the Native languages that exist within the 
     United States.
       It's a sad commentary on federal policies that plant and 
     insect life have a higher priority with our government than 
     the Native languages, which are capable of capturing and 
     reflecting so much cultural beauty and diversity.
       The same newspaper article reported on an 80-year-old Promo 
     woman from California who recently died.
       She was the last Native speaker of her tribe's language.
       What a tragedy! We must work hard to see that similar 
     tragedies never happen to our people and our Apache language, 
     which reflects so much of the beauty and richness of our 
     culture and traditions.
       Another article on the same page reported on recent 
     research findings showing that languages are best learned 
     when an individual is young. Research has shown that as we 
     get older, we lose the ability to learn languages. Experts 
     feel that the best time to learn languages is between the 
     ages of two and 12.
       It's clear that we must concentrate on instilling the 
     Apache language in our very young. That means there has to be 
     a concerted effort in the home, at Head Start and the lower 
     grades. And, it is in the home where the greatest influence 
     on the acquiring of the Apache language will take place.
       If the ability to speak Apache is important to the parent, 
     it is likely that it will be important to their children. 
     Apache parents need to know that they have a responsibility 
     to pass on our rich cultural heritage to their children, and 
     that the future of the Apache language truly depends on them.
       Likewise, it should be the role of our tribal government to 
     try to reinforce and emphasize--to our youngsters and other 
     tribal members--the importance of learning our Apache 
     language.
       Such efforts can only supplement what the child is exposed 
     to at home and with his friends. Despite the formidable 
     obstacles, we must continue our efforts to keep our Apache 
     language as a vibrant and vital part of our everyday life. 
     That's why the recently adopted constitution included 
     provisions requiring tribal council members to be fluent in 
     our language. This was done to insure that our special Apache 
     way of looking at the world, as reflected in our Apache 
     language, is maintained in our governmental decision-making 
     processes.
       There were times when we were discriminated against by 
     government agencies and schools for speaking our own Apache 
     language. We were considered second-class citizens if we 
     chose to speak our Apache language, rather than English. To a 
     great extent, this cruel psychological attack from the 
     government and others was successful.
       Even today, there is legislation in Arizona and other 
     states designed to embarrass other nationalities who speak 
     their own language and to establish English as the only 
     ``official'' language of the United States. Such 
     discrimination will undermine our bi-lingual education 
     efforts.
       While we still have a majority of our tribal members 
     speaking our Apache language, we must do all that we can to 
     insure that our language is preserved and transmitted to 
     future generations of the White Mountain Apache.
     

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