Language Expounds Identity

Being a Native American Studies Major, I have immersed myself in the power of Native American culture, language, and tradition. As a member of the Navajo Nation and a First American of this country, I have finally realized how acculturated our Native people have come to be. We have colonized ourselves into the western perspective by implementing our culture to fit the american culture, we have performed a language shift from our own native language to the dominant one. My language, the Navajo language, is considered one of the most spoken languages in the country; however, it is one of the top languages that is titled for future extinction. Many Native scholars believe that language defines self-identity, that the language you speak defines who you are, as a person, as a human being, as a member of this society. The beauty of words used in Native tongue cannot be reiterated or translated into English form without recreating the English language itself. I would love to give you an example of what I am trying to explain; however, technology is still not formulated for such powerful language. I do not mean to downgrade the English language, for I have grown up with western perspectives since birth, and consider myself bilingual with English being my first language and Navajo being the second. I; however, believe that learning my Navajo language has opened doors to the native world view and has made me a better person, a better learner, and an intellectual speaker. I read a blog on progressiveU about how language defines your background from a more social perspective. I am sorry that I did not record your username after I read your blog, but I believe you made a comment that associates a person speaking with "bad grammar, and slang" as "coming from a poor background." I tend to disagree, I do not come from a poor background but rather an extremely fortunate one. I believe that my Native language has made me the person I am from an emotional perspective and should not define me from a social one. Language should not define anybody according to class, taking it a step forward, social class should not define any individual. We are who we are by the struggles we face, the family we have, the way we have molded ourselves, and not be the society we live in, the people around us, or the class that this society may put us in. We are all fortunate, and nobody should be defined as poor or unfortunate in this world.