Governments used to be the “bad guys” in the language situation. During and after colonization, they tried to force their main language onto the native population which you can read about in the colonization section. They also thought that having only one language would benefit their position in the world especially for trade. They noticed that the people in a country with many languages were not able to communicate with each other. The imposition of a common language was meant to solve that problem. Unfortunately, the side effect of that was that the people in the villages lost their culture. Governments have recently started to make efforts to save the dying languages of the native peoples they used to oppress.

     In the USA, The Native American Languages Act was introduced in 1990. It states that the United States will “preserve, protect, and promote … Native American languages.” It also mentions that Native American languages should be encouraged, and education in these languages will be subsidized. The Los Angeles Times stated in 2000 that the federal Administration for Native Americans dispenses about $2 million in language grants to tribes every year.

     In British Columbia, a province of Canada, the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council (FPHLCC) was founded by the British Columbia government in 1990. Since then, it has given over $20 million to revitalize the arts, cultures and languages of the native people of British Columbia. They have worked with 59 languages so far.

     The government of Colombia requested help from Spanish Basque Country officials to help preserve a number of native Colombian languages that were being threatened. Other countries are working towards this cause as well. These include Sweden, Mexico, and many more. These are only a few examples of government action in preserving native languages. The government funding goes to recording dying languages and reestablishing them by education. Many countries now recognize the value of saving languages and are joining the fight to save these languages.

Sources:

“Colombian Government Tries to Preserve Native Languages.” ColombianReports.com. 20 May 2008.  Accessed 19 March 2009. <http://www.colombiareports.com /colombian-news/culture>

First Peoples’ Council. “About Us.” FPHLCC.ca. 2009.  Accessed 19 Mar. 2009. <http://www.fphlcc.ca/about-us>.

Hotz, Robert Lee. “Linguistic Potpourri.” Los Angeles Times Winter 2000. Accessed 19 Mar. 2009.  <http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/article004.html>

Native American Languages Act. Pub. L. 101 - 477. 30 Oct. 1990. Our World. CompuServe. Accessed 19 Mar. 2009.<http://ourworld.compuserve.c om/homepages/jWCRAWFORD/nala.htm>

Picture Source:

Jungle_Boy. “Tayrona Indians”. 16 June 2006.  Accessed 19 Mar. 2009. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_boy/168304687>
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