The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Rosetta Stone teamed up last summer to create a resource for current and future generations to utilize to preserve and protect the Choctaw language. This ongoing collaboration is part of Rosetta Stone's Endangered Languages Program to combat the effects of assimilation in the U.S. and loss of Indigenous languages around the globe.
For the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, assimilation has shown itself in the decline of language speakers. Anjanette Williston, the tribe's language program director, is worried the Choctaw Nation is on the cusp of falling asleep.
"To see that our elders — they've aged," Williston said. "And then the younger generation, there's just not any younger people that really speak the language. So seeing that firsthand, teaching it, it's just like, 'Wow, this is really, we're here at the decline.'"
Like many other tribes across the country, COVID-19 took a devastating toll on fluent Choctaw language speakers. Williston estimated that it took the lives of about 75 elders, leaving about 300 fluent language speakers, all the more reason why a partnership with Rosetta Stone is needed now.
"In order for our language to continue long term, we're going to need anyone that is willing to learn the language to keep it spoken," Williston said. "Because our sovereignty is at risk without a language. … And so if it's not only our tribal members, but others that are willing to learn and keep it going for many generations to come."
Researchers estimate that almost half of the world's 7,000 languages are considered endangered.
Miranda Weinberg, the curriculum designer for the Endangered Languages program at Rosetta Stone, acknowledged that the statistics of declining Indigenous languages can be overwhelming. But her team is trying to leverage the resources they have, along with those of Indigenous communities, to reverse those trends.
"So what we can provide with Rosetta Stone language learning software is a way to amplify their voices," Weinberg said. "So that instead of teaching one classroom, their voices in audio recordings — their knowledge in the curriculum we've put together, their acting in videos — can all be used in many classrooms simultaneously, and it can be used in the future."
The new Rosetta Stone resource will build on the curriculum that the Choctaw Nation utilizes in public high schools on its reservation. For each lesson, there will be a video component — created by Choctaw Nation's media team — interwining the culture, said Weinberg.
"Most of those will follow a Choctaw family," Weinberg said. "So they'll be going to school. They'll be going to the Labor Day Festival in Tuskahoma. They'll be doing things as a family cooking wild onions. ... But as we do that, we'll be introducing Choctaw language vocabulary and culture and grammar concepts."
Weinberg said the partnership means that both the tribal nation and her team work closely together, and that the ultimate authorities on the language are members of the Choctaw Nation.
More information will be released about the new learning resource, Williston said, before its scheduled release date next June.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
