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Native Foods and Language

Buffalo berries represent an integral part of the complex traditional Plains Indian food cultures. As a reliable, durable staple whose traditional uses continue to be practiced by several tribes, their use stands as a representation of intact traditional knowledge. Inextricably linked to traditional food knowledge are the languages that define and contextualize that knowledge. Indigenous languages are disappearing from tribal communities across North America. With that disappearance goes also the embedded understandings and meaning that are unique in any language. Currently it is estimated that out of the hundreds of languages spoken in pre-colonial North America, 194 remain. Out of these, 33 are spoken by both adults and children, 34 only by adults with few children, 73 mostly by adults over the age of 50, and 49 only by people over 70. As food systems and ways of knowing shift within tribal communities in response to this loss, the need for language revitalization has arisen. The means of doing so in relation to the preservation of food knowledge is a complex issue. While there has been much academic theorizing on how this may be done effectively, experience with tribal language revitalization programs such as that of the Navajo Language Academy have suggested that ultimately it is a tribal decision to incite this process.