Contention I Native languages are becoming extinct and there is no support for the teachings of native languages Deidre d'Etremont, editor of Cultural Survival Quarterly stated in summer 2001 that languages are becoming extinct and there is no public support for native languages. "Native American languages are disappearing. In Oklahoma last year, only 127 Pawnee (six percent) spoke their Native language; all were elderly. Out of a population of 2,500, there were only five fluent speakers of Osage …showed first 75 words of 1201 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1201 total…youth are apparently looking for and finding in socially destructive gangs. . . . [One] characteristic that really makes a gang distinctive is the language they speak. If we could transfer the young people's loyalty back to our own tribes and families, we could restore the frayed social fabric of our reservations. We need to make our children see our languages and cultures as viable and just as valuable as anything they see on television, movies, or videos.