VII - Arapaho

The Arapaho language is spoken by the Arapaho of Wyoming and Oklahoma, a Native American people. It is classified as a Plains Algonquian language and apart of the Algic family, which contain numerous Native American languages across North America. With around 1000 native speakers, Arapaho is categorized as a severely endangered language. Interestingly enough, there are two major bands of Arapaho: Northern and Southern Arapaho. The Arapaho Native Americans are currently promoting language revitalization among the younger members of their nation. The language has been taught in schools in Wyoming since the 1980s. Due to the history of poor linguistic and cultural preservation and appreciation in the United States, it is imperative to shed light on the bright languages like Arapaho that are often embedded into our everyday communities.

Geography

Northern Arapaho speakers live in the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, while Southern Arapaho speakers live alongside members of the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. Originally, they had lived in the Great Lakes region along the Mississippi River. However, they were soon pushed out by a mix of enemy tribes and white colonizers in 1680. As such, they have lived on the Great Plains, creating a close connection with the Cheyenne Native Americans.

History

Like many other Native American tribes, the Arapaho faced numerous challenges such as disease, colonization, and forced removal from their land. Interestingly, the language has also changed drastically; it is unlike its fellow Algonquian languages. Since WWII, revitalization of the Arapaho language has been pushed, but often produced limited results. Most, if not all, of the native speakers are above 60 years old, and children are predominantly being taught English instead of Arapaho.

Language

The Arapaho language have unique characteristics that are often uncommon. For instances, words cannot start with any of the four vowels; instead, a prothetic [h] is added. Amazingly, Arapaho has no open vowels (you can’t say AHHH!!). Additionally, Arapaho verbs are classified based on animacy and transitivity. Sentences have no predesignated word order.

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