American Indian Culture and Research Journal

During World War II, the United States Army Signal Corps enlisted the aid of Navajo and other native-speaking tribal members to use their native tongue in radio messages so that enemy forces could not understand or break the ”code” being used. The Navajo language was found to be so complex and so little known that it was ideal for use as a code. A ready supply of Navajos still spoke their native language and answered the nation’s call despite the educational system’s efforts to deny the importance of native language. This article explores the extent of English and non-English language use, ability, and understanding among American Indians and Alaska Natives as children and as adults adapting to a mono-English education system and the impacts of these factors on literacy levels and educational outcomes. Implications are drawn for bilingual educational programs and cultural transmission among Indian Americans. Specifically, early (primary school level) bilingual (English and traditional language) instruction is argued to be crucial for successful linguistic and cultural transition. Data collected as part of the first and only national survey of Indian adult education and literacy show that although one out of four adult Indians normally speak a non-English language to carry out their daily activities, only about 5 percent were able to use that non-English language in school. Currently, few teachers are capable of teaching in the traditional tongue. Nearly half of Indian Americans reported that as children they did not speak English, yet they were educated in schools that provided education solely in English. Regional differences in educational attainment and proficiency are described and compared among groups as graded by English language proficiency. These comparisons show conclusively that the failure of the educational system to provide primary-level bilingual education is a major barrier to educational success among American Indians and Alaska Natives, particularly those in the West. Viewed as countercultural and the result of intercultural paternalism, monolingual education delivered in English in the long term is shown to constitute a deprivation of culture due to the loss of the basic element of cultural transmission once so vital to these Americans, their languages and language skills. The article concludes with a discussion of the lack of funding for the 1990 Native American Languages Act and the need to develop, test, and implement appropriate programs at the local level that will provide effective education for American Indians who have been left behind solely because of the educational system’s failure to teach in their native tongue.