Language

“Language is breath that is given form by thought” (Kidwell & Velie 83). I really liked this quote from the text. The languages of American Indians primarily were spoken and that is how it got passed on to the next generation. I found it interesting to read about metaphors and how metaphors were used to tell lessons to others and also form a relationship between the self and inanimate objects. I think every culture has used metaphors. It is a great medium to try to get a point across that may be abstract or hard to relate to otherwise. I imagine that trying to translate the languages posed a problem and with the many metaphors that the American Indian languages used probably added to the confusion. Language is constantly changing and if it doesn’t get used often it gets lost. Many of the Native languages are being lost because the only people that speak it are the elders of the tribes. I hope that some people are doing what they can to preserve their language so that it doesn’t become lost.