North of Mexico, more than half of the surviving native languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers each. American author, Sherman Alexie, talks about his experience growing up on an Indian reservation. He was not taught the language of his heritage. An excerpt from his interview with NPR’s Terry Gross aired this past summer on their Fresh Air program. In the interview he tells of his experience in a community that has many problems. The people live in poverty and many families suffer problems that result from violence and alcohol. Alexie lived on the Spokane Reservation in Washington for Native Americans who were displaced by the US government.
Pressure to assimilate into mainstream society from an extant one can stem from within the community. The set of pressures like Sherman Alexie’s – inadequate medical care and inadequate schooling signify that a community is lacking in the resources. They may not have money or necessary skills. Social problems like alcoholism, and violent and property crime are linked very strongly to poverty. In communities that have chronic social problems, it usually signifies an absence of resources. Most Native Americans were denied the use of community land. This makes it impossible for them to maintain their cultural ways of making a living, so many societal problems have persisted on reservations.
Alexie’s assimilation experience is first-hand. He left the reservation for proper medical care and education. His experience is relevant today because it’s recent and it’s local: He was born in 1966 and was raised in Washington state. It illustrates that extant cultures in America continue to be marginalized and experience pressure to assimilate as indigenous communities do abroad. Alexie is a lauded author (American Book Award 1996, National Book Award 2007, PEN/Faulkner 2010) and speaks only English. His work includes themes of identity in cultures which have little of their heritage left which can contribute to a cultural identity.
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