Why dialects need their own attention
When people speak of saving “the Apache language,” they often imagine a single project with a single set of materials. In practice the work is local. A Western Apache community, a Mescalero community and a Jicarilla community each have their own speech, their own elders and their own priorities. Even within Western Apache, the speech of one area can differ from that of another in sounds, word choices and expressions. Material built for one community may not fit another well.
This is the reason Apache dialect revitalization programs tend to be run by the nations themselves, or in close partnership with them. A program in a particular community can use that community’s pronunciation, its place names and its stories, and it can answer to the people who speak the language every day. The recognized authorities on how a dialect should be taught are its own speakers and the nations’ language programs. This page offers a general description only, and not a guide to any one program.
Preserving dialects, not flattening them
Language programs face a real choice. A single standard form is easier to teach and to print in books, but it can erase local differences that speakers value. Many communities therefore teach the local dialect, even if that means producing more materials for smaller audiences.
This links to the question of how the varieties differ, which is described in the separate article on Apache dialect differences. For a revitalization program, those differences matter in practical ways: an elder may correct a learner’s pronunciation, or a word in a textbook may not match what people say locally. Treating dialects as worth keeping, rather than as errors, is one of the principles that most programs share.
Common approaches
Several models are in use across the Apache nations, often in combination.
Immersion
In an immersion setting, a classroom, camp or day program is conducted largely or wholly in the heritage language. Children, and sometimes adults, hear and use the language as a language of ordinary activity rather than as a subject. Some immersion efforts have been built around young children, on the view that early exposure matters. Others are short, intensive summer camps. The strength of the model is that it recreates conditions in which a language is acquired naturally. Its difficulty is that it depends on enough fluent speakers who are able and willing to teach, which is hard when the speakers are elderly.
Schools and classes
Many tribal and public schools on or near Apache lands offer language and culture classes. These range from a short weekly lesson to more substantial instruction. The topic of Apache language in schools is covered in its own article, as is the history of Apache bilingual education. A school program can reach a lot of children, but a weekly class cannot by itself produce fluent speakers; it works best alongside use at home and in the community. Some nations also support adult classes through their own education departments or through Apache tribal colleges and schools.
Master-apprentice programs
The master-apprentice approach pairs a fluent speaker, usually an elder, with a committed learner who is typically an adult. The pair spend many hours together on everyday tasks such as cooking, driving, gathering or visiting, using only the language. The model was developed in the context of Californian languages in the 1990s and has since been used for many Indigenous languages in different places. Its appeal is that it works with very few fluent speakers and passes language through relationships and not through a textbook. It demands a large time commitment from both partners.
Documentation and recording
Recording projects capture the speech of fluent speakers on audio and video, along with transcription and translation. Done well, this produces dictionaries, story collections and teaching tools that carry local forms. Documentation is not a replacement for living use, but it makes the knowledge available to later generations. The relationship to older records, such as the material discussed under early Apache language documentation, is that new recording is done with community oversight and community goals.
Resources that support the work
Some of these efforts draw on federal funds. The Native American Languages Act of 1990 set out a national policy to support the use and preservation of Native American languages, and a 2006 act named for a Tewa storyteller and language advocate created a grant program for language nests and survival schools. Whether and how a nation uses any outside funding is its own decision, and funding availability changes. This article does not give advice on grants or legal matters.
Challenges that remain
Language revitalization is slow and the results are uncertain. Common challenges include the following.
- A small and aging pool of fluent speakers. There are only so many hours that elders can teach.
- Competing demands. Families, teachers and tribal staff already carry heavy workloads.
- Different goals. Some want conversational fluency, others want ceremonial literacy, and others mainly want children to know the language and its sound.
- The pull of English. Media, work and school all use English, and a language needs real daily uses to survive.
- Sensitive knowledge. Not everything in a language is for public teaching, and programs must respect that limit.
Apache youth programs are one area where language is often combined with other activities, such as camps and mentoring, and where young people can see the language as part of present-day life and not as something old.
Why it matters
For many Apache people, keeping a dialect alive is about more than words. It preserves local knowledge, the stories that belong to particular places and the ways relatives address and honor one another. It also keeps a line of communication open between generations. Readers who want the current details of any program should consult the official website of the nation concerned, since programs, names and schedules change over time.