A Polyghost Journey

The General Opinion

In total, only around 9% were in total support of white people learning a Native language, and around 4% were neutral. The remaining 87% had varying levels of concerns and discomfort.

The group that had concerns was further divided by their degree of discomfort:

Around 28% of all responses were firmly against white people learning their languages.

Around 17% of all responses also expressed extreme discomfort with white people learning, but they acknowledged certain circumstances they felt it could be okay.

Around 42% of all responses said they were mostly okay with white people learning, but they still had concerns and discomfort. Many people in this category also said they only were okay with it out of fear of the language dying out. Even if they felt white people could potentially help, they still felt extremely bitter and disliked it, especially since white people are the reason why the languages are in danger in the first place.

To contrast this with how respondents felt about other Indigenous people from different cultures learning their language, the results were around: 57% in total support, 24% mostly okay, 11% mostly against, 4% totally against, and again, 4% remained neutral.

Even people who did support white people learning Native languages, either fully or mostly, almost every single one expressed that they felt more comfortable with other Indigenous peoples learning them, as they would be more likely to respect the language.

These statistics by themselves mostly show that the general opinion is that of caution and unease around white people learning Native languages. Yet, as stated above and shown by the statistics, its not a clear cut yes or no. Now we will explore our more specific questions and results relating to those from the survey.

1) Which one are you interested in?

Since this portion focuses on trends within specific tribes, the responses from the 3 people who chose to not disclose their tribe is not considered. The 50 responses with tribes come from 25 tribes, though only a few are explicitly explained here.

The biggest group of responses came from Ojibwe / Anishinaabe people, with 10 responses total. Of those 10 responses, in reference to how they personally feel about white people learning, the results were: 6/10 mostly okay, 1/10 mostly against, 2/10 firmly against, and 1/10 neutral.

To contrast with this, when these same 10 Ojibwe / Anishinaabe people talked about how their tribe as a whole feels about white people learning their language, regardless if they agree or disagree, the results were: 1/10 totally okay, 2/10 mostly okay, 2/10 mostly against, 1/10 firmly against, 4/10 neutral or did not know.

Some important context for the Ojibwe / Anishinaabe case, is that they are one of, if not the, largest tribe north of Mexico. Despite having these numbers, it does not make the top 3 Native American languages in terms of reported number of speakers.

Which brings me to the next case study, Navajo, which is the Native American language in the U.S. with the most amount of speakers. This one is also an important case study because this language has something no other U.S. American Native language has: a Duolingo course. Albeit a very small one, it exists. 3 respondents were Navajo.

None of the 3 responses reported being totally okay with white people learning it, both in terms of personal feelings and from the tribe as a whole. One person reported both themselves and the tribe as a whole as firmly against it, one person felt more okay personally but said the tribe was more against, and one person was more neutrally aligned and believed it was best decided on a case by case basis. When discussing the Navajo experience of learning the language, all 3 expressed how while there are abundant resources, many of them are not adequate enough to actually teach the language properly, demonstrated by the extremely small Duolingo course and the inaccessibility of other resources. 2/3 respondents talked about how the language's history in WWII negatively contributed to white people's treatment of the language.

The final case study I want to highlight isn't so much one language, but the languages that people reported being firmly against outsiders learning. These are sorted by individuals not wanting white people to learn (I-W), individuals not wanting other Indigenous people to learn (I-O), responses saying the tribe is against white people learning (T-W), and responses saying the tribe is against other Indigenous people learning (T-O). Those tribes/languages are as follows:

Ojibwe: 2 (I-W), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

Michif: 2 (I-W)

Zapotec: 1 (I-W)

Nahua: 1 (I-W)

Washoe: 1 (I-W), 1 (I-O)

Cherokee: 1 (I-W)

Cree: 2 (I-W), 1 (T-W)

Blackfoot: 1 (I-W)

Mi'kmaw: 1 (I-W)

Navajo: 1 (I-W), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

Hopi: 1 (I-W), 1 (I-O), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

Oneida: 1 (I-W)

Taino: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

Lakota: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

Atikamekw: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

Paiute: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)

From these, only Hopi was expressed to be firmly against anyone who isn't Hopi learning it across the board, with Ojibwe and Navajo having firmly against in 3/4 opinion categories.

What I hope people have gotten from this section is that opinions deeply deeply vary. This does not mean that you should ask around until someone inevitably says yes, and then you go wild. It means that this is an on-going conversation that never ends, and that if you go through with it, you have to respect that many people are not going to be comfortable about it, and don't owe you anything. And if every single person you talk to says "no", perhaps that is a sign that you are better off finding other ways to involve yourself.

2) Why do you want to learn it?

The primary concern people had about white people learning their languages was motive. Within the survey, respondents were given the chance to discuss both good and bad motives for white people learning Native languages. The answers were very consistent across all responses, and all reported ones are listed here.

Reported bad motives include:

Colonial reasons like missionary work or anthropology

Just because they can, because they "like it", find it "fun", as it is an extensive of their white privilege to be able to learn these while actual Natives struggle to do so

Because they think its "exotic" and fetishize it

To falsely claim being Indigenous, to seem more like an ally without doing anything else, or just speak over Native people in general

Because they view it as a "challenge", to seem smarter/unique

Anything for a profit (teaching, for a brand, etc) - profit being either literal money, personal / social status, etc

Out of white guilt, as a way to try and get out of being held accountable for colonialism

Reported good motives include:

To communicate with Natives in their own language to displace usage of colonial languages like English, French, Spanish, etc

Learning for Native family members, romantic partners, friends, or if they have Native children to help ensure the child grows up speaking it

People invited to learn to do volunteer work / activism under the guidance of Natives and elders

Some motives had mixed views:

Learning the Native language of where you live. Those in favor viewed it as contributing to decolonizing by restoring that language's priority to the land. Those against viewed it as robbing opportunities from actual Natives to learn their own language and white people trying to "indigenize" themselves.

"Appreciating" the culture. Since appreciation and appropriation have such fine lines that white people readily cross often, this motive by itself can be a mixed bag.

Learning it as a person in power like a doctor, academic, lawyer, social worker, etc. Some say this can enable people to contribute and better support Natives, some think it will only further contribute to white people stealing our languages and making it harder for Natives to learn, or will enable white people in power to more easily abuse Natives.

Wanting to "save" the language. This topic will actually be explored in another post of mine in the future, so I won't say much on it now. To summarize it: Native languages thrive when Natives speak them, not when white people speak them.

From this section, the main thing to be considered is that Native languages cannot be treated like other languages, and mere "curiosity" isn't necessarily a compliment. The history white people have with them is not in the past, and these issues are very much still abound today. Bad motives for learning can be just as deadly as "ignoring" Native languages. Even in Europe, these motives paired with peoples' lack of literal interaction with Natives, can create an atmosphere of disrespect, even if unintentional.

3) How will you learn it?

Like motives, the respondents were given a chance to discuss both respectful methods of learning and disrespectful methods of learning. The good and bad reported reasons were mostly inverses of each other, and all responses could be sorted in 6 overarching answers of good/bad pairs.

Learning from Natives, and not white people. Any sources created by white people are inherently culturally inaccurate at best or outright colonialist and exploitative at worst. Any classes attended and resources consulted should be made and approved by the respective tribes.

Paying to learn, and not just using free sources. Considering that white people are the reason these languages are dying, many responses expressed that paying for the right to learn is the LEAST white people can do. Paying for education supports Native academics and communities, and shows respect, as using free resources just feeds into white entitlement.

Learning within a community, and not with other white people or by yourself. Many expressed that even if you buy a reputable textbook from a Native author, that isn't enough. Responses expressed that white people should be immersed within a Native community as they learn, since this is the only way to ensure they not only learn the language accurately, but so that they learn proper respect and cultural context. Many people did explicitly cite online programs like Duolingo as NOT being a good way for white people to learn. Even just learning with one Native friend is leagues better than self-study.

Learning in a way rooted in tradition, and not colonial values. By prioritizing oral usage, exploring cultural stories (that Natives choose to share willingly), and not pushing western concepts like standardization onto the languages, the languages are better respected and understood. As stated above, meeting this expectation requires connections to Native communities.

Learning with humility, and not prioritizing yourself. Not taking up limited space or copies of resources away from other Natives, not demanding to be taught more than what is shared, and being able to accept "no" as an answer is the bare minimum amount of respect and care.

Prioritizing decolonization over linguistic endeavors. White people who choose to learn a Native language should not only treat it as a fun language-learning hobby. Learning a language should be a secondary pursuit on top of the main cause of supporting and contributing to decolonization.

Much like the last section, a main thing to take away from this is that Native languages much be approached by white people in different ways than they might approach European languages. This section may particularly frustrate white people who are interested, especially if they feel they can't afford to pay for opportunities to learn. Yet working through that frustration, and putting in the work to learn in a respectful way, is necessary if one wants to be a good ally and to not assume a position of entitlement with these languages.

4) What will you do with your language knowledge?

This topic of debate does not end once you know some/much of the language. Assuming you learned a language with the right motives, and you learned in a respectful way, you now have the responsibility to not abuse and exploit what was given to you. And if those two assumptions were truly met, I would hope you don't want to abuse your knowledge! Much like the methods of learning, good/bad ways of using language knowledge formed inverse pairs. Response are summarized here:

Using it to give back to Natives, not white people. This isn't your new fun party trick to share with your white friends. If you reach a level of fluency, and then suddenly stop all engagement with the community and turn inward to your white circle, it was wasted on you.

Sharing with others when acceptable, not at your own discretion. Creating your own educational resources is not respectful, but sharing what you were given with other Natives of that tribe freely can be a way for you to use your privilege to give back. Many responses expressed that the primary time a white person should take on a position of "teaching" a Native language is if they have a Native child they are raising with it, and even then, they should always defer to their Native partner and their child's community to lead and guide that endeavor.

Integrating into the community, without taking on authority. As stated above, teaching of your own accord is not appropriate. If you are invited to help with teaching efforts, go for it! But in general, assuming the position of "language expert", correcting other Natives, and other such behaviors is never acceptable. That's not to say people can't make careers/livelihoods out of Native language advocacy - only to say that any such decisions should be made with and guided by connections to the respective community.

Letting it shape your understanding of the land, without claiming it as your own. Learning the original names for local landmarks, places, foods, and animals can help displace the normalcy of colonial-imposed languages. As always, language knowledge should motivate and guide people into activism for Natives in all areas, not just language-activism. And a major part of this is constantly checking yourself, your privilege, and unlearning every harmful notion taught by the colonial power. Having the honor to see the world in a new way can be a great tool for doing so.

The best way to summarize not only this section, but this entire grand topic as a whole, is that its not about a language. Its about healing a community, healing the land, and righting the wrongs of colonialism. For white people, their relationship to that endeavor is a very strong and very loaded one.