Welcome to Our Summer 2025 Issue

By Muriel Ammon

Celebrate Indigenous languages with News from Native California for our 2025 Summer Issue! Sincerest gratitudes to all who have supported language reclamation.

Language communities represented in this issue: Ajachemem, Cahuilla, Chahta, Chausila, Chetco River, Cherokee, Chiricahua Apache, Chumash, Dine, Hupa, Karuk, Kletwin, Konkow Maidu, Kumeyaay, Madesi, Mvskoke Etvlwv, Nahua, Nisenan Maidu, Nium, Paiute, Pit River, Puhtwin, Redwood Creek, Salinan, Southern Sierra Miwuk, Tarahumara, Tolowa, Tongva, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, Western Mono, Wintu, Wiyot, Yaqui, Yuki, Yurok, and Zapotec.

Our home is a richly linguistically diverse place. Over 80 languages are Indigenous to California, each special to a people and a place.

For a long time, California Indians spoke multiple languages – their own, their families’, their neighbors’. Not only did we speak several languages, we expressed ourselves with sophistication and thoughtfulness.

For over a century, Native communities have been advocating for their languages in the face of settler colonialism. Through innovation and collaboration, our ancestors stored our words, songs, stories, histories, and values within the archives of Kroeber, Goddard, Merriam, and the like. It’s the gift of a lifetime to see their names and hear their voices recorded. And several lifetimes’ worth of work to awaken.

Much exciting work is on the rise. Immersion schools, children’s literature, digital presence, community access, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and speaking in the home. This work takes great effort, resources, time, and gumption. Luckily, we have a strong foundation, thanks to the decades long efforts of the elders, apprentices, activists, and advocates before us.

Not long ago, our languages were labeled ‘critically endangered,’ ‘dying,’ and ‘extinct.’ But let’s be real, there is no limit to the possibilities of our language futures.

Enjoy our print issue and don’t forget to check out the fabulous digital submissions featured exclusively on our website. Titles linked below!

Ts’ehdiyah!

Featured Online:

Yurok Language at the Weitchpec Yurok Magnet School