American Indian Sign Language - How It All Started | Language

By JamesBeckett
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We probably have a lot of wrong information in our heads about how American Indians actually lived from the movies and TV. One thing that stands out of you watch a "western" is usually when an Indian shows up in a scene, he or she communicates to the other characters in a form of sign language and there is always an "Indian guide" or trapper who understands what was said and lets us in on it.

Of course now that we are trying to be more culturally sensitive, we recognize that old time western movies got it wrong a lot about Native American life as it really was. In this effort not to use such stereotypes, its easy also to think that the sign language scenes we remembered were also just made up for the sake of the movie to make Indians look exotic and a little scary.

But the truth is that the various Indian tribes that once thrived in the Plains of North American actually did use signing for specific reasons when the need arose. Now if you know a Native American today and have learned very much about their culture, each tribe has a well developed and sophisticated language all their own. And because the tribes of the North American plains lived relatively far from each other, it makes sense that their "dialects" were so far different that communications between the tribes could be difficult.

Another fact we know about the majority of Native American tribes is that they didn't very often stay in the same place year after year like we do now. They moved around to follow good hunting or to get away from bad weather, disease or other dangers to the tribe. And this nomadic behavior often brought different tribes in contact with each other. Contrary to what "the westerns" would have us believe, however, many times different tribes tried to work together and were not hostile as they tried to share important information that could be a big help to another tribe trying to get by in a sometimes hostile environment.

So in order to do some basic communications to get around the language barriers, a Native American sign language was developed so each tribe could speak to the other tribes when there was need for cooperation or negotiation. So when tribal leadership met to discuss territory issues or to learn from one another, this Native American sign language was about more than just saying hello. Being able to help one other was a vital way that all of the Native American tribes survived and prospered.

People who study history and language have determined that this Native American sign language was not just kept in reserve for when the tribes came across each other. It was refined and used quite a bit within tribal life to communicate important information when speaking was not possible such as when hunting for food or when spying on an enemy.

It's fun and enlightening to look back at another people in another time and see how they used sign language to live better lives in harmony with other tribes where possible and to live peaceful and prosperous lives just as we do today.

And a great thing about learning more about how important communications methods were used by Native Americans is it makes you a more intelligent friend if you meet or already know someone from this culture. And any time we can understand other cultures more, it makes us better people too.

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If you are looking to take American sign language classes then head over to http://www.AmericanSignLanguageOnline.com for more information.

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