Black Buffalo Tipi

Walter McClintock Lantern Slide (undated)

C C License

Yale Collection of Western Americana

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

The following statistics were obtained from the web site Native Languages of the Americas.

• A'ananin (Gros Ventre) - spoken by only a handful of elders in Montana.
• Blackfoot (Siksika or Pikanii dialect) - spoken by 8000 people in northern Montana and southern Alberta.
• Cheyenne - spoken by about 1500 people in Montana and central Oklahoma.
• Crow (Apsaaloke or Absaroke) - spoken by more than 4000 people in Montana.
• Kootenai - a language isolate (unrelated to any other known language) is spoken by fewer than 100 people in Idaho.
• Nakoda or Nakota (Assiniboine) - spoken by about 200 people in Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
• Salish - the three dialects (Kalispel or Pend d'Oreille, Spokane, and Flathead or Salish) are spoken by about 200 people in Montana and Washington state.
• Sioux (Dakota or Lakota) - about 16,000 speakers in north-central United States and southern Canada.

Some statistics are more encouraging than others. But even if speakers number in the thousands, much of that knowledge is confined within the borders of tribal lands. Off-reservation Indians who would like to gain a fundamental familiarity with their native language can refer to published resources. View the Pronunciation Guides page to access links to resources for learning the languages.

The Office of Public Instruction issues a Class 7 license which permits non-teachers to teach their tribal languages in school settings. The qualifications are stipulated by each tribe. This is a positive first step by the state of Montana. (The Funding Opportunities page notes a positive first step by the Federal Government.) 

Connected with the Salish immersion school in Arlee is the Salish Language Revitalization Institute. Their web site offers links to resources and a downloadable font for reading Salish words on your computer.