OH Grant-Funded Programs

Event Details

The Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair at the Sam Noble Museum celebrates linguistic diversity and cultural heritage.  Language is the medium through which we form relationships, relate to each other, and express the human experience.  Native Americna languages and cultures, in particular, are a critical and often underrepresented part of our national fabric.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Oklahoma, home to 39 federally recognized tribes and with more Indigenous languages still spoken as a first language than any other state.  Oklahoma and the Southwest have been identified as a hotspot for language endangerment.  The Fair supports those working hard in this state to learn and reclaim their mother tongues, passing this vital knowledge from one generation to the next through song, speech, storytelling, writing, and artwork.