Mojave language

Mojave (also Mohave) is the native language of the Mohave people along the Colorado River in eastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Nevada. Approximately 70% of the speakers reside in Arizona, while approximately 30% reside in California.

Mojave belongs to the River branch of the Yuman language family, together with Quechan and Maricopa.

Language revitalization

As of 2012, The Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University "has facilitated workshops for both learners and speakers at the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation in northwest Arizona, California and Nevada. Fort Mojave has about 22 elders who speak some Mojave."^[2] The project is also bringing elders together with younger people to teach the traditional Mojave "bird songs."^[3]

The language preservation work of poet Natalie Diaz on the reservation was featured on the PBS News Hour in March 2012.^[4]

See also

• Mohave traditional narratives

References

• Hinton, Leanne. 1994. Flutes of Fire: Essays on California Indian Languages. Heyday Books, Berkeley, California.

External links

• Mojave language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
• OLAC resources in and about the Mohave language
• California Language Archive: "Mojave"
• World Atlas of Language Structures: Mojave
• Mojave basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Mohave Indian Language (Mojave)
• "The Cultural Conservancy - Mojave Creation Songs". Retrieved 2012-09-11. 
• "House of Night: The Lost Creation Songs of the Mohave People". Lost and Found Sound: The Stories. Retrieved 2012-09-11. 

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