Editing Navajo language (section)

===Revitalization and current status===
In 1968, U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] signed the [[Bilingual Education Act]], which provided funds for educating young students who are not native English speakers. The Act had mainly been intended for Spanish-speaking children—particularly [[Mexican Americans]]—but it applied to all recognized linguistic minorities. Many Native American tribes seized the chance to establish their own bilingual education programs. However, qualified teachers who were fluent in Native languages were scarce, and these programs were largely unsuccessful.<ref name="Johansen Ritzker 422"/>

However, data collected in 1980 showed that 85 percent of Navajo first-graders were bilingual, compared to 62 percent of Navajo of all ages—early evidence of a resurgence of use of their traditional language among younger people.<ref>{{Harvnb|Koenig|2005|p=8}}</ref> In 1984, to counteract the language's historical decline, the [[Navajo Nation Council]] decreed that the Navajo language would be available and comprehensive for students of all grade levels in schools of the [[Navajo Nation]].<ref name="Johansen Ritzker 422"/> This effort was aided by the fact that, largely due to the work of Young and Morgan, Navajo is one of the best-documented Native American languages. In 1980 they published a monumental expansion of their work on the language, organized by word (first initial of vowel or consonant) in the pattern of English dictionaries, as requested by Navajo students. ''The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary'' also included a 400-page grammar, making it invaluable for both native speakers and students of the language. Particularly in its organization of verbs, it was oriented to Navajo speakers.<ref name="kari">{{cite journal |last1=Kari |first1=James |last2=Leer |first2=Jeff |title=Review of The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |date=1984 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=124–130 |doi=10.1086/465821 |jstor=1265203 }}</ref> They expanded this work again in 1987, with several significant additions, and this edition continues to be used as an important text.<ref name="hargus"/>

The Native American language education movement has been met with adversity, such as by English-only campaigns in some areas in the late 1990s. However, Navajo-immersion programs have cropped up across the Navajo Nation. Statistical evidence shows that Navajo-immersion students generally do better on [[standardized test]]s than their counterparts educated only in English. Some educators have remarked that students who know their native languages feel a sense of pride and identity validation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Johansen|Ritzker|2007|pp=423–424}}</ref> Since 1989, [[Diné College]], a Navajo tribal [[community college]], has offered an [[associate degree]] in the subject of Navajo.<ref>{{Harvnb|Young|Elinek|1996|p=376}}</ref> This program includes language, literature, culture, medical terminology, and teaching courses and produces the highest number of Navajo teachers of any institution in the United States. About 600 students attend per semester.<ref>{{Harvnb|Young|Elinek|1996|pp=377–385}}</ref> One major university that teaches classes in the Navajo language is [[Arizona State University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/05/03/learning-navajo-helps-students-connect-their-culture-154613?page=0%2C0|publisher=Indian Country (Today Media Network)|title=Learning Navajo Helps Students Connect to Their Culture|date=May 3, 2014|author=Arizona State University News|access-date=August 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520221150/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/05/03/learning-navajo-helps-students-connect-their-culture-154613?page=0%2C0|archive-date=May 20, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1992, Young and Morgan published another major work on Navajo: ''Analytical Lexicon of Navajo'', with the assistance of Sally Midgette (Navajo). This work is organized by [[root (linguistics)|root]], the basis of Athabaskan languages.<ref name="hargus"/>

A 1991 survey of 682 preschoolers on the Navajo Reservation [[Head Start program]] found that 54 percent were monolingual English speakers, 28 percent were bilingual in English and Navajo, and 18 percent spoke only Navajo. This study noted that while the preschool staff knew both languages, they spoke English to the children most of the time. In addition, most of the children's parents spoke to the children in English more often than in Navajo. The study concluded that the preschoolers were in "almost total immersion in English".<ref>{{Harvnb|Platero|Hinton|2001|pp=87–97}}</ref> An [[American Community Survey]] taken in 2011 found that 169,369 Americans spoke Navajo at home—0.3 percent of Americans whose primary home language was not English. Of primary Navajo speakers, 78.8 percent reported they spoke English "very well", a fairly high percentage overall but less than among other Americans speaking a different Native American language (85.4 percent). Navajo was the only Native American language afforded its own category in the survey; domestic Navajo speakers represented 46.4 percent of all domestic Native language speakers (only 195,407 Americans have a different home Native language).<ref name="census">{{cite web|title=Language Use|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf|publisher=Census.gov|date=August 2013|last=Ryan|first=Camille|access-date=August 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205101044/http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf|archive-date=February 5, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> As of July 2014, [[Ethnologue]] classes Navajo as "6b" (In Trouble), signifying that few, but some, parents teach the language to their offspring and that concerted efforts at revitalization could easily protect the language. Navajo had a high population for a language in this category.<ref>{{cite web|url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709015814/http://www.ethnologue.com/cloud/nav| url=http://www.ethnologue.com/cloud/nav|archive-date=July 9, 2014|access-date=August 7, 2014|title=Navajo in the Language Cloud|publisher=[[Ethnologue]]}}</ref> About half of all Navajo people live on Navajo Nation land, an area spanning parts of [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], and [[Utah]]; others are dispersed throughout the United States.<ref name="Minahan 2013 261">{{Harvnb|Minahan|2013|p=261}}</ref> Under tribal law, fluency in Navajo is mandatory for candidates to the office of the [[President of the Navajo Nation]].<ref>{{cite news|url = http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Language-factors-into-race-for-Navajo-president-5747493.php|title = Language factors into race for Navajo president|last = Fonseca|first = Felicia|date = September 11, 2014|newspaper = [[The Houston Chronicle]]|access-date = September 29, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140911172142/http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Language-factors-into-race-for-Navajo-president-5747493.php|archive-date = September 11, 2014|url-status = live}}</ref>

Both original and translated media have been produced in Navajo. The first works tended to be religious texts translated by missionaries, including the Bible. From 1943 to about 1957, the Navajo Agency of the BIA published ''[[Ádahooníłígíí]]'' ("Events"<ref name="McCarty2002">{{cite book|author=Teresa L. McCarty|title=A Place to Be Navajo: Rough Rock and the Struggle for Self-Determination in Indigenous Schooling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXmRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA51|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-65158-9|pages=51–|access-date=20 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624092859/https://books.google.com/books?id=lXmRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA51|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>), the first newspaper in Navajo and the only one to be written entirely in Navajo. It was edited by [[Robert W. Young]] and William Morgan, Sr. (Navajo). They had collaborated on ''The Navajo Language'', a major language dictionary published that same year, and continued to work on studying and documenting the language in major works for the next few decades.<ref name="hargus">{{cite journal |last1=Hargus |first1=Sharon |last2=Morgan |first2=William |title=Review of Analytical Lexicon of Navajo, William Morgan Sr. |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |date=1996 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=366–370 |jstor=30028936 }}</ref> Today an [[medium wave|AM]] radio station, [[KTNN]], broadcasts in Navajo and English, with programming including music and [[NFL]] games;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raiders.com/news/article-1/Raiders-vs-Lions-to-Be-Broadcast-in-Navajo/13181f15-456f-4e9f-bd12-e407cf95f0ed|publisher=[[Oakland Raiders|Raiders.com]]|title=Raiders vs Lions to be Broadcast in Navajo|date=December 14, 2011|access-date=August 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024211221/http://www.raiders.com/news/article-1/Raiders-vs-Lions-to-Be-Broadcast-in-Navajo/13181f15-456f-4e9f-bd12-e407cf95f0ed|archive-date=October 24, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> AM station [[KNDN (AM)|KNDN]] broadcasts only in Navajo.<ref name="CarlsbadCurrentArgus">{{cite web |last=Kane |first=Jenny |date=January 28, 2013 |title=Watching the ancient Navajo language develop in a modern culture |url=http://www.currentargus.com/ci_22462945 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713115618/http://www.currentargus.com/ci_22462945 |archive-date=July 13, 2014 |work=[[Carlsbad Current-Argus]] |location=Carlsbad, New Mexico |access-date=August 13, 2014}}</ref> When [[Super Bowl XXX]] was broadcast in Navajo in 1996, it was the first time a [[Super Bowl]] had been carried in a Native American language.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Super Bowl carried in Navajo language|journal=[[The Post and Courier]]|date=January 19, 1996|page=3B}}</ref> In 2013, the 1977 film ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' was translated into Navajo. It was the first major motion picture translated into any Native American language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/06/20/193496493/translated-into-navajo-star-wars-will-be|title=Translated Into Navajo, 'Star Wars' Will Be|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=June 20, 2013|last=Trudeau|first=Christine|access-date=August 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128053645/https://www.npr.org/2013/06/20/193496493/translated-into-navajo-star-wars-will-be|archive-date=November 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://navajotimes.com/news/2013/0713/070413starwars.php|title=Navajo Star Wars a crowd pleaser|work=[[Navajo Times]]|date=July 4, 2013|access-date=August 14, 2014|last=Silversmith|first=Shondiin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710050821/http://navajotimes.com/news/2013/0713/070413starwars.php|archive-date=July 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=Kiera |title=Dubbing 'Star Wars: A New Hope' into Navajo language |url=https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/09/17/preserving-the-force-of-navajo-language-dubbing-star-wars-a-new-hope/ |access-date=20 March 2025 |work=Cronkite News}}</ref>

On October 5, 2018, an early beta of a Navajo course was released on [[Duolingo]], a popular language learning app.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/course/nv/en/Learn-Navajo-Online|title=Duolingo|website=www.duolingo.com|access-date=2018-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006195217/https://www.duolingo.com/course/nv/en/Learn-Navajo-Online|archive-date=2018-10-06|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 30, 2024, Navajo Nation President [[Buu Nygren]], made Navajo language, the official language of [[Navajo Nation]] by signing legislation. He said “One of my priorities coming in as President has always been to make sure that we make Navajo cool again.” This is in order to promote the intergenerational preservation of the Navajo language within the Navajo Nation and intending to work in conjunction with the Diné Language Teachers Association to foster the utilization of the Navajo language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Native News Online |date=2024-12-30 |title=Diné Bizaad Becomes the Official Language of Navajo Nation |url=https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/dine-bizaad-becomes-the-official-language-of-navajo-nation |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Native News Online |language=en-GB}}</ref>