The Native Americans of the USA’s Southwest include diverse tribes, and each has its own language. Maintaining links to their own people and culture is as important as it has ever been for the local Native nations and tribes.
The “Southwest” incorporates most of New Mexico and Arizona. It also encompasses northern Mexico. The Native Americans of this region (Navajo/Diné, Hopi, Zuni, Apache, Mojave, and others) speak an array of indigenous languages derived from language families including Athabaskan, Uto-Aztecan, and others.
Native languages are not just intrinsic to culture; they are a means of communicating with the Creator and ancestors during prayer.
Navajo Language
t’ááłá’íí éí naashá – the sun is shining
Also known as Diné Bizaad (“the people’s language”), the Navajo language is spoken today by around 175,000 people and is the most widely spoken Indigenous language on the continent north of the US-Mexico border. Navajo speakers represent almost 47% of all domestic US Native language speakers.
Navajo is a member of the Athabaskan language family (originating in the far north of the American continent), closely related to Western Apache and related to more than 40 other languages native to the Western US and Canada. Navajo is widely understood by and among all other Apachean languages. (The Navajo as a tribe separated from the Apache 600-800 years ago). This language family is distinct from other Amerindian languages, and they bear an affinity with the languages of East Asia; specifically, the same word and pronunciation can be given an entirely different meaning depending on the tone with which it is used.
Navajo is incredibly difficult for outsiders to learn unless exposed to it from early childhood. Not traditionally a written language (as with most indigenous American languages), Navajo has 33 consonants and 12 vowel sounds. Tone, length, pitch, and nasality in speech are critical to the language.
Written Navajo today is based on the Latin/Roman alphabet (as it is for English). There are few words taken from other languages. Translated and original media have been produced in Navajo, beginning with the Bible (translated by missionaries), to the first entirely Navajo newspaper between 1943 and 1957, to today’s Navajo course on the popular language lessons app Duolingo.
Language is an extremely important aspect of culture to the Navajo and it was legislated as the official language of the Navajo Nation in December 2024. Extensive language and Navajo immersion programs within the Navajo Nation help to support an ongoing healthy speaker base for this language and to preserve it for generations to come. It is an “open” Native language; the tribe welcomes others to learn their language.
To English speakers, Navajo is characterized by distinctive clicking sounds, long consonant sounds, nasal vowels, glottal stops, and having a melodic quality.
Hopi Language
tawa'niyukw – the moon is gleaming
Hopi (Hopilavayi or “Hard Talk”) is one of thirty Uto-Aztecan languages and is spoken by the Hopi Tribe. This language family is derived from a common ancestry between the Ute language of Northern Utah and the Aztecan (Nahuan) languages of Mexico. Its use and knowledge thereof declined alarmingly over the past century, however, bilingual education programs in Arizona strive to encourage and provide Hopi children with their native tongue as their first language. Today it’s estimated that there are around 7000 fluent Native Hopi speakers.
Hopi has also traditionally been used by its speakers as the communication language with the Zuni.
There are four different Hopi dialects based on specific village locations:
· First Mesa or Polacca
· Mishongnovi or Toreva (Musangnuve'e Hopilàvayi)
· Shipaulovi or Sipaulovi
· Third Mesa or Oraibi (Orayvit Hopilàvayi)
Hopi has 6 basic vowels and different numbers of consonants based on dialect.
Hopi language uniquely expresses time and space concepts. There is no specific corresponding word for “time”, the passing of time is not expressed as it is in English, yet events that happen at a physical distance are described as occurring in the distant past. Where English distinguishes past from non-past in terms of tense, Hopi distinguishes future from non-future.
Like Navajo, Hopi was traditionally not written, and today it uses the Latin/Roman alphabet. Unlike Navajo, Hopi has borrowed several “loanwords” from other languages.
To English speakers, Hopi is described as sounding unique, with a mix of nasal sounds, soft guttural sounds, and vowel emphasis.
Zuni Language
na'kya'na k'yak'ya – life is beautiful
The Zuni language is spoken by the Zuni people, who are a Pueblo Tribe indigenous to Eastern Arizona-Western New Mexico. It has been preserved for more than 7,000 years and is spoken today by more than 9,500 people, including many children, and it is not as endangered as a lot of other native languages.
Referred to by the Zuni as Shiwi’ma (“Zuni way”), Zuni is a unique language isolate. This means that it has no known or demonstrable relationship with any other language.
(Other language isolates include Basque in Spain/France, Kanoe in Brazil, Ainu in Japan, Tiwi in Australia, and Sandawe in Tanzania).
Zuni language does share some similar features with Hopi, Tanoan, and Navajo (to a lesser extent), and it has borrowed several words from the Hopi, O’odham, Pima and Keres languages to describe religious ceremonies and observances.
The language has 16 consonants and 5 vowels, and uses overt first-person “I”, “we” and second-person “you” pronouns, but does not use “he”, “she”, or “they” pronouns. It is taught in primary schools in the Zuni Pueblo and the Latin/Roman alphabet is used to write it. The alphabet shares the same letters as the English alphabet excluding F, G, J, Q, R, V, and Z. Additional letters correspond with kw, sh, and ts.
To English speakers, Zuni is described as sounding breathy and is characterized by many pauses that in themselves convey meaning.
Final Thoughts
Preserving Native American languages is crucial for cultural identity, historical continuity, and linguistic diversity – and languages including Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni carry the wisdom, traditions, and worldviews of these wonderful communities, nurturing their deep connection to ancestors and land.
Supporting language programs and these communities in other ways helps to strengthen community bonds and enhance self-esteem among Native Americans, especially youth. Learning their languages offers unique insights into traditional knowledge, storytelling, culture, and philosophy.
Without preservation, invaluable knowledge and traditions risk being lost forever. Supporting Native Americans and their spoken languages ensures that future generations inherit and celebrate their rich cultural legacy.
Purchasing Native American jewelry and blankets at Indian Traders helps support these Native artisans and their communities.