After the traumatic experiences brought by the European arrival to North America, Chikashshanompa’ experienced years of decline.  As the Chickasaws interacted more with Europeans, many Chickasaw people became bilingual.  However, as the years went on, more and more Chickasaws became monolingual, with English being their only language.  Chickasaw parents were not always willing to share the Chickasaw language with their children.  The prevailing attitude of the time was that those parents wanted their children to be successful in a white man’s world.  The parents felt like emphasizing the use of English would only help their children (Chew, 2016; Hinson, 2019; Ozbolt, 2014).

For the generation of Chickasaws born in the early 1900s, it weas common for parents to believe they were doing their children a disservice by teaching them Chikashshanompa’.  In the 1940s, a few children were still learning Chikashshanompa’ as a first language, but not many.  By the 1950s, very few children were growing up speaking Chikashshanompa’.  Beginning in the 1960s, Chickasaw people began to become cognizant of the fact that the future of Chikashshanompa’ was questionable (Ozbolt, 2014).

It was because of this uncertain future that Governor Overton James of the Chickasaw Nation urged his mother, Vinnie May Humes, and his stepfather, Jesse Humes, to create the first Chickasaw Dictionary.  Fearing the loss of Chikashshanompa’, Mr. and Mrs. Humes set out to preserve their language in written form (Humes, 1973).  This was the first time Chikashshanompa’ had been written down and the book A Chickasaw Dictionary became a very useful tool in the preservation of the language.  As neither Mr. nor Mrs. Humes were linguists, they wrote down the words phonetically, with the hopes of helping non-speakers pronounce the words correctly (Humes, 1973).  The Humes dictionary contains a number of words not commonly used today (Munro and Wilmond, 2008).

In addition to the Humes dictionary, early learners of Chikashshanompa’ also had access to recordings of both the Chickasaw and Choctaw languages that had been made by missionaries in the 1800s.  The missionaries were dedicated to learning the Choctaw language, and to a much smaller degree the Chickasaw language, so that they could preach to and convert tribal members.  In fact, the missionaries developed a system for writing the Choctaw language which is very similar to what is used today.  One missionary even translated the Bible into Choctaw, along with many hymns.  For this reason, and because the Chickasaw never had a Bible in their own language, many Chickasaws have used the Choctaw Bible and hymnals in their religious services.  This is why many speakers of Chickasaw have a working understanding of Choctaw language (Munro & Wilmond, 2008).

Current circumstances

As is common for languages of the Southeast, Chikashshanompa’ speakers have been declining in number for many years.  At this time, there are approximately 35 fluent speakers still living (Chickasaw Language, 2022).  Considering the Chickasaw Nation has over 76,000 citizens, the percentage of those citizens who can speak their language is infinitesimal (Chickasaw Nation, 2022).  Given that the fluent speakers of Chikashshanompa’ represent an aging population, the Nation as established many programs to ensure that the language survives, and even thrives, into the future.

As early as the 1960s, there was fear that the language would eventually be lost (Humes, 1973).  In 2007, the Chickasaw Nation established the Language Revitalization Program.  By 2009, this program had grown into its own department:  The Department of Chickasaw Language (Chew, 2016; Ozbolt 2014).  The language department has sponsored many language programs and learning tools over the years, including community classes, language flash cards, and a Master/Apprentice program.

A Master/Apprentice program pairs fluent speakers of an endangered language with language learners in a one-on-one setting.  The Master/Apprentice program was created in 1992 by linguist Leanne Hinton, PhD (Hinton, 2002).  The program was created in California and aimed at potential language learners who did not necessarily have access to a formal language course.  These learners did however have access to a fluent speaker.  Hinton (2002) refers to the language to be learned as either a “target language” or a “heritage language” (p. xii).  The Master/Apprentice model has been used in settings all over the world because it allows for flexibility and adjustments to be made based on the needs of a particular community.

The Chickasaw Nation launched a Master/Apprentice program in 2007.  There were sixteen fluent speakers (masters) and 24 learners (apprentices) in the first group.  This difference in numbers was because some of the master speakers had more than one apprentice.  From this group of 24 learners, there emerged two conversational speakers. Unfortunately, many of the participants dropped out due to time constraints and other reasons.  Each of the masters and apprentices were paid for their time and were under contract to meet for 10 hours each week (Hinson, 2019).

After the initial launching of the Master/Apprentice program in 2007, there was a second group that launched in 2010.  The author of this paper was in the second group of language learners and was paired with a fluent Chickasaw speaker named Hannah Pitman.  The author and Mrs. Pitman, along with other pairs of speakers and learners were also paid a stipend each month for their time.  Amy Gantt and Hannah Pitman worked together for about five years and Gantt achieved an intermediate proficiency level in Chickasaw.  As one can imagine, this was very difficult at first, but as time progressed, it became easier.  This program was discontinued in 2017.  According to Joshua Hinson, Executive Officer of the Division of Language Preservation within the Chickasaw Nation, the Master/Apprentice program was discontinued because they “were not seeing the proficiency levels we needed to sustain the language in that model” (Personal correspondence, February 27, 2023).  In fact, the success rate was around 10 percent (Hinson, 2019).

The ending of the Master/Apprentice program eventually brought about the creation of The Chikasha Academy Adult Immersion Program (CAAIP).  The CAAIP pilot program began in 2015 and was in part based on the Master/Apprentice program.  The main difference was in the formatting.  Rather than a one-on-one setting, the CAAIP created a group setting in which three language experts worked with three language students in an immersion environment (Francis, 2022).  Another difference was rather than working together for 10 hours per week, the speakers and learners were working together for 40 hours per week as full-time employees of the Chickasaw Nation.

Another program that has been implemented by the Chickasaw Nation is Rosetta Stone Chickasaw. This program was produced as a combined effort between the Chickasaw Nation and the Rosetta Stone company.  The Rosetta Stone program uses audio and video recordings to help learners with their conversational Chickasaw.  The video series features Chikashshanompa’ speakers and Chickasaw citizens as the actors.  The first set of 40 lessons, Rosetta Stone Chickasaw 1, was released in 2018.  There are currently 3 levels, with a level 4 set to be released in the Fall of 2023.  The lessons are available in CD format or on-line.  The program is available for free to any Chickasaw Citizen.  Chickasaw Nation employees can purchase the program for a nominal fee, and non-Chickasaws can also purchase the program for around $150.  Currently, there are approximately 9,000 users of Rosetta Stone Chickasaw (Hinson, personal communication, February 27, 2023).

The Future of Chikashshanompa’

In his 2022 State of the Nation address, Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby proclaimed 2023-2033 to be the “Decade of Chickasaw Language” (Decade, 2022).  Considering this declaration, the Language Department has received additional funding for expansion of the programs offered by the Nation.  These expansions include up to 100 new paid positions, in which language learners’ full- or part-time job is to learn Chickasaw in an immersion setting.  There will also be a virtual option, which will allow people who live outside of the Ada, Oklahoma area to participate (Hinson, personal communication, February 27, 2023).  This is an expansion on the current CAAIP program which currently has seven language learners (Chickasaw Language, 2022).

Challenges

Bringing a language back from the brink of being lost comes with a number of challenges.  For Chikashshanompa’, one of the main challenges is the age and number of fluent speakers.  Of the estimated 35 fluent speakers of Chikashshanompa’ left, most are quite elderly.  Many do not have the good health to be able to teach on a consistent basis (Chickasaw Language, 2022).

Another potential barrier comes with the amount of time required to learn a new language.  However, with the Chikasha Academy Adult Immersion Program, new speakers are being developed.  The learners from the pilot program are now the teachers in the CAAIP (Francis, 2022).  Currently, there are seven full-time learners in the program, who should be conversationally fluent by 2025 (Chickasaw Language, 2022).  There are plans in place to add 12 participants in the summer of 2023.  There are further plans to add four more cohorts with 12 students each by 2025.  These cohorts will be spread out within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation (Hinson, personal communication, February 27, 2023).  The ultimate goal of this immersion program is to create new conversational speakers who will continue to be employed by the Chickasaw Nation as language teachers or in other closely related fields (Francis, 2022).

Conclusion

The history of Chikashshanompa’ shows the effects of minoritization as a result of the arrival of European explorers and colonists.  The language has been through years of active attempts at eradication at the hands of the US Government in the form of the removal and boarding school eras.  However, beginning with small attempts at writing down the language in hopes of preserving it for future generations, there is now a sense of hope and optimism when it comes to keeping the language thriving for generations to come.