Philosophy is a methodological endeavor. It is what philosophers "do." The methods of analyzing Native American thought will be no different than tho… - Viola Cordova

not all American indigenous peoples are fluent in their native language. This has been the result, first, of an attempt to eradicate "primitive thinking;" and secondly, an attempt to eliminate "the Indian" through total assimilation. When indigenous children were taken away from their homes to boarding schools, they were forcibly placed with children of another tribe so that they could not communicate in any language other than English. They were also provided with a new worldview through the ministrations of the missionaries who were often in charge of the schools. Nevertheless, a view of the world that was "Indian" managed to survive all attempts to eradicate the paradigm. The reason that this was so is that behind language there is a "pattern system" of "forms and categories" that could be taught without full knowledge of the language. The "pattern" consisted of more than words and speech; it included also a way of being in the world. This latter is taught through attitudes, through practices, through teaching relationships between people and between people and the Earth. By the time the educators and missionaries abducted the child at about the age of five or six, such attitudes and relationships had already been established. The family, regardless of the educators, could reinforce such a pattern in the home and in the community. There was, in other words, beyond language, a context to being "Indian" that eluded the attempts at eradication.

Native Americans do not see themselves as examples of "primitive" thought, ways of thinking that other cultures have experienced and outgrown. We see our ideas and concepts as rational, viable, and alternative means of interpreting the world. This fact is one of the reasons that Native Americans have managed to maintain a unique identity despite attempts to eradicate that identity. Compare this strong sense of identity to those who have "roots" in a European country. They have given up one identity in order to take on another identity, an American identity. Not all Americans have taken this step and many groups find it important to maintain ties with their original languages, cultures, and even countries, but still identify themselves, first and foremost, as Americans. Many Native Americans will be found in this category. Others will not.

Language is a window that frames a particular view of the world. Even when the window disappears, the view that it framed remains.