Native American
Sign Language

Native American Sign Language is a truly unique form of communication. It reflects the beauty and tradition of the Native American culture.

Native American Sign Language is one of the best-kept communication secrets in the world today. Many people who are not of Native American descent may not realize that this proud people have their own means of communicating without the spoken word. As a result, you may be wondering how this intriguing form of language developed in the first place.

The History

First, it's important to know that the North American Plains peoples were comprised of a number of different tribes. Perhaps the best known of these was the Sioux. However, the tribes also included the Cheyenne, the Pawnee, and the Kiowa. As you might expect, every tribe had its own distinct language or dialogue. Each of these languages or dialects had a number of key words and phrases as well as a complicated grammatical structure.

The tribes of the Plains were, by and large, a nomadic people. In other words, it was rare for them to live in a particular place for any significant length of time. Constantly on the move, they frequently ran into a number of other tribes. Because of this, and as did deaf people, they had to develop a means of communicating with other native peoples, and that means was sign language.

A Universal Language

In this way, Native American sign language became a kind of universal language. It helped to not only bridge the communications gap, but it formed an important bond between peoples. In this way, they were also able to build a sense of community, as did deaf people, even though they were nearly constantly in transit.

It shouldn't be surprising that the language they developed was one that was marked by silence. When hunting, it was important that tribes stay as quiet as possible, so sign language was a way to speak without disturbing tranquil hunting grounds.

It was also important for the tribes to stay quiet during battle. Otherwise, they could have suffered significant casualties by telegraphing their movements to enemy camps. In this way, sign language literally became a life-saver.

As with traditional sign language, Native American Sign Language uses hand gestures to depict words or ideas. In some respects, these signs resemble pictures crafted with the hands. Therefore, it is a language of profound beauty as well as simple functionality.

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