<P> Native American languages predate European settlement of the New World . In a few parts of the U.S. (mostly on Indian reservations), they continue to be spoken fluently . Most of these languages are endangered, although there are efforts to revive them . Normally the fewer the speakers of a language the greater the degree of endangerment, but there are many small Native American language communities in the Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico) which continue to thrive despite their small size . In 1929, speaking of indigenous Native American languages, linguist Edward Sapir observed: </P> <P> Few people realize that within the confines of the United States there is spoken today a far greater variety of languages...than in the whole of Europe . We may go further . We may say, quite literally and safely, that in the state of California alone there are greater and more numerous linguistic extremes than can be illustrated in all the length and breadth of Europe . </P> <P> According to the 2000 Census and other language surveys, the largest Native American language - speaking community by far is the Navajo . Navajo is an Athabascan language of the Na - Dené family, with 178,000 speakers, primarily in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah . Altogether, Navajo speakers make up more than 50% of all Native American language speakers in the United States . Western Apache, with 12,500 speakers, also mostly in Arizona, is closely related to Navajo but not mutually intelligible with it . Navajo and other Athabascan languages in the Southwest are relative outliers; most other Athabascan languages are spoken in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska . </P> <P> Dakota is a Siouan language with 18,000 speakers in the US alone (22,000 including speakers in Canada), not counting 6,000 speakers of the closely related Lakota . Most speakers live in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota . Other Siouan languages include the closely related Winnebago, and the more distant Crow, among others . </P>

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