Native American Language & Translation

Information and resources on Native American language & language translation. Names for American Indian languages can be confusing. Some names are chosen politically rather than linguistically. For instance, Creek and Seminole are mutually intelligible Muskogean languages but are traditionally treated as separate because the tribes who use them are different. Many American Indian groups do not have a special name for themselves other than the word for "people." Often, Indian groups came to be known by a foreign term, such as the English names Dogrib and Yellowknife for Athabascan tribes in the Northwest. In some cases the same name has been used for two or more distinct languages. Below are links that provide information about the languages of Native Americans.