Yuchi Immersion School Preserves Endangered Language

At the Yuchi Immersion School in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, the sound of a unique language fills the air.

Halay Turning Heart, The Project Administrator and teacher, speaks only in Yuchi throughout the day, using the language to sing, pray, and teach to the students.

The Yuchi people believe that fewer than 100 individuals worldwide can speak the language conversationally, with even fewer speaking it as their first language. The immersion school is working to change that trend.

"Everything that we need to know, our stories, our songs, it's all in the language," Turning Heart said. "So in order to really learn our history, we have to know our own language."

The school is part of the Yuchi Language Project that began decades ago as weekly classes. Now there are dozens of kids from infants to 10-year-olds learning Yuchi before they speak English.

For many families, like Tricia and Acee Allen, the school provides an opportunity to reconnect with their heritage. Tricia’s father was discouraged from speaking his tribal language, but now the Allen’s can pass the Yuchi language on to their children.

"It's been a long time since either of our families have spoken the language," said Acee Allen.

The school not only benefits the students but also the staff. Wanda Brese, a 75-year-old cook at the school, attends the adult classes to learn Yuchi. She said her grandfather went to a Yuchi boarding school and was punished for speaking the language and, as a result, did not teach it to his children.

Despite the challenges of learning a new language later in life, the adults at the school find joy in hearing the laughter of children speaking the language their parents and grandparents were once punished for using.

For Tricia Allen, the school holds a deeply personal meaning.

"I wanted my children to be able to carry it on since I wasn't able to for my dad," she said, her voice filled with emotion.

As the young Yuchi voices echo through the halls of the immersion school, they carry with them not only a language but also a legacy of resilience and cultural pride.