With the maternal side of my family in Cochabamba, Bolivia, struggling under civil unrest, I’ve been pondering on issues of colonization. How does it happen? What are the steps involved? Many friends and relatives who shared similar apprehensions during time together during Thanksgiving unanimously agree that among one of the most concerning signs of colonization is that of the loss of language.
Native and indigenous languages are first identified and limited before they are controlled and eradicated completely. With the loss of language naturally goes our most personal and sovereign power, that of thoughts, ideas, self-expression, associations and ways of existing in the world.