O'odham Early Childhood Education Phyllis Antone described her tribe's efforts. The land of the Tohono O'odham extends over a large area in southwestern Arizona and northern Mexico. Mexican versus U.S. citizenship is still an issue. Some fifty-five percent of the some 17,000 residents of the Reservation continue to speak their traditional language. However, language shift is occurring.
O'odham speakers tend to be older people, but many infants continue to acquire O'odham.
It is used more frequently in more remote areas. The Tribe has taken important steps toward maintaining their language. Emphasis is placed on young children using the language in the home, extended family, and in day care and preschool programs. The early childhood curriculum grew out of the community and is a systematic approach involving the elderly in instruction that makes use of stories, songs, and a full-range of cultural practices associated with inculturation. For the Tohono O'odham, early childhood education is only a part of a far-reaching plan aimed at cultural and linguistic survival.