For nearly three decades, thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, we have been able to help ensure that the Yuchi Language Project (YLP) in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, continues to be able to carry out its mission “to keep alive the rich heritage of the Yuchi people by creating new young speakers of our unique language through breath-to-breath immersion methods with master speakers and children.”
“Our vision is for today’s children to grow up empowered to say in our language: “yUdjEhanAnô sôKAnAnô” — “We, Yuchi people, we are still here.”
YLP project administrator Halay Turning Heart tells us that the Yuchi language is woven into every subject through daily immersion, to include stories, culture, science, art, music, math, literacy and even physical education.
“Our young learners are growing into the future leaders of our community,” says Halay. “They will one day be able to conduct ceremonies, prepare traditional medicines, tell stories, and offer prayers in Yuchi, embodying the worldview and cultural knowledge of their ancestors as fluent speakers.”
In her grant request for the period May 1, 2025/May 1, 2026, Halay told us the funds would be used to deliver 1,200 hours of full-day Yuchi language immersion instruction to 30 students, pre-school through fifth grade, at the Yuchi Immersion School for the 2025-2026 school year.
“Instruction will be led by fluent Yuchi-speaking educators and supported by language apprentices, with daily lessons integrating language into all subject areas,” she said.
In addition, through the YLP, she is working to “implement a Yuchi worldview-centered curriculum that reinforces identity, cultural knowledge, and fluency, using traditional stories, songs, and hands-on cultural activities to help students internalize the language and embody Yuchi ways of being.”
A secondary goal is to expand the capacity of families to support Yuchi language revitalization not only in an academic setting, but in the home and community as well – “helping families build home environments where Yuchi language is natural and sustained.”
To that end, with the assistance of grant funding from Running Strong, YLP will be able to facilitate family language immersion retreats, which include shared meals and story circles “where parents and children practice Yuchi together in community settings with Elders and fluent speakers.”
All of these activities will take place on the YLP’s “landbase – the only collectively owned Yuchi land in modern history” located in Glenpool, Oklahoma, on property which includes a pond, pastures, woodlands, a creek and a 4,000-square=-foot lodge that serves as our immersion school.
“Our yadaga (Yuchi Log House) has become a sanctuary where Yuchi people of all ages can fully embrace yUdjEhalA—the Yuchi way of life.
“Our land provides an invaluable space for immersive language learning, reconnecting students with land-based practices, heritage crops, traditional games, medicinal plants, and endangered cultural knowledge.
“The presence of native bison, horses, churro sheep, guinea hogs, and a fish-stocked pond further enriches the environment.”
Halay estimates that there are as many as 2,400 Yuchi scattered across the tri-county region, largely living in rural areas in economically depressed sectors.
“Due to forced separation from our homelands, many Yuchi language terms related to agriculture and land stewardship had nearly been lost, as they had not been actively used for generations,” says Halay.
However, she notes, “YLP is making remarkable progress in reclaiming these aspects of our language and traditional ecological practices.
“Creating a village setting fosters intergenerational learning and natural language use in everyday life.”
The Yuchi language is considered an “isolate” language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages.
Dr. Richard Grounds is the executive director of the YLP who launched the organization in 1994 with one goal in mind — to try to fulfill the vision of the Yuchi people’s elders. “Our elders were committed to trying to keep our language alive,” said Dr. Grounds in a February 2024 article published by the Princeton Theological Seminary,
“So, we started working with our children.”
Dr. Grounds, who graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1995, set out to fulfill the hope of his elders by passing the Yuchi language to a younger generation but he soon realized they were already behind, the article reports.
It notes that the World War II generation were the last cohort of language speakers up to that time. While there are a few individual speakers, that generation represents the end of having a group of language speakers who grew up together speaking Yuchi as their first language, he says.
“The WWII generation was the end of that long history of transmission of the language from mother to child for thousands and thousands of years.
“The few elders who are fluent learned from their grandparents and not their parents, who were unlikely to be fluent, which can be attributed to the assault — which in academic settings includes messaging that the language is dirty, will get students in trouble and is something of the past — on the Yuchi community, culture and traditions,” he stated in the article.
When Dr. Grounds’ daughter, Halay, got married, she had long before committed to only speak the Yuchi language to her children, inspiring other young couples to make the same commitment, the article notes.
The result?
“Over the years, children in immersion programs have shown astounding results in not only learning their language but also achieving higher performance in reading and math.”
And as for Halay herself:
“We believe that reconnecting with the Yuchi way of seeing the world not only accelerates language learning but also promotes spiritual and emotional well-being for our learners.
“This work is deeply meaningful, guided by the wisdom of our Elders and driven by our responsibility to raise future generations of Yuchi speakers and cultural leaders.
“Most importantly, this project will help cultivate new language and culture bearers prepared to carry forward and lead our three Yuchi ceremonial grounds.
“This progress made possible by Running Strong has brought wonderful blessings and advancement toward our vision.”
