More than 600 students of all ages and backgrounds celebrated Native American languages and culture at the eighth-annual Native American Language Fair held Monday and Tuesday at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

“What I really wanted to do was focus on how languages are living,” said Mary Linn, fair director. “They are not really objects you can put in a collection. They’re really how people use a language and speak it on a daily basis.”

More than 70 schools participated in the fair and 23 American Indian languages were represented.

“Sports have tournaments and these kinds of things, and French and Spanish have language fairs they can go to as well, but there’s nothing for Native American languages,” Linn said. “We really wanted to give credit and thanks to the teachers who are working really hard to teach [American Indian] languages.”

Linn said the American Indian-language teachers work extra hard because they have no textbooks or curriculum to follow.

National Geographic magazine designated Oklahoma as a language “hotspot” because of high language diversity. The magazine cited the native languages’ critical condition and risk of extinction, which are caused by young children are not learning them as much, said Linn. However, she said it is now more popular to learn American Indian languages than it was 10 years ago.

“It’s something that I like to do and I get to learn about my culture,” said Annissa Vasquez, an 11-year-old participant from Anadarko.

Vasquez competed in Wichita dancing and singing for the third time.

The fair consists of different competitions for different age categories including speeches, poetry, songs, film, dance, books and poster art. Linn said many of the children wear traditional clothing for the competitions.

“[The competitions] are not judged on accuracy but on amount of language and spirit of performance,” Linn said.

She said it is hard to find judges for each language because some of the languages only have a few fluent speakers left. Linn said all the participants receive a medallion and a T-shirt, and there are first-, second- and third-place prizes for each different age group.

Sydney Prince, 12, from Anadarko, said she wanted to win her competition because it would be the first girls’ group to win a trophy for the tribe. Prince performed “Amazing Grace” in the Wichita language.

“It’s mainly for participation, although people take the first-, second- and third-place prizes seriously,” Linn said. “Schools can have something to take back to display in their display cases, so they can show they’re doing something.”

Neiatha Hardy, 12, performed Choctaw music. This was her fifth year to participate in the fair. She said she also was excited about seeing the museum. She said she plans to come to the fair until she graduates high school.

“The best part is all tribes can come to learn different languages and meet people,” Hardy said.

The Department of Anthropology, American Indian Student Life and Native American Studies donated money and volunteered time for the fair.

Linn said many OU students volunteer as coordinators and judges for the fair. She said approximately 40 volunteers and 53 judges are needed each day.

When the fair started eight years ago, many students just presented word lists in their languages, but now students are doing full skits that seem to come very naturally to them, Linn said.

“The fact that they’re getting up there and really trying and really working at it — I just find it beautiful every day. I have chill bumps,” Linn said. “Every time I hear a children up there speaking, I realize that is why I do this.”