OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation to make English the state’s official language has run into opposition from American Indians, who say their native tongues are dying fast enough without any help from lawmakers.

As Oklahoma observes its centennial year, the English-only issue points up divisions that persist more than a century after Indians were forcibly marched to the region and then endured a series of land grabs.

Many of Oklahoma’s 37 federally recognized tribes are fighting to save their languages and cultures from extinction years after the end of organized efforts to stamp them out.

Critics of the English-only Legislation point out that Oklahoma’s very name is formed from two Choctaw Indian words – “okla” and “homma” – that mean “red man.”

“If you go to English only, what are we going to call the state of Oklahoma?” said Terry Ragan, director of the Choctaw Nation’s language program. “Even town names in the state will have to be named differently.”

Supporters of the legislation say it could end bilingual state government documents, such as driver’s license tests, and force immigrants to learn English and assimilate into American society.

But assimilation is a charged word for many American Indians, whose ancestors were forced from their traditional lands and sent on the Trail of Tears in the 19th century.

English-only restrictions were imposed in Indian Territory to expunge tribal languages and culture, said Kirke Kickingbird, an Oklahoma City attorney and member of the Kiowa Nation.

“That whole era was really about assimilation,” he said.