Today, June 10 — America’s first universal language

At a point in history, the various tribes in the Plains region developed a shared universal language. But it didn’t rely on the spoken word. Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL) or Hand Talk, was a complex means of communication that spread over a large swatch of North America. It was a way for deaf people to communicate before the invention of American Sign Language (ASL). Colonial intrusion and assimilation policies caused the number of PISL practitioners to drop off drastically. Now, and handful of PISL speakers are trying to revitalize this unique language.

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