WASHINGTON â Native American leaders and advocates testified on May 26 that COVID-19 has had a âdevastating effectâ on fluent language speakers. During a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Michelle Sauve, acting commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, was one of several who addressed COVID-19âs impact on Native languages. âCOVID-19 has had a devastating effect on the elderly population, who are the keys to cultural continuity,â she said. âElders are often the only first-language speakers and sometimes the only speakers for many Native languages. For example, the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma recently lost two of the tribeâs five fluent elder speaker mentors to COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, there were only 20 fluent Kiowa speakers out of a population of 12,000.â