How to keep a culture alive

This pertains to the Native American culture represented in Momaday (Lit 213) as well as the essay from 297 about Inuits...
Native kids from here are losing their language...not by intention, just because they are becoming more "Americanized." In Newtok, they are taught in Yupik until 3rd grade, then it is 100% English til they graduate from high school.  Since there are very few native teachers (because they occasionally do go off to college but they don't graduate) the English-speaking teachers are left to try and help them retain their native language at times.  But it is an upward climb. There are few native language storybooks and no textbooks. The school and the teachers encourage the children to read Yupik by pasting Yupik words next to the English spelling words. They do try!!!
The children do present wonderful music and dancing shows...they all know how to sing and dance in the Yupik culture.  But as this current generation of young children ages, I wonder how many of them will keep their Yupik culture close? It must be difficult when all around you is English! And the way people think is based in large part upon language (which is why we all need to know more than one language!).
I wonder if this same phenomena would have occurred if the "lower 48" natives were left to thrive alongside the American children? I woncder if their culture would have simply been "absorbed." Just a thought!