Our tribal members commonly refer to the native language as "the Laguna language", rather than Keres, the term used most commonly by linguists to describe a linguistic entity comprised of seven of the Pueblos of New Mexico. Laguna and Acoma Pueblo are the western-most speakers of Keres, separated by a geographical distance from Keres-speaking Pueblos located along the Rio Grande.

Traditionally, from the moment of birth, Laguna children were spoken to in their mother tongue and learned primarily through everyday use and interaction within their community and within their home. This form of learning the language began to change with the includence of the railroad, the interstate and the uranium mining, which brought about a greater interaction with mainstream society.

During the mid-1970s, the teaching of Laguna language emerged as an important issue to parents and members of the Laguna community. Various attempts were made to teach the language resulting in a number of projects and individual efforts to address language loss. A Laguna language dictionary was developed and individuals within various villages started Keres language classes.

In 1991, Laguna Middle School implemented a two-year language and cultural immersion pilot program. The project ended due to lack of funds. Also that year, Laguna Elementary School began Keres classes as did the Head Start program.

Throughout the years there have been sporadic efforts to address the language loss, however these efforts have had little success in stemming the process of continued language erosion. This has been mainly due to a number of factors including the lack of training for fluent speakers in the community who can potentially assist with language teaching.

HOWEVER, several of the LDoE programs have continued to strive towards language and cultural immersion, including the LAGUNA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.