Native American languages, contemporary youth identity, and powerful messages from mainstream society and Native communities create complex interactions that require deconstruction for the benefit of Native-language revitalization. This study showed how Native youth negotiate mixed messages such as the necessity of Indigenous languages for cultural continuity and a belief in the superiority of English for success in American society. Interviews and reflective writing from Navajo and Pueblo youth constituted the counter-narratives that expressed the youth's concerns, values, frustrations, celebrations, and dilemmas with regard to their heritage language and identity. The youth perspectives extended across 5 thematic areas: respect, stigmatization and shame, marginalization, impact on identity, and agency and intervention. These counter-narratives demonstrate that the Indigenous language plays an important and complex role in contemporary youth identity. Yet, their Indigenous consciousness was not diminished by limited fluency in their heritage language--an important finding for inspiring a commitment to language revitalization. (Contains 2 footnotes.)