In this article, the authors explore the personal, familial, and academic stakes of Native language loss for youth, drawing on narrative data from the Native Language Shift and Retention Project, a five year (2001-06), federally funded study of the nature and impacts of Native language shift and retention on American Indian students' language learning, identities, and academic achievement. The research methods they used include participant observation, questionnaires, ethnographic interviews, and collection of school achievement data. They also used a single interview sequence containing four key elements: (1) a focused life history; (2) details of school experiences, particularly language learning in school; (3) details of observed and personal language use inside and outside of school; and (4) for youth, aspirations and life goals. As a result, they found out that most youth in this study indicated that they value the Native language, view it as central to their identities, want and expect parents to teach it to them, and, in many cases, employ it as a strategic tool to facilitate their learning of English in school. (Contains 9 notes.)