Federal government awards $6.5M for traditional language programs
Nine programs across six states funded for immersion instruction and digital resource support
Shaun Griswold
Last week, the federal government said it will fund Ojibwe, Diné, Acoma Keres, Lakota/Dakota and Lushootseed language programs through $6.5 million in grants awarded by the Bureau of Indian Education.
Traditional language programs in rural tribal nations across the southwest and Great Plains received some money for digital resources and in-person instruction to support language revitalization services.
This includes funding for an elementary education degree program at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Wisconsin, for Acoma Keres cultural and language instruction that expands to students as young as 3 years old in New Mexico and for resources to build out digital libraries for language immersion schools in Standing Rock and the Navajo Nation.
The Chief Leschi Schools in Washington was awarded money to hire a full-time high school instructor to teach Lushootseed, the language for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, which wants the high school program to develop into a pipeline where advanced learners go to area schools and teach the language.
In a statement, BIE director Tony Dearman (Cherokee Nation) said the funds affirm federal support for Native American language revitalization within schools: “Tribal languages and cultures are important to Tribes and to the cultural identity of our students and communities. Each of these communities is finding its own path to strengthen language and culture, and these investments help sustain that work for generations to come.”
Funding came in part through an agreement with the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education, a foundation chartered by Congress to lead these language initiatives with tribes.
Program coordinator for the National Fund, Roo George-Warren (Catawba Nation), said the tribal ground funded by the BIE “represents a significant expansion” for language revitalization models.
“We're connecting schools with world-class experts in revitalization and immersion schooling,” George-Warren said.
- 1.Native Language Immersion in BIE Schools Strengthened by $6.5 Million in Funding. Bureau of Indian Education.
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