2014 NATIVE LANGUAGE PROJECT COMPENDIUM LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONER June 2014 Greetings Mitayuke Oyasin, I am happy to provide this update on our shared work on Native Language Preservation and Maintenance. The information in this compendium highlights what our communities have been able to achieve with assistance from the Administration for Native Americans. Since the last Native Language meeting hosted by the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) in 2011, we have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Education and the Department of Interior as a way to work together across the federal family to support Native Language work. Through this Native Languages MOA, the Departments have agreed to the following goals: 1. Identify statutory or regulatory barriers that impede collaboration and result in duplication of efforts and/or minimize the impact of efforts on the part of Federal, state, or tribal governments, or schools or other entities to effectively implement Native language activities; 2. Identify research that explores educational attainment and Native language retention and/or revitalization; 3. Explore ways to gather data about effective and/or exemplary Native language instruction both in terms of the administration of funds and programs, as well as program impact on educational achievement; disseminate information on best practices across Federal Agencies regarding program and instructional design, and institutional support for Native language instruction for AI/AN populations; 4. Review Federal funding mechanisms, explore means for coordinating funding opportunities to remove barriers, and simplify the process for potential grantees seeking to integrate Native language instruction and activities in educational settings; 5. Review current training and technical assistance provided by HHS, BIE, and ED related to Native language preservation and maintenance efforts; assess needs and identify means for enhancing the quality of this training and technical assistance, both to assist existing grantees and potential grantees; and identify opportunities to provide joint technical assistance; 6. Ensure, to the extent practicable, that programs funded by the Federal Agencies to provide Native language instruction are coordinated, evidence-based, demonstrate accountability through assessments of student achievement, and further the goals of the Native American Languages Act; and ________________________________________________________________________ 7. Identify additional departments and agencies interested in or important to the implementation of the goals of this Memorandum, including the goals of the Native American Languages Act. Through this vehicle of the MOA, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Interior are meeting regularly and working together, and co-hosting our first Native Language Summit. Native languages have been in decline for decades; fewer and fewer percentages of the children enrolled in tribal Head Start programs enter the program speaking their native languages. Just recently, the National Indian Education Association predicted that there may only be 20 native languages in the United States by 2050. This is why the Native American Languages Act and the Esther Martinez Native Languages Act are so important. Under these authorities, ANA provides grants to native communities and nonprofits to reverse the loss of native languages and teach young people to revere and speak them. We are able to visit some of these projects at the end of the grant and summarize what they have achieved for a Congressional Report. We share these language project reports organized by state for you here over the past three years as a way to demonstrate the breadth and diversity of activities we fund. Full versions of the reports for all grantees visited organized by year are available on the ANA website. For the first time in several decades, we may actually be turning the tide on language loss, so this is no time to rest on our laurels. I think our dear friend and language revival advocate Darrell Robes Kipp said it best, “Relearning, or studying your tribal language is the ultimate pathway home, and it is important to start before the first sign of longing appears. You may misinterpret your feelings and miss the calling.” Language preservation programs are, at their essence, about keeping hallowed cultural traditions alive, about the older generation passing on its wisdom to the younger generations, just as my mother and grandmother did for me. The very act of one generation teaching another creates a sacred thread of interconnectedness and belonging that is critical to any young person’s development of confident personhood. Instilling such self-esteem is especially necessary for Native American youth who must overcome many social and economic disadvantages in order to realize their fondest dreams. I believe that language preservation is an indispensable rung on the ladder of achievement for Native American youth. Let us recommit ourselves to helping young people treasure and embody that which is uniquely beautiful in the cultures of their birth. Wopila, Lillian Sparks Robinson Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans 2014 ACF Grantee Meeting - ANA Language Compendium 4 ________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Commissioner ........................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... 5 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 8 Community Impacts .......................................................................................................................9 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................9 Applications Received and Funding Awarded (2006-2013) ........................................... 10 ANA Native Languages Program Outcome Data (2010 – 2012) ................................... 12 Promising Practices: Advice from ANA Language Grantees ........................................ 13 Language Grants Featured in the 2010 – 2012 Impact and Effectiveness of Administration for Native American Projects Report .................................................................................... 16 Alaska Native Heritage Center ...................................................................................................... 17 Chugachmiut, Inc. ........................................................................................................................ 19 Nuniwarmiut Piciryarata Tamaryalkuti, Inc. .................................................................................. 21 Yakutat Tlingit Tribe ..................................................................................................................... 23 Sitka Tribe of Alaska ..................................................................................................................... 25 Chickaloon Native Village ............................................................................................................. 27 Goldbelt Heritage Foundation ...................................................................................................... 29 Ketchikan Indian Community ....................................................................................................... 31 Organized Village of Kake ............................................................................................................. 33 Kawaiisu Language and Cultural Center ........................................................................................ 35 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians............................................................................................ 37 California Indian Museum and Cultural Center .............................................................................. 39 Yurok Tribe .................................................................................................................................. 41 Pa’a Taotao Tano’ ........................................................................................................................ 43 Guam Community College ............................................................................................................ 45 Te Taki-Tokelau Community Training and Development, Inc. ........................................................ 47 University of Hawaii ..................................................................................................................... 49 Passamaquoddy Tribe .................................................................................................................. 51 Passamaquoddy Tribe .................................................................................................................. 53 Wopanaak Language and Cultural Weetyoo, Inc. .......................................................................... 55 Hannahville Indian Community .................................................................................................... 57 Dakota Wicohan .......................................................................................................................... 59 2014 ACF Grantee Meeting - ANA