NCAI Seeks Tribal Support For Action On Traditional Language Revitalization ‘State Of Emergency’

Native American traditional language programs are in a state of emergency and need a friend in Congress to address reform, according to The National Congress of American Indians. 

The Inter-tribal lobbying group has its eyes set on making this declaration its official stance to begin a process to secure  permanent funding for tribal language programs. 

“I think one of the takeaways is the transmission of our Native languages used to be parent to child, grandparent to grandchild, in a household, and I think in a majority of tribes that doesn’t exist so much as it did even a generation ago,” NCAI President Marc Macarro said. “You go back two generations and the difference is even more stark. So we have to look to our own tribal institutions as a way of transmitting, not only language, but everything that comes with it.”

On Thursday, NCAI invited tribal leaders and representatives from the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to introduce the resolution and to hear from members on the ground about the issues facing language programs.

To get reform, tribal leaders argued that language programs are inherent to sovereignty. As such, it should be considered a trust and treaty obligation between the United States and tribes that would lead to budget discussions for services like healthcare, education and other cultural protections.

This would open language programs to receive federal funding on a permanent basis, reforming the current model that is grant- based through federal departments that force hundreds of tribes to compete for dozens of small grants, tribal leaders said.

The current funding structure has established successful language programs in the southwest and plains regions, including immersive schools for adults and children. However, their funding issues limit growth within the tribal community and the type of expertise they can share with tribes that are at the beginning stage of creating their own language programs.

At this point in the process, there is no dollar amount that determines how much money this would add to the federal budget if successful.

Tribal language leaders also said they need the federal government to adopt a language certification metric. With that, leaders said they could then petition states to fund Native language programs on and off reservations.

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