Native Education Resources for the Southwest Region
Languages and Language Education Resources
Since
we moved to the city from the reservation two years ago, we have
had to adjust to many positive and negative effects of living off-reserve.
One of the major adjustments which my youngest son had to go through
was attending school which did not incorporate aspects of his own
culture and language. This has been very hard because he attended
nursery and kindergarten with Cree as the language of instruction.
I came to realize the need for educators to realize the importance
of respecting the culture and language of culturally and linguistically
diverse students.
-Melanie
Neeposh, mother of two boys, 7 and 15 years old, in an e-mail message
to the NAT-EDU listserv, 2-22-97.
This directory begins with a section on languages and language education resources. The resources in this section are intended to be general and not specific to the languages of particular tribes. Information on the teaching or maintenance of specific tribal languages in school or university programs, community-based classes, and supportive organizations is available in Profiles of Native Language Education Programs, which the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory published in conjunction with this directory.
American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI)
Karen
Francis-Begay, Program Coordinator
Department of Language, Reading & Culture
College of Education, Rm. 517
The University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210069
Tucson, AZ 85721-0069
http://aisp.web.arizona.edu/
Kfbegay@u.arizona.edu
(520) 621-1068 / Fax: (520) 621-8174
The American Indian Language Development Institute offers four weeks of intensive study in American Indian linguistics, bilingual-bicultural education, and culture-based curriculum development. Offering 6 graduate or undergraduate credit hours, AILDI brings together linguists, tribal elders, bilingual/ESL specialists, teachers, aides, parents, and school administrators in an integrated learning experience. Courses emphasize interactive, authentic language learning and teaching, with the goal of assisting participants in affirming Indian identities and strengthening indigenous languages and cultures. Some of the Native studies courses are Linguistics for Native American Communities, American Indian Literature, and Bilingual Methods and Materials. All courses lead toward degrees and bilingual/ESL endorsements.
Cheyenne Language Web Site
Wayne
Leman, Linguist
CCEP (Cheyenne Christian Education Project)
Box 50
Busby, MT 59016
http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language/
wleman@netzero.net
(406) 592-3643 (telephone orders)
This Northern Cheyenne web site is rich with the Cheyenne language, beginning with the 14 letters of the Cheyenne alphabet, a pronunciation guide, a course booklet "Let's Talk Cheyenne," and information for ordering accompanying audiotapes. This site also links to many other web sites related to American Indian languages or to more general resources for Native Americans.
Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee
Ron
Red Elk, President
Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee
P. O. Box 3610
Lawton, OK 73502
http://www.skylands.net/users/tdeer/clcpc/ (site no longer available 10/2007)
Kanabuutsi@juno.com
(405) 247-5749 or (580) 353-3632
In 1989, the Comanche Tribe began a project to preserve its language and history, producing 15 two-hour tapes featuring 40 tribal elders telling stories and family history in their native tongue. Other materials include a Comanche reader distributed to all area schools each month, a pictionary word game, and a set of flash cards. Tribal members also have taught language classes. The Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee, formed in 1993, is a nonprofit organization and does not charge for any of its activities.
Ethnologue
Larry
Salge, Director of Academic Publications
Ethnologue
Summer Institute of Linguistics
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Road
Dallas TX 75236
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue
academic_books@sil.org
(972) 708-7403 / Fax: (972) 708-7387
The Ethnologue refers to a massive database maintained by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) on all the languages in the world, including American Indian languages of the Southwest. Along with geographical information about where a language is used, the database provides information on the number of speakers and how old the speakers tend to be. The Ethnologue is available in paperback with a language name index and language family index. It is also available through SIL's web site. The second web site address listed above points to the web page Living Languages of the Americas, where information is available on readers, children's stories, dictionaries, grammars, and academic publications.
Institute for the Preservation of the Original Languages of the Americas (IPOLA)
InŽe Yang Slaughter, Executive Director
IPOLA
560 Montezuma Avenue, Suite 201-A
Santa Fe, NM 87501-2590
http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa059.shtml
ipola@roadrunner.com
(505) 820-0311 / Fax: (505) 820-0316
Based on a belief that language is the foundation of culture, IPOLA works with indigenous communities to preserve and perpetuate the languages of the original inhabitants of the western hemisphere. IPOLA coordinates with tribal communities, universities, and other nonprofit organizations to record, preserve, and promote those languages about to disappear.
Intertribal Wordpath Society
Alice
Anderton, Executive Director
Intertribal Wordpath Society
1506 Barkley Street
Norman OK 73071
(405) 447-6103
Intertribal Wordpath Society (IWS), a nonprofit organization established in 1997, promotes the awareness, teaching, and use of American Indian languages in Oklahoma. It provides financial and technical support to language programs, teachers, and students; maintains information on Oklahoma languages and language programs; and offers educational programs for the public. IWS supports Wordpath, a cable television program broadcast in Norman, and makes the program's videotapes available to Oklahoma libraries. IWS also distributes a quarterly newsletter Pathways to language programs and supporters. IWS obtains grants to support the development of publications on language and language teaching topics on an ongoing basis.
Less Commonly Taught Languages Project
Louis Janus, Network Coordinator
Less Commonly Taught Languages Project
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota
Appleby 333
128 Pleasant Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
http://carla.acad.umn.edu/LCTL
LCTL@umn.edu
(612) 624-9016 / Fax: (612) 627-7514
As the name implies, the Less Commonly Taught Languages Project maintains a database of information about courses on less common languages available primarily at universities and other settings. The database contains information for the following languages in SEDL's region: Apache, Arapaho, Caddo, Cherokee, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek, DinŽ (Navajo), Kiowa, and Quapaw. The Less Commonly Taught Languages Project is part of the National Language Resource Center (NLRC), which is a division within the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota.
Linguistic Institute for Native Americans (LINA)
Christine
Sims, Board Chairperson
LINA
2201San Pedro N.E., Bldg. 4
Albuquerque, NM 87110
simsacoma@aol.com
(505) 880-8261 ext. 236 / Fax: (505) 552-6112
The Linguistic Institute for Native Americans, Inc. conducts forums and training to help New Mexico pueblos and tribes with language teaching. LINA believes that continued maintenance of Native languages is best accomplished when a community becomes involved in the teaching of its indigenous language. Having shifted its focus from school-based programs to community-directed efforts, LINA also assists with community language survey design, community language planning, and training Native speakers in methods of heritage language teaching.
Linguistic Society of America's Committee on Endangered Languages and Their Preservation
Akira Y. Yamamoto, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology
Fraser Hall 622
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045-2110
akira@ukans.edu
(785) 864-2645 / Fax: (785) 864-5224
The Linguistic Society of America's Committee on Endangered Languages and Their Preservation coordinates the documentation and revitalization efforts of the society's members, offers their services to language communities, and encourages cooperative projects between these language communities and the academic community. Members of the society have worked with Native American groups on documentation and revitalization of their languages in Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, as well as other states outside SEDL's region. In Oklahoma, seminars have been conducted to train Native American teachers in linguistics, curriculum development, and language materials development, and these seminars have been part of the activities of the Oklahoma Native Language Association.
Native American Language Center
Martha J. Macri, Department Chair, Native American Studies
Native American Language Center
Department of Native American Studies
One Shields Avenue
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
http://cougar.ucdavis.edu/nas/home.html
mjmacri@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-7086/ TDD: (530) 752-3237 / Fax: (530) 752-7097
The center aims to develop and sustain productive relationships between American Indian linguistic scholars and Native American people. NALC encourages scholars and students, both Native and non-Native, to help with language preservation and revitalization, while providing resources and support for training a new generation of research linguists and linguistic anthropologists. The center works with faculty throughout the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems to provide instruction in Native American languages to students and community members, helping to secure materials, find linguists, and arrange speakers. The center maintains information regarding pedagogical and research materials on Native American languages through the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA), including audiotapes, videos, CD/ROMs, and world wide web sites. The Native American Language Center Archives is a repository of field notes donated by linguists and other scholars who have recorded Indian languages; it is maintained at the Shields Library at UC Davis.
Native Language Instructors' Program
Wanda
White, Coordinator
Native Language Instructors' Program
Faculty of Education
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, ON Canada P7B 5E1
wanda.white@lakeheadu.ca
(807) 343-8003 / Fax: (807) 346-7746
The Native Language Instructors' Program at Lakehead University provides training for speakers of Delaware as well as Ojibwe and Cree who wish to teach their native languages. Students who complete the program become certified to teach native languages by the Ontario College of Teachers. The program runs for three summers with classes during July and includes practice teaching and culturally appropriate activities. The Native Language Instructors' Program follows the policies contained in the curriculum guide and resource guide for the teaching of Native languages published by the Ontario Ministry of Education. These two guides--Curriculum Guideline: Native Languages: Policy and Program Considerations (1987) and Resource Guide: Native Languages: A Support Document for the Teaching of Native Languages (1989)--target primary, junior, intermediate, and senior-level students. They are available at low cost through Lakehead University.
Navajo Language Instruction Program
Garland
D. Bills, Department Chair or Roseann Willink, Navajo Language
Instructor
Department of Linguistics
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-1196
gbills@.unm.edu
(505) 277-7416 / Fax (505) 277-6355
The DinŽ (Navajo) Language Program at the University of New Mexico provides two years (four semesters) of basic language course work and more advanced courses for adults, who do not have to be Navajo or American Indian to participate. The program, which began in 1969, was developed by a team of two linguists, a graduate student, and three native-speaking students. Students and faculty in this UNM program also have worked to maintain or preserve Native American languages in New Mexico and elsewhere by assisting members of the Jicarilla Apache, Mescalero Apache, and other tribes in language description, sociolinguistic assessment, teacher training, and materials development. This work is offered at the university campus, a tribal facility, or community settings. Experimental dictionary work is featured on the program's web site.
Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA)
Victor
Golla, Secretary-Treasurer SSILA
P. O. Box 555
Arcata, CA 95518
gollav@axe.humboldt.edu
(707) 826-4324 / Fax: (707) 826-4418
The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA) was founded in 1981 as an international scholarly organization. Membership in SSILA is open to anyone interested in the scientific study of the indigenous languages of North, Central and South America. SSILA currently has more than 850 members. All members receive the SSILA Newsletter, a quarterly publication that contains news, announcements, notices of recent publications, current journal contents, and a listing of recent dissertations. SSILA holds an annual winter meeting, featuring several sessions on various aspects of American Indian linguistics. It is held in alternate years with the American Anthropological Association and with the Linguistic Society of America. SSILA maintains an on-line catalog of dictionaries, descriptive grammars, bilingual narratives, tapes, and other language learning materials for more than 75 indigenous languages in North America.
Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT)
Audrey
Cournia, Executive Director
SWCOLT
1348 Coachman Drive
Sparks NV 89434-2560
http://www.learnalanguage.org/SWCOLT
acournia@compuserve.com
(702) 358-6943 / Fax: (702) 358-1605
SWCOLT is a nonprofit organization that serves a region that includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Topics of concern are foreign language instruction and international studies. An annual conference is held in each state on a rotating basis. Workshops and sessions benefit foreign language and, to a limited extent, ESL and American Indian teachers. Awards to exceptional teachers in the region are given annually, and scholarships and grants are made available to teachers from the Southwest. Membership in SWCOLT is currently $45.00 per year, which includes mailings and a complementary breakfast at the annual meeting. The annual meeting is open to members and nonmembers alike.
University of Oklahoma Language Classes
Morris
Foster, Professor or Gus Palmer, Jr., Adjunct Instructor of Native
Languages
Department of Anthropology
Dale Hall Tower, 5th Floor, Room 505
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK 73069
(405) 325-3729
The University of Oklahoma offers language instruction in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Kiowa languages. Classroom instruction is offered at three course levels. Students must attend the university but do not have to be American Indian. The program began in 1991 out of interest that had developed in Indian communities and at the university.
