Appendix B: Advice about Native Language Education

Quotes from Questionnaires:

Teaching Strategies

Involve several native speakers.
--Dr. Carolyn Quintero, President, Inter Lingua, Inc. in Tulsa, OK

Try total immersion first.
--Geneva Navarro, Instructor for Comanche language classes in Albuquerque and SantaFe, NM

Always speak to children and elders in the native language even though they may not understand you.
--Donna Pino Martinez, Director, Department of Education, Santa Ana Pueblo in NM

Curriculum Materials

Set aside a day for materials development.
--Donna Pino Martinez, Director, Department of Education, Santa Ana Pueblo in NM

Materials are produced by the teacher, as textbooks and other materials have not been developed for classroom purposes. ... Textbooks, materials for teaching were not made available.
--LeRoy Sealy, Choctaw Teacher, Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Kiowa Public School in Kiowa, OK

Teacher Qualifications and Certification

Line up good teachers and make sure the learning objectives are clear.
--Norman Carey, former Head of School, Native American Preparatory School in Rowe, NM

Find a way around certification and other "passports" that the bureaucracy often mandates.
--Faculty members, Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM

Getting Started

Work with the tribal government and community first, before developing a program. Stay focused on your goals. Be flexible but clear about what your plans are with the community, government, and schools.
--Roxanne Gorman, Director, Navajo Nation Office of Teacher Education in Window Rock, AZ

Don't wait for financial backing to help you. You will only delay the process that needs to start today. Sacrifice and hard work will get you started. Others will see what you are doing, and help will arrive.
--Warren Hawk, Loyal Shawnee Tribe in Tahlequah, OK

If I were giving advice to someone thinking of starting a program, I might include:

Do it immediately.
--Dr. Carolyn Quintero, President, Inter Lingua, Inc. in Tulsa, OK

Need for Training or Technical Assistance

Training in teaching Native languages is needed.
--LeRoy Sealy, Choctaw Teacher, Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Kiowa Public School in Kiowa, OK

Use a linguist to facilitate language learning; otherwise, you'll get mere word lists, most likely. Success among language learning groups in a tribe may be limited because of orthography and pronunciation problems or a lack of understanding of the grammar. They are to be encouraged, however, not condemned.
--Dr. Carolyn Quintero, President, Inter Lingua, Inc. in Tulsa, OK

Have a person who is knowledgeable about computers. A young person is helpful to explain what they hear.
-- Jane E. McGeisey, Chairperson, Seminole Language Curriculum Committee

We have tried different techniques. Recently we have been trying total immersion. Difficulty and discouragement of some [of the students]. We keep trying different methods of teaching. We're very interested in tips on teaching strategies.
-- Geneva Navarro, Instructor for Comanche language classes in Albuquerque and SantaFe, NM

Language Preservation Strategies

Seriously consider and understand the underlying issues regarding static types of language preservation (e.g., dictionaries and written materials) and what is necessary for creating new generations of Native fluent speakers. Also, understand the limitations of relying only on school-based efforts to teach language.
-- Christine Sims, Board Chairperson, Linguistic Institute for Native Americans (LINA)

Don't be distracted by showy activities that don't lead to the increased possibility of "intergenerational transmission" of the language, i.e., the likelihood that native speakers will enable their children to acquire the language as their home language. We learned through conducting a conference at Northern Arizona University a year or so ago that there are a lot of people talking about Native language programs who aren't doing much (besides talking) and a smaller number of people who are doing something but are not going to meetings or talking or writing about it. The real question is how to find out about these people and what they are doing.
--Wayne Holm, Navajo Nation Language Project, Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ

Most tribes are quite wary of outsiders who wish to study their languages. This reluctance may hinder preservation work on moribund languages, but it supports an identity that may in fact contribute to maintaining the language.
-- Faculty members, Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM

Respective Roles of Schools, Parents, and Communities

Preserving a native language begins at home, therefore parents and grandparents should be made to realize the importance of language preservation through any means available.
--Shirley Doucet, Education Director, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana in Elton, LA

Start with the parents. Get parental support and involvement! Young parents need to know or understand the importance of Native language retention. Parents need to be involved and not leave it totally to the schools to teach Native languages.
--Lena Naton, Assistant Director, Federal Programs, Bloomfield Schools

Promote interest in communities and cooperation with an institution.
--Gus Palmer, Jr., Kiowa Language Instructor, University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK

Start with the elders of the community for advice.
--Anne M. Nelson, Title VII Director, Marble City School in OK

We have redirected our training efforts most recently towards helping New Mexico pueblos and tribes address issues of Native language teaching. We strongly believe that continued maintenance of Native languages is best done and accomplished when communities become involved in language teaching. We have shifted our immediate training efforts from school-based programs to community-directed efforts, assisting on-site with community language survey design; community language planning; and training Native speakers in methods for heritage language teaching. We also serve as an advocacy group for Native language issues with the New Mexico State Department of Education and New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education.

Building a foundation for community support of Native language teaching and awareness of critical issues relative to language vitality must be a crucial element of "preserving" languages. Schools, because of their inherent agendas for teaching other things, cannot be expected to fully carry the responsibility for language teaching. Effective methods for language teaching, when implemented correctly, can help support such efforts, but these must of necessity include Native speakers who know the languages most fluently. Schools also must be made to understand that in cases where language retention or revitalization is at a critical stage, issues of certification and the like become moot points. What becomes critical are the quality of linkages established between school and community, and between generations in a given language community. I applaud SEDL's efforts to support information networking, but the work of Native language "preservation" is in the trenches, so to speak. That is, working in communities or at least providing appropriate technical resources to Native communities.
--Christine Sims, Board Chairperson, Linguistic Institute for Native Americans (LINA)

Staying Informed and in Touch with One's Tribe

Research your language and get your tribe involved.
--Christine Armer, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in Tahlequah, OK

Involve tribal elders.
--Faculty members, Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM

Get the tribal council involved in supporting the program. Involve as many community members as are willing to participate. Go to the elders; they won't come to you.
--Donna Pino Martinez, Director, Department of Education, Santa Ana Pueblo in NM

Recognition by the tribal council is a big help. Talk to your tribal council to sell the idea to them.
--Frances Harney, Project Coordinator, Tewa Language Restoration Project, San Juan Pueblo in NM

Keep the interested people informed of all current happenings of the tribe. Encourage students to continue studies, reading and learning about tribal history. Stay in touch with your own tribal members and relatives and research your own tribal bands and family trees.
--Geneva Navarro, Instructor for Comanche language classes in Albuquerque and SantaFe, NM

Language as a Core Component of Cultural Identity

Develop a strong sense of community identity in general and of the language as a key emblem of that identity.
--Faculty members, Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM

Keep your language going. Without it "You are no more."
--Christine Armer, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in Tahlequah, OK

Without a language, you don't have a culture, tradition, or identity. This is what we need our children to know. Some of our children are related, and they don't even know. Identity comes from the language, and that's where your respect comes from.
--Frances Harney, Project Coordinator, Tewa Language Restoration Project, San Juan Pueblo in NM

Know that our ancestors had a long hard struggle trying to keep our identity, and we will not disappear with the fog, as one history book claimed.
--Geneva Navarro, Instructor for Comanche language classes in Albuquerque and SantaFe, NM

Determination, Hard Work, and Perseverance

Don't give up if only one or two people show up for class.
--Donna Pino Martinez, Director, Department of Education, Santa Ana Pueblo in NM

Set your standards high and do not compromise.
--Gina Stanley, Coordinator of Alternative Education, Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah, OK

Be prepared for long hours of work, need for careful attention to details, some resistance from English-oriented community members, and, best of all, a great deal of satisfaction with each successful step.
--Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Professor, Tewa Language Restoration Project, University of Washington in Seattle, WA

Work very hard.
--Gus Palmer, Jr., Kiowa Language Instructor, University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK

It takes a lot of discipline and dedication along with the desire to see your native language continue.
--Warren Hawk, Loyal Shawnee Tribe in Tahlequah, OK

Put your whole heart into the work and don't give up when you come to a stump; leap over and keep going.
--LeRoy Sealy, Choctaw Teacher, Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Kiowa Public School in Kiowa, OK

Advice given to a group with only two speakers left: "If it doesn't work the first time, don't give up. Talk to your tribal council to sell the idea to them."
--Frances Harney, Project Coordinator, Tewa Language Restoration Project, San Juan Pueblo in NM

Be prepared to work long and hard; this must be a long-term commitment.
--Wayne Holm, Navajo Nation Language Project, Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ

Assessment of Language Use or Vitality

I would caution that information about language status needs to be carefully considered for public dissemination, especially when few Native language communities have had the resources and technical expertise to adequately survey language status. Also, many tribes have not yet established authoritative offices which work solely on language issues. As such, information reported should be solicited from individuals in a community who have a working knowledge of that language community.
--Christine Sims, Board Chairperson, Linguistic Institute for Native Americans (LINA)

The "Language Use Categories" on the back [of the questionnaire] show how quickly data goes out of date. We now know from both Paul Platero's research and mine that it is not the case that "Most Navajo children on the Reservation learn only Navajo until they begin school."

In Congressional testimony, Mike Krauss suggested that there were only 20 tribes which still had child-speakers. This reinforces how important it is that you ask your respondents to give you information on what children and adolescents can do now and what adults do now, rather than what elders once did.
--Wayne Holm, Navajo Nation Language Project, Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ

Funding and Administration

Avoid a tribal government that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has declared "high risk" for grants and contracts if you want to obtain grants for a language program. The Administration for Native Americans should allow Native American community-based organizations with a 501(c)(3) IRS tax exemption to compete for language preservation funds. Tribal governments are sometimes too dysfunctional.
--Anonymous

Other

I am happy that someone is interested in helping to save our native languages. If I can be of help, please let me know. If I can help just one person to know the basics of the Choctaw language, then I will feel that my work has not been in vain. Yakoke, Chi Kana! (Thank you, my friend!)
--LeRoy Sealy, Choctaw Teacher, Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Kiowa Public School in Kiowa, OK

Actually, we have developed a rather extensive piece of written advice to people thinking about starting a language program.
--Wayne Holm, Navajo Nation Language Project, Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ