Celebrating Native American Heritage Month
November is Native American and Alaska Native Heritage month, and it brings with it plenty of good news about Alaska Native languages!
First of all, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell signed the Native Languages Bill (House Bill 216) late last month. The bill made 20 Alaska Native languages official in the state. This was particularly poignant because the use of many Native languages had been outlawed in Alaska’s past. The languages recognized in the bill are: Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unangax, Dena'ina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich'in, Tanana, Upper Tanana, Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unangax, Dena'ina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich'in, Tanana, Upper Tanana, Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian.
It’s sobering to note that Alaska is only the second state in the USA to officially recognize indigenous languages; Hawaii is the only other.
And, although the Native Languages Bill does not require official papers such as ballots to be translated into Alaska Native languages, many rural voters were pleased that they finally won the fight to get translated ballots for this week’s election. Alaska Native turnout was said to be improved in some rural areas because of the new availability of translated ballots. A recent Alaska Dispatch News article also highlighted the importance of official translations of legal and technical terms into Native languages.
We’d love to congratulate all of the Awesome Alaskans who have seen their hard work on language revitalization pay off. One of the names that we see frequently in news reports about this cause is that of University of Alaska Southeast Native Languages Professor Lance Twitchell. He has been a key figure in the public discussion about the importance of Native languages, including during a 15-hour sit-in at the Capitol. Here are some of his passionate remarks from February about the importance of Native Languages.
Recently, we’ve also enjoyed reading the reports (and seeing the social media posts) from the First Alaskans Institute Youth and Elders and the Alaska Federation of Natives conferences in Anchorage in October. Language preservation was again an important topic at both of these gatherings.
More good links:
Thinking of taking a class in Alaska Native languages? Now might be a good time to start planning for 2015! Here’s the course list for the current semester at the Alaska Native Language Center. Some classes are in Fairbanks, while others are distance-learning courses.
Read the presidential proclamation of American Indian Heritage month here.
If you’re in Juneau, you can take in the noon “brown-bag” lecture series on Native heritage presented by the Sealaska Heritage Institute. Here’s one of the videos from this series that took place for American Indian Heritage month last year, by Professor Stephen Langdon.