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<h1 class="entry-title eltd-post-title">State crisis? Lost languages to join opioids ’emergency’ declaration</h1>
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<div>Gov. Walker <span style="text-decoration:underline"><strong><a href="https://gov.alaska.gov/newsroom/2017/02/governor-walker-issues-disaster-declaration-on-opioid-epidemic/">declared a state disaster </a></strong></span>in
February. The disaster is opioids, and his act made anti-overdose drugs
widely available. It is the first such declaration in Alaska that
didn’t pertain to an actual natural or economic disaster.</div>
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<div>Last week, the Tlingit Haida Central Council marched on the Capitol to demand a “linguistic emergency” be declared.</div>
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<div>The problem? The Senate majority, not completely sold on the House
majority concept of a language emergency, was trying to tame a
resolution and instead label Alaska’s dying languages an “urgent”
problem.</div>
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<div>That was not enough: Tlingits who marched through the halls wanted
it to be declared an official state emergency by the governor.</div>
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<div>Alaska Native languages are on the wane and most will be gone by
the end of the century, if nothing is done to preserve them. Government
must act, advocates say, although many conservatives would argue it is
not the government’s role to save a certain language from extinction.</div>
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<div>Indeed, none of the Alaska Native Corporations conduct their meetings in Tlingit, Yup’ik, or Deg Xinag.</div>
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<p>Rep. Daniel Ortiz of Ketchikan, a member of the Democrat-led majority
introduced HCR 19 this session to declare the linguistic emergency.</p>
<p>The declaration would set the state up to to budget funds that would
be used to preserve the languages, although it’s unclear how such money
would be made available, since the bill has a fiscal note of zero.</p>
<p>Likely, the next step would be to introduce a law that requires the dying languages be taught in public schools.</p><p style="text-align:center"><a href="http://hawkins2018.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://mustreadalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Hawkins-for-governour.png" alt="Hawkins"></a></p>
<p>The movement started back in 2014, when Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins
got a bill passed that added 20 Native languages as official languages
of Alaska. That bill also drew a Native-led sit-in that lasted 15 hours
in the Capitol.</p>
<p>Official Alaska languages include Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central
Alaskan Yup’ik, Alutiiq, Unanga, Dena’ina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk,
Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich’in, Tanana, Upper Tanana, Tanacross,
Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. It was a start,
language advocates said. There will be more to do.</p>
<p>The “more to do” is lined out in the HCR 19 sponsor statement from Rep. Ortiz:</p>
<p><em>“The state has moved in the right direction by acknowledging and
recognizing the 20 Alaska Native languages as official languages of the
state; however, recognition is just the first step. The intent of this
resolution is to heed the suggestions put forth by the Alaska Native
Language Preservation and Advisory Council (ANLPAC).</em></p>
<p><em>“The Council strongly urges that the Governor issue an
Administrative Order, recognizing the linguistic emergency that exists,
and state that it is the policy of the State of Alaska to actively
promote the survival and continued use of all of Alaska’s 20 Native
languages.</em></p>
<p><em>“In their 2018 Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature,
ANLPAC warned that all 20 Alaska Native languages are in crisis, and
most are predicted to become extinct or dormant by the end of the 21st
century. The State of Alaska can no longer sustain these rates of
language loss unless policy changes are enacted that support people who
are learning and speaking Alaska Native languages throughout the state.</em></p>
<p><em>“The loss of language represents the loss of a critical piece of
our history, culture, and a traditional way of life. I respectfully
request the Legislature join me in support of ANLPAC and the languages
that represent intergenerational knowledge.”</em></p>
<p>The bill is now in Senate Rules and is scheduled for a Monday vote on the floor.</p></div></div></div></article>
<br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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