American Indian program aims to preserve Navajo language (fwd)

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American Indian program aims to preserve Navajo language

Date: Wednesday, July 06 @ 00:00:30
Topic Top Stories

In a region well known for its penchant for family history, Eileen
Quintana takes a somewhat less traditional approach to her heritage.

She helps 250 area American Indian children learn the Navajo language,
traditions and culture, from pronunciation of the vowels to the
ceremonies.

"The reason why we believe it's very, very important to teach Navajo ...
is we want to keep the language," she said. "So much of our culture is
within the language."

Quintana is the program manager of the Nebo/Juab Title VII Indian
Education program. She works with several children from throughout the
area from 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday during the regular school
year, teaching them to speak, read and write Navajo. Quintana said many
of them have family who still speak Navajo, and the students are
excited about being able to visit their relatives and greet them or
carry on a short conversation in the family's native language.

Plus, she keeps records of grades, school attendance and any problems
the children may be having, and the program provides access to tutors.
They also can log onto an electronic high school program and earn
credits through online courses. The students and their families go on
field trips to BYU, Thanksgiving Point and area museums.

About 85 percent of the students are Navajo; the rest belong to one of
about 16 tribes represented in Utah and Juab counties.

So far the reaction has been good; the program has grown from less than
a dozen to 249 students, and funding has more than quadrupled since
1998. The program is funded by federal grants, including one from the
Utah Arts Council for the Artists-in-Residence program, which pays to
bring artists to class.

"We really see a lot of benefits because we feel like their culture is
validated," said Brenda Beyal, on-site coordinator for the
Artists-in-Residence program. "They're able to see minority adults as
role models."

Learning about art and creating their own is a good way to experience
culture as well, she said.

For Betty Tanner's three children, the program is a fun way to learn.
They have been involved in the program for several years, and her
children have made pouches, learned songs and dances and performed at
the Olympics in the Navajo village, in her oldest son's case. The irony
is, her children aren't even Navajo.

"My kids are actually Chippewa, so they haven't necessarily learned a
lot about their heritage," she said.

Tanner still wants to keep them participating as long as possible,
though.

The most important part, Quintana said, is teaching the students about
their Navajo heritage and helping them to understand how important that
heritage is to them, even far away from the reservation.

"For a people to survive, they had to rely on each other," she said. "My
clan and my family history are more important than my name."

She hopes to instill self-identity and a connection with the past in her
students, which will then inspire the students to work harder and
accomplish those things they want to.

Plus, knowing another language is beneficial for every child; Quintana
said students who are bilingual tend to earn higher scores on national
tests and do better in school.

The program, so far, has accomplished that. The graduation rate for
American Indians in the area was about 37 percent in 1998, Quintana
said. Last year it was 94.2 percent.

And while she is proud of the work accomplished here, Quintana said
there is much more to be done, as the national average graduation rate
for American Indians is below 50 percent.

"And how the hell we allow that to stay baffles me," she said.

HEIDI TOTH can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth at heraldextra.com.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.

This article comes from The Daily Herald
http://www.newutah.com/[1]

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