Blackfeet Tribal youth offers invocation in State Senate (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Glacier Reporter

Blackfeet Tribal youth offers invocation in State Senate
http://www.goldentrianglenews.com/articles/2005/03/02/glacier_reporter/news/news4.txt

Senate President Jon Tester invited Jesse DesRosier, a 16-year-old
citizen of the Blackfeet and Gros Ventre Nations, to offer an
invocation in the Montana State Senate on Feb. 17.

"It is always a pleasure to showcase the successes of our young people,"
Tester said. "For our American Indian communities, native language
preservation is critical. Jesse embodies the dedication it takes to
preserve a native language."

In the Blackfeet language, DesRosier is called Ahsinapoii, or He Who
Speaks Cree, a name that his great-grandfather also held because of the
ability to speak many different tribal languages.

DesRosier is a sophomore at Valier High School. A speaker of the
Blackfeet Tribal language, from the fourth to the eighth grade,
DesRosier attended the Nizipuhwahsin Blackfeet language immersion
program of the Piegan Institute in Browning.

Nizipuhwahsin, or Real Speak School, has been nationally recognized as a
successful and effective model for native language immersion using a
multi-generational approach. Nizipuhwahsin began in 1995, and today the
school teaches a standard curriculum to children ages five to 12 years
of age using the Blackfeet language.

While at Nizipuhwahsin and with ongoing support from his family and
community, DesRosier has flourished with the gift of expressing himself
in his native language. In addition to cultural work in his community,
DesRosier also plays high school basketball and football.

In 2001, DesRosier testified in both the Blackfeet and English
languages, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,
regarding support of native language preservation programs within the
Native American Languages Act.

DesRosier is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe and lives in
Browning with his mother, father, three brothers and one sister.