Language bill will go to president following Senate passage (fwd)

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Language bill will go to president following Senate passage

© Indian Country Today December 07, 2006. All Rights Reserved
Posted: December 07, 2006
by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414125

WASHINGTON - Late Dec. 6, the Senate passed a bill authorizing a grants
program for Native language nest and language survival schools within
the Department of Health and Human Services. H.R. 4766 passed the
Senate by unanimous consent after coming over from the House of
Representatives, where it had been introduced by Rep. Heather Wilson,
R-N.M.

The bill will become law upon the president's signature. The grants
program it authorizes will be administered by the Administration for
Native Americans within HHS. ANA already administers discretionary
grants to Native language programs.

The bill overcame many obstacles as its advocates argued that learning a
Native language in an immersion school setting, alongside the usual use
and study of English, would improve Indian academic achievement. The
bill had to make headway in an ''English only'' climate and overcame
the initial opposition of Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. Its final
opponent proved to be Sen. Charles Coburn, R-Okla., who relented when
assured that Native language immersion schooling is not a hindrance to
English language acquisition.

Ryan Wilson, president of the National Alliance to Save Native
Languages, campaigned for the bill from his current position and as
past president of the National Indian Education Association. He said
the appearance of Navajo code talkers - veterans who had provided the
U.S. military forces with an unbreakable communications code based on
the unwritten Navajo tongue - on Capitol Hill in November had convinced
key senators to support the bill.