Congressional hearing focuses on native languages (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

6:53 am: Congressional hearing focuses on native languages

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 1, 2006
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/48631.html#

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The chairman of the U.S. House Education and
Workforce Committee has warned educators and members of the American
Indian community that only 20 indigenous languages are expected to
remain viable over the next four decades.

To lose these languages is to lose a significant piece of American
history, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., said Thursday during a
hearing that highlighted the decline of Indian languages and efforts to
reverse the trend.

"As a result of this rapid decline, some communities across the country
have made language recovery and preservation one of their highest
priorities," he said.

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., hosted Thursday's hearing. She is
sponsoring legislation _ the Native American Languages Preservation Act
_ that would establish grants for Indian language educational
organizations, colleges, governments and groups that work to preserve
native cultures and languages through immersion programs.

Wilson said native languages, once lost, can never be recovered.

"Native languages are part of our rich heritage as New Mexicans," she
said.

Amadeo Shije, chairman of the All Indian Pueblos Council in Albuquerque,
said access to education through immersion programs can help preserve
Indian culture.

"For the 19 pueblos (of New Mexico), the link between education,
language and culture is fundamental and cannot be stressed enough as we
preserve to maintain our identities," Shije said.

Ryan Wilson, president of the National Indian Education Association,
told committee members that Indians continue to use their native
languages for ceremonies, prayers, stories and sons.

"Our languages connect us to our ancestors, our traditional ways of life
and our histories. For us, the survival of our cultures and identities
is inextricably linked to the survival of our languages," he said. "If
our languages die, then it is inevitable that our cultures will die
next."

Christine Sims, professor of language literacy at the University of New
Mexico, told the committee there is a growing number of community-based
education systems that are helping recover native languages.

She pointed to New Mexico, where statutory laws support the
establishment of heritage language programs as a new category of
state-funded bilingual programs. She added that tribes also are
developing their own processes for certifying tribal members as
language instructors in the public schools.