[Senate Hearing 108-107]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 108-107
NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
S. 575
TO AMEND THE NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE SUPPORT
OF NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SURVIVAL SCHOOLS
__________
MAY 15, 2003
WASHINGTON, DC
87-260 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2003
____________________________________________________________________________
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpr.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512�091800
Fax: (202) 512�092250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402�090001
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Chairman
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Vice Chairman
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona, KENT CONRAD, North Dakota
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico HARRY REID, Nevada
CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota
GORDON SMITH, Oregon MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
Paul Moorehead, Majority Staff Director/Chief Counsel
Patricia M. Zell, Minority Staff Director/Chief Counsel
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
S. 575, text of.................................................. 2
Statements:
Brown, William Y., director, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI..... 55
Cheek, John, director, National Indian Education Association,
Alexandria, VA............................................. 58
Chock, Jennifer, director, Program Planning and Development.. 55
Coosewon, Rita, Comanche language instructor, Comanche Nation
College, Lawton, OK........................................ 38
Dinwoodie, David, Department of Anthropology, University of
New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM................................ 57
Demmert, Jr., William, Professor of Education, Woodring
College of Education, Western Washington University,
Bellingham, WA............................................. 30
DesRosier, Joycelyn, Piegan Institute/Nizipuhwahsin School,
Browning, MT...............................................
37
Hermes, Mary, assistant professor of education, University of
Minnesota, Duluth, MN...................................... 49
Herrera, Carla, Pueblo DeCochiti............................. 26
Hinton, Leanne, president, Society for the Study of the
Indigenous Languages of the Americas, Berkely, CA.......... 24
Ho'opai, Holo, student, Ke Kula `o Nawahiokalani'opu'u,
Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI............. 44
Inouye, Hon. Daniel K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii, vice
chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs...................... 1
Kaplan, Lawrence D., director, Alaska Native Language Center,
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK.............. 47
Kawaiaea, Keiki, director, Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher
Education Program, and director, Hale Kuamoo Hawaiian
Language Center, Ka Haka Ula o Keelikolani (Hawaiian
College)................................................... 42
LaPier, Rosalyn, Piegan Institute/Nizipuhwahsin School,
Browning, MT............................................... 35
LaRonge, Lisa, Ojibwe Language Immersion School, Hayward, WI. 49
Leno, Vina, Acoma Pueblo..................................... 26
Navarro, Geneva, Comanche language instructor, Comanche
Nation College, Lawton, OK................................. 38
Pecos, Travis, Pueblo DeCochiti.............................. 26
Rawlins, Namaka, director, 'Aha Punana Leo, Inc., Hilo, HI... 46
Romero, Mary Eunice, College of Education, University of
Arizona, Tucson, AZ........................................ 28
Silva, Kalena, director, Ka Haka `Ula o Ke' Elikolani
College, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI............ 42
Sims, Christine, chairwoman, Linguistic Institute for Native
Americans and member of Pueblo of Acoma, NM................ 26
Wilson, William, Ka Haka `Ula o Ke' Elikolani College,
University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI..................... 44
Worl, Rosita, Sealaska Heritage Institute, University of
Alaska Southeast, Juneau, AK............................... 33
Appendix
Prepared statements:
Brown, William Y............................................. 65
Cheek, John.................................................. 69
Coosewon, Rita (with letter)................................. 75
Demmert, Jr., William (with attachment)...................... 78
DesRosier, Joycelyn.......................................... 63
Dinwoodie, David............................................. 84
Hermes, Mary................................................. 91
Hinton, Leanne............................................... 94
Ho'opai, Holo................................................ 99
Inouye, Hon. Daniel K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii, vice
chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs...................... 61
Kaplan, Lawrence D........................................... 101
Kawaiaea, Keiki.............................................. 104
Krauss, Michael E., founding director, Alaska ative Language
Center..................................................... 101
La Marr, Cindy, president-elect, National Indian Education
Association................................................ 109
LaPier, Rosalyn.............................................. 113
McCarty, Ph.D., Teresa L. (with Attachments)................. 116
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, U.S. Senator from Alaska............... 62
Navarro, Geneva (with attachment)............................ 126
Rawlins, Namaka.............................................. 129
Romero, Mary Eunice.......................................... 135
Sims, Christine.............................................. 140
Wilson, William.............................................. 145
Additional material submitted for the record:
Albers, Patricia C., professor and chairperson, Department of
American Indian Studies, University of Minnesota (letter).. 151
Blackfeet Nation (resolution)................................ 153
From Ocean Icons To Prime Suspects, Blaine Harden, Washington
Post article............................................... 155
Sealaska Heritage Institute (proposed amendments)............ 157
NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2003
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:42 a.m. in
room 485, Russell Senate Building, Hon. Daniel K. Inouye (vice
chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Inouye, Campbell, and Murkowski.
STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE, U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII,
VICE CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
Senator Inouye. I am sorry for all this inconvenience. I
hope you will forgive us. We have 34 amendments remaining on
the tax bill, and it is considered a very important measure, so
it will be stop and go for a while. But I can assure you that I
will be here all day and all night, if necessary.
I have an opening statement, but I think all of you will
agree with me that language is important; it is a link to the
past, and I think it is an anchor for the future. We, in
Hawaii, like the native people of Indian country, had to go
through an experience where, forcibly, native languages were
taken away. But today I am happy to report to you that in the
State of Hawaii, the Hawaiian language is one of the State's
official languages is taught in public schools, and we have
found by studies and experience that those who are in the
language immersion program generally have better academic
performance; we have more students seeking higher education
going through this method.
[Prepared statement of Senator Inouye appears in appendix.]
[Text of S. 575 follows:]
Senator Inouye. So with that may I call upon the first
panel: Leanne Hinton, president of the Society for the Study of
Indigenous Languages of the Americas, of Berkeley, California;
Christine Sims, chairwoman, Linguistic Institute for Native
Americans and member of Pueblo of Acoma, of New Mexico, who
will be accompanied by Vina Leno of Acoma Pueblo, Carla
Herrera, Pueblo de Cochiti; and Travis Pecos, Pueblo de
Cochiti; Mary Eunice Romero, College of Education, University
of Arizona, Tucson; and William Demmert, Jr., Professor of
Education, Woodring College of Education, Western Washington
University, Bellingham, WA.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
May I first recognize Dr. Leanne Hinton.
STATEMENT OF LEANNE HINTON, PRESIDENT, SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF
THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES OF THE AMERICAS, BERKELEY, CA
Ms. Hinton. Thank you very much, Senator Inouye.
I come from California, which is probably the most diverse
part of this diverse country in terms of indigenous languages.
Out of probably 85 to 100 indigenous languages that used to
exist in California, one-half of them are gone now, with only
documentation from linguists to recognize their existence; and
the other one-half, about 50 living languages today, the vast
majority of them have 5 or fewer speakers, all over 70 years
old.
But California, like other parts of the United States and
like other parts of the world, has been going through a
strengthening movement to make sure that their own original
identity isn't lost, even as they adapt, per force, to the
dominant society. Language is the center of these efforts, and
it is wonderful to see that American language policy toward
Native Americans has started to move in the same direction that
the Native Americans themselves are moving in to try to keep
their languages alive, to begin to see Native American
languages as a resource rather than as a problem.
As you know, for the vast majority of languages all over
the country and, in fact, all over the world, very few people
are learning them at home anymore, and so the problem is how to
get new speakers if they are not learning them at home. And it
is demonstrably true that the fastest and most effective way to
get a critical mass of new fluent speakers of an endangered
language is through the schools, the same institution that was
used to destroy those very languages in the past. The languages
are silent at home and in the community, and so the only path
to fluency at this time is through language nests and language
survival schools, where the main instruction language is the
indigenous language itself.
The Hawaiians and Blackfeet both named in S. 575 have done
an admirable job of developing highly successful language nests
and language survival schools, and have served as models to
many other tribes, and we know through their hard work and
leadership that these systems work successfully to educate
students to be literate and fluent in their ancestral language
and accustomed to using it in daily communication, and also are
literate and fluent in English and fully prepared to go on to
higher education in English-speaking institutions.
Other language nests and survival schools have also
developed or are currently being planned around the country,
such as those of the Cochitis and Acomas in New Mexico, the
Yuroks in California, the Ojibwe in Wisconsin, the Washoes in
Nevada, the Mohawks in New York, the Lakotas in South and North
Dakota, among others. ANA funding, granted by Congress through
1992 Native American Languages Act, has been vital to the
development of these programs, and I trust it will last for a
very long time.
There are many challenges to developing good survival
schools, but they are surmountable. One of the severest
challenges is often that those who know the language are too
old to teach. And at the same time there are young tribal
members who can teach, but don't know the language. How can
these dedicated tribal members learn their ancestral tongues?
In Hawaii there are universities and colleges where they can
learn these things, but in California there is not.
The Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival
and the University of California have been trying to develop
solutions to this problem. In particular, the Master-Apprentice
Language Learning Program for languages where professional-aged
tribal members who didn't learn their language at home can
begin to do so through intense apprenticeship to a speaker, and
this model has been spreading through the country.
I must say that from the vantage point of my home State,
very few of the many tribes of California will be able to
benefit from this bill. They are small tribes to begin with,
with only a handful of elderly speakers, and so getting the
critical mass of fluent speakers to even teach the language in
the first place is the big challenge for us. And there is a
sentence in 575 that says that small communities whose
languages have few or no speakers can be assisted by language
colleges or language survival schools, but this is vague and
indirect, and I have been charged by the California Indians who
I have been speaking to in the last few days to plead for close
attention to the needs of these small groups.
This is a sad time for Native American languages, many of
which are disappearing before our eyes, but it is also a very
exciting time when pioneering experiments in language
revitalization are taking place and we are seeing the wonderful
result of a new generation of children who are fluent in their
Native American language and fully bilingual in English as
well, with Hawaii leading the way in this. Long ago, previous
congressional acts devoted enormous efforts to the schools who
were charged with the eradication of Native American languages
and cultural traditions. Now, in this hopefully wiser time, it
behooves this Congress to devote an equivalent amount of effort
to help indigenous people regain the languages that were erased
from their lives, and I thank you for this bill.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Hinton appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Doctor. And you can be
assured that we will do our best to restore the languages, some
long forgotten, but they will be restored.
And now may I call upon Dr. Sims.
STATEMENT OF CHRISTINE SIMS, CHAIRWOMAN, LINGUISTIC INSTITUTE
FOR NATIVE AMERICANS AND MEMBER OF PUEBLO OF ACOMA, NM,
ACCOMPANIED BY VINA LENO, ACOMA PUEBLO; CARLA HERRERA, PUEBLO
de COCHITI; AND TRAVIS PECOS, PUEBLO de COCHITI
Ms. Sims. Senator Inouye, thank you for giving me the
opportunity to come and present our testimony.
My name is Christine P. Sims, and I come from the Pueblo of
Acoma, located in Northwestern New Mexico, and today I have
brought with me the director of our Acoma language project,
Vina Leno, who is sitting in the audience. I think she is in
the corner there. And we are also accompanied by two young
students from the Pueblo of Cochiti, they are also sitting in
the back, Carla Herrera, Travis Pecos from the Pueblo of
Cochiti.
Senator Inouye. Will you all please be seated at the table.
Ms. Sims. Senator Inouye, these young students are
representing the Pueblo of Cochiti, their tribe has sent them.
They are products of Cochiti's long efforts to implement
language immersion programs, and they have become speakers
again of their native language, and they will be coming back
again this summer as participants in the Congressional U.S.
Leadership Program. So this is their first introduction to
Washington.
Senator Inouye. Now they are senators.
Ms. Sims. Now they are senators.
Senator Inouye. Let us get into the top real quick.
On behalf of the Pueblo of Acoma, Senator Inouye, and the
Linguistic Institute, I appreciate this opportunity to present
our support of S. 575, as well as our recommendations to the
amendments proposed in the Native Languages Act. Today, as your
committee reviews this vital and important Act, our hope is
that this body will once more reaffirm its commitment to native
people and to the survival of their languages and culture.
As all of us know here in this room, for indigenous people
across this Nation, the significance of issues that are related
to language survival are inextricably entwined with cultural
survival. For many native communities, the continuance of
cultural values, traditions, and belief in governance systems
are dependent on this continued transmission of language.
Efforts to maintain and revise native language and to stem the
pace of language shift are being seriously pursued in many
communities throughout Indian country, through either school-
based programs or community-based programs.
Language revitalization efforts in my home State of New
Mexico are being implemented with tribes using community-based
approaches, their purpose being to create young generations of
speakers, as we see here in Travis and Carla today. The
emphasis is on creating speakers from within these communities,
and they are being taught by parents and traditional leaders
and fluent-speaking elders in the community. Some of the
efforts have been supported in part by language grants from the
Administration for Native Americans.
Among native language communities of the southwest, the
phenomenon of language shift is increasingly evident, although
it varies from community to community in a State like ours
where there are 21 different tribes and six major languages.
Among the Pueblo Indian tribes, language has always functioned
as the medium of spiritual and cultural life among the 19
Pueblo Indian tribes that speak these languages. The Athabascan
language spoken by the Apache and Navajo people are equally
vital to the continuation of their cultural heritage. Yet, we
are all faced with the reality that language survival is
threatened by tremendous socio-economic, educational, and
socio-cultural pressures in today's society.
The uniqueness of Pueblo languages in New Mexico reflects a
history of some of the oldest and longest sustained cultures in
this Nation. These languages have existed, and they still
function primarily within a sociocultural and a socioreligious
community context. As such, the oral tradition serves as a
critical vehicle by which a community such as mine maintains
its internal socio-cultural organization, its oral histories,
its knowledge, and its spiritual life ways. As well, the
theocratic nature of our traditional governance systems is
dependent on speakers who can use the language in all domains.
The implications for language loss, therefore, are
especially significant given this context. Moreover, the
erosion of these languages threatens the very core of spiritual
belief systems that have been the foundation and the stability
of Pueblo societies through countless generations. The survival
of these languages in the 21st century as oral-based languages
is a testimony to the resilience and the wisdom with which
tribal elders and leaders have steadfastly refused to give up
these languages.
As was mentioned earlier, the efforts of Cochiti Pueblo is
an example of some of the more positive efforts we are seeing
in our state with regard to language revitalization. Travis and
Carla here represent the hope of their community as young
people who will one day be leaders in their village, fluent in
the native language and capable of passing the language on to
yet another future generation. They represent the future of
young Native Americans who, while maintaining a healthy
connection to community and family, are just as capable as any
youngster in America in maintaining parity in academic
excellence.
The examples that I have noted today, Cochiti, as well as
in the Pueblos of Acoma, Taos, and others, have not been lost
on other tribes. We have seen many visitors come from within
the State as well as outside to see our immersion programs.
They include Ute Mountain Ute Tribes from Colorado, the San
Juan Paiutes, and others. This informal network of language
communities in the southwest represents a larger need for
training and preparing a cadre of internal tribal expertise. As
well, the unique set of considerations for language communities
such as Pueblo people, who must honor the oral nature and
traditions of their history, suggests that a demonstration
program situated in the southwest may in fact be better able to
serve their needs. Many tribes in the southwest find that close
proximity to other language programs in their immediate area
makes it possible to utilize tribal and limited program
resources more efficiently. As well, the informal support that
we draw from working with each other to develop new initiatives
provides an immediate resource of first-hand information that
is invaluable to training native speakers.
As I mentioned earlier, I chair an organization called the
Linguistic Institute for Native Americans. Over our 20-plus
year history, we have been able to help in efforts such as
those that I have just previously noted. The staff and training
expertise that we provide is drawn mainly from the University
of New Mexico's faculty who have expertise in native language
planning, language teacher training, language revitalization
issues, as well as experience in working in native language
communities.
In conclusion, the parameters within which many Pueblo
communities function as tribes whose social structures are
deeply rooted in traditional and oral forms of governance, as I
have explained here, suggest a consideration of a training and
demonstration program that we feel should be added into the
proposed amendments to the Native Languages Act. Given our
unique circumstances in the southwest, we hope this committee
will entertain a recommendation that a fourth center of
training be established that will serve native people of the
southwest, with a particular focus on the following areas:
Development and training programs for fluent speakers that will
prepare them for language teaching in the community;
development of administrative leadership that assists tribes
and communities to undertake and sustain long-term language
efforts; development of language teaching internships and
mentorships that will help build the internal capacity of
tribes to strengthen and sustain community-based language
efforts; development of instructional language materials that
will serve the needs of oral-based language traditions;
language policy research that examines the long-term effect of
Federal and State economic, social, and education policies on
the survival of indigenous forms of governances, and the role
that language plays in sustaining such systems; last,
facilitating an understanding between tribes and governmental
agencies about language survival issues that allows for
appropriate collaborative measures of intervention and support.
This concludes my testimony, Senator Inouye, and thank you
again for the opportunity to speak today.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Sims appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Dr. Sims.
You may have heard the bells. They are telling me I have 2
minutes left to get to the Senate floor for a vote, so I will
be running out of here. We will stand in recess for just a few
minutes, and when I return, Dr. Romero will testify. And when
the panel is completed, I have a few questions to ask.
[Recess.]
Senator Inouye. The hearing will please come to order.
And now may I recognize Dr. Eunice Romero.
STATEMENT OF MARY EUNICE ROMERO, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON, AZ
Ms. Romero. Honorable Chairman, vice chairman, and
committee members, thank you for the opportunity to testify
today, and for your support and commitment to the indigenous
nation's peoples and languages of this country. Today I would
like to present to you some invaluable lessons we have learned
in New Mexico and Arizona in regards to the native languages.
As Dr. Sims discussed, the community-based initiatives in
New Mexico are reaching some successes in renewing the
ancestral languages. Cochiti, like many other indigenous
communities, started out with no blueprint to guide us in
revitalizing our language. Although we had the Hawaiian 'Aha
Punana Leo preschool, the Maori language nest and the
California master-apprentice models to borrow bits and pieces
from, we realized in Cochiti that creating an approach that
embraced the intellectual and oral traditions of our community
required something different. Therefore, with the assistance of
the Linguistic Institute for Native Americans, a New Mexico-
based organization that provides technical assistance and
training resources for native speech communities and schools,
Cochiti began its language renewal initiatives, which
incorporated second language acquisition and immersion methods
and techniques. Our goal was, and continues to be, the creation
of new generations of Cochiti speakers. The two young Keres-
speaking Cochitis here today, Travis Pecos and Carla Herrera,
are from the first cohort of children who began learning
Cochiti in 1996.
The community-based language renewal initiatives in New
Mexico, although they are reaching some successes, and despite
these advances, communities often do not have the financial or
educational resources to effect any change. In this complex
process of language renewal, communities need language
teachers, materials, facilities, training on the teaching
approaches and techniques, technical assistance in language
program development, implementation, and long-term sustainment,
as well as research. Therefore, while we support all of the
proposed amendments, we also propose the inclusion of
additional centers for language renewal for the southwest
indigenous communities. The Linguistic Institute for Native
Americans would be an ideal organization for this purpose. LINA
is currently working with the New Mexico Tribal Nations and the
New Mexico State Board of Education in the development of
native language teacher licensure policies and requirements.
The American Indian Language Development Institute, AILDI, is a
summer institute held annually at the University of Arizona. It
assists educators and community members in the teaching of
indigenous languages in schools and communities. Along with
LINA, AILDI will greatly contribute to the southwest indigenous
language renewal efforts as university-based centers supported
and funded by this legislation.
Underway in other indigenous communities are school-based
language renewal efforts such as the Navajo, Yup'ik, Hawaiian
immersion education programs. Research and experience in
indigenous communities in this country and around the world
have proven that immersion education provides opportunities for
indigenous children to acquire the necessary native language
and cognitive competencies, while simultaneously developing
their English and academic competencies. This is why these
proposed amendments are crucial. They support practices and
learning pedagogy that have been proven effective in promoting
the acquisition of both native and English languages.
Unfortunately, despite these advances in reversing language
shift, standardization and English-only policies are exerting
pressure on communities and schools to abandon the teaching of
native languages. In our current research at the University of
Arizona, my colleagues, Dr. Teresa McCarty and Ofelia Zepeda,
and I are presently in our third year of a national study
examining the impact of native language shift and retention on
American Indian students' acquisition of English and academic
content. Our preliminary findings reveal that under the
pressure from current State and Federal educational
accountability mandates and high stakes testing, many native
language teachers in schools are abandoning the teaching of
native languages. For instance, one native elementary school
teacher, who had once been recognized by her school and
community as an ``expert teacher'' of the native language,
reported that she no longer uses the native language with her
students in her classroom because ``We don't have time to teach
the native language. We have been told to teach the
standards.'' This potent example reveals that as indigenous
communities are focusing on developing and implementing
effective approaches and techniques for the renewal of their
mother languages, these societal pressures are hindering their
efforts. Clearly, legislative acts such as the Native Language
Act and the proposed amendments are essential to the
restoration and perpetuation of this country's indigenous
languages.
Thank you.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Romero appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Dr. Romero.
And now may I recognize Dr. Demmert.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM DEMMERT, Jr., PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION,
WOODRING COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY,
BELLINGHAM, WA
Mr. Demmert. Thank you, Senator Inouye, for this
opportunity to testify. I have had the privilege of testifying
in earlier versions of this bill, and welcome the opportunity
to come back, in part because of the success that previous
legislation has had.
I have had an opportunity to review over 10,000 documents
that focus on the research of American Indians, and I have also
looked at those documents in terms of the influence of language
and cultural programs on academic performance of Indian
children. And you have heard some testimony that addresses one
of the main reasons, from the native community's perspective
why this is an important piece of legislation. The reason is
the support it gives culture and identity. Another very
important reason, of course, is whether or not it influences
improved academic performance. And, of course, there is a
third, and that is the influence on cognition generally.
In the 10,000 documents that I have had an opportunity to
review, the research has been divided into three parts:
Experimental studies, quasi-experimental studies, and non-
experimental studies. And out of that 10,000 we were able to
identify 193 that were of high enough quality to give us some
insights about the value of the language and cultural programs
in the classroom. I will define each of these so we have a
sense for what I am talking about.
Experimental studies include a research design that employs
a random assignment of subjects to treatment. That is the
highest level of research and there are certain standards that
must be met in order to be classified under this particular
type.
The second is quasi-experimental studies. This is a
research design that involves the assignment of intact groups
to treatment conditions; that means the group already exist.
Typically, the unit of analysis, or N, is not the same as the
sampling unit.
The third type is non-experimental studies, which
constitutes the bulk of the research that is available.
Generally speaking, they are what we call causal-comparative or
ex post facto designs. This may describe or explain what exists
and sometimes compares them to other existing groups.
The research generally does not say x causes Y; you need an
experimental or quasi-experimental design for that. But what we
do find, and I will cover what we have found, is that this
research helps develops hypotheses that we can use as support
concerning the influences of language and cultural programs to
improved academic performance. And I will briefly describe what
each of these are.
Heritage language. Native American children who are taught
using their heritage language will learn that language better
than children who are taught in a dominant second language.
Heritage language speaking children will lose competence in
their native language to some degree when the language of
instruction is the dominant language. That is sort of common
sense. Children who are more proficient in their heritage
language will also be more proficient in the dominant language.
I think that is an important principle to keep in mind. There
is some level of proficiency in a native language that must be
achieved and maintained in order to avoid the subtractive
effects of learning a second, dominant language. Last, programs
that include locally-based heritage language and cultural
elements will serve to strengthen the home-school
relationships. And this connection may be an intervening
variable explaining the increased student achievement.
These hypotheses fit very comfortably into three of the
theories that we have been using as part of the literature
review. The first is called cultural compatibility theory; the
second is cognitive theory; and the third is a cultural-
historical-activity theory, or CHAT. I won't go into what each
of these mean, but generally speaking it means that there must
be a high level of congruency between the culture of the school
and the culture of the community in order for students to
succeed.
I am also an investigator in a project with the RAND
Corporation that is reviewing the research literature, incuding
also looking at NAEP data, National Assessment of Educational
Progress data. David Grissmer is handling the NAEP piece, and
he reports that American Indian students have made gains in
reading, mathematics, and geography scores from 1990 to 2000.
He also assessed black and Hispanic students, and their scores
in reading and math, and the longer Native Students stay in
school, the closer the gap between black and Hispanics and
American Indian students. In other words, the black students
and Hispanic students start gaining on the Native American
students. The exception to these finding is geography, where
Native American students do as well as anyone. We don't know
the reason for that, but this is an interesting statistic in
its own right and probably worth looking at.
The bulk of the research in the literature, as I mentioned,
is non-experimental, and one of the reasons I was interested in
presenting testimony here is that we really need to take a
careful look under some sort of causal comparative, quasi-
experimental, or experimental design that clearly ties improved
academic performance to language and cultural programs because,
from the experience I have had, those programs that incorporate
those components in the educational program are very successful
when compared to Native American students generally across any
of the national tests that take place or any of the programs
that are in monolingual schools.
Thank you.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Demmert appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much.
Am I correct to conclude, after listening to this panel,
that language and culture have a very positive impact upon
academic performance?
Mr. Demmert. That is what the research implies that I have
looked at, yes.
Senator Inouye. Are there any negative aspects of combining
language and culture with studies?
Mr. Demmert. None that we were able to find in the 193
documents that we reviewed, or studies that we assessed.
Senator Inouye. What about the others on the panel? Do you
agree with that?
Ms. Hinton. Certainly do.
Ms. Sims. I think the ties, and certainly we have got two
individuals here that are examples of the positive effects that
have come with study of language and culture, and being able to
revive that and still maintain and, in fact, exceed, probably,
academic performance. And I would agree that I don't see
anything in terms of a negative kind of effect. The positive is
what we are seeing quite a lot of when these programs are
implemented and they are implemented in a way that meets not
just their native language needs, but also their other academic
needs.
Senator Inouye. I also gather from your testimony that
language and culture have a strong influence upon cultural
identity. Is cultural identity an important factor in the
establishment of self-pride? We are always talking about young
people not having pride in themselves.
Ms. Sims. Very much so. I can't say otherwise. Without that
base and without that foundation, I don't know how any child
would succeed other than to have that strong foundation of who
they are and where they come from.
Senator Inouye. I don't suppose you are going to let them
down, are you?
Well, with that, I will have to run back again to vote, and
so I thank this panel very much.
And will the second panel be prepared? Jocelyn LaPier,
Geneva Navarro.
Until then, we stand in recess.
[Recess.]
Senator Inouye. We will now resume our hearing.
May I first call upon Dr. Rosita Worl of Sealaska Heritage
Institute? Because I have been told that she has an aircraft to
catch. If she doesn't, she is stuck here for the next
millennium.
Dr. Worl.
STATEMENT OF ROSITA WORL, SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE,
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA SOUTHEAST, JUNEAU, AK
Ms. Worl. Yes; thank you very much, Senator. Thank you for
holding this hearing and also thank you for being accommodating
to my schedule. And also I want to thank your very respected
staff person, Patricia Zell, who is well known throughout
Indian country and very highly regarded.
And if I may, Senator, I would like to introduce other
people who are here from our region. Patrick Anderson, who is
on our board of Sealaska, as well as on our Sealaska Heritage
Board. We also have Jordan Lachler, who is our sociolinguist
with Sealaska Heritage institute; Bertha Franulovich from Huna
Totem; Lonnie Thomas; Bambi Kraus was here; and we also, of
course, like to acknowledge Bill Demmert.
I also want to pay special tribute to the Hawaiians, for it
really was the Hawaiians who stimulated our thinking and our
hope in dreams that restoring the languages of southeast was a
possibility. We were very fortunate in going to Hawaii and
visiting the model programs over there, where we learned a lot
and we tried to apply those teachings. So we are eternally
grateful to the Hawaiians for their support and their teaching,
but most of all I think it was their inspiration.
We have been operating language programs now for 4 years.
Our languages in southeast have been characterized as moribund.
And we didn't even know what that meant until we went to the
dictionary and said it was death-bound. And we could not quite
accept that, so our board of trustees made a determination that
language restoration was going to be our highest priority. So
we were trying to emulate the programs that we saw in Hawaii,
and we were to some degree able to copy some of those programs.
However, we came to find out that we have some differences, and
so, as we were moving along, we began to change and to develop
new programs.
Our languages are spoken by probably those who are in their
seventies and eighties and nineties. We only have like 11 Haida
speakers left. We don't know how many, maybe a couple of
Tsimshian people, and less than probably 500 Tsimshian Tlingit
speakers. But, yet, even with that number, we have a glimmer of
hope, and our faith is even renewed, because during our last
commencement at the University of Alaska Southeast, we had one
of our students speak for 45 minutes in Tlingit. He spoke in
Tlingit and also he spoke for 45 minutes in the true tradition
of a Tlingit, but I am going to keep mine to 5 minutes,
Senator. So we know that we can be successful.
Our approach has been to establish partnerships with school
districts, with the University of Alaska Southeast, and also
with native organizations. We have found funding in various
sources, as well as we have had generous support from Sealaska
Corporation, providing us our basic administrative support for
all of our programs. In addition to that, we have been lucky in
that we managed, even despite our financial situation at
Sealaska, during this last year we were able to award $1
million in scholarships, and some of that is dedicated to
language.
But probably the most significant program that we have was
a demonstration project that we had at the Juneau school
district. And in that program we taught Tlingit language and
culture. We also insisted that we have constant monitoring of
our children. And what we found after three years, that our
children were succeeding academically; that they were doing
better than other students in the same grades in the same
school, but not having the benefit of language and cultural
instruction. I attribute it to that instruction, but the other
important aspect is that we had parental involvement. And we
had parental involvement because we were teaching things that
those parents saw as critical to survival of native people: to
succeed both in the western world as well as in our traditional
world.
Perhaps the model program that we have had has been our
Sealaska Kusteeyi Institute, which we hold in collaboration
with the University of Southeast Alaska. And in that program we
are moving toward certificates and degree programs. It is our
hope that we are going to move towards that. But in the
meantime what we are doing is we are teaching speakers how to
teach, and then those teachers go back into our communities,
into the multiple programs that we have in culture camps,
preschool programs, we have one preschool program, and we are
seeing success. I just attended a program in Hoonah where I saw
the children speaking Tlingit, and then they would have to
translate for their parents. So we know that it is achievable,
even when we are at this point.
So, respectful Senators, it is with great humbleness that
we do submit a proposal to provide for a demonstration project
at the Sealaska Heritage Institute for the revitalization of
critically endangered languages. We think that we offer a model
that can be replicated elsewhere, not only in Alaska, but in
the rest of the country. We are working in partnerships with
school districts and with the university. We are bringing the
resources of our State, as well as the country, together, and
in this partnership we think that we can be successful.
Thank you.
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much. I will have our staff
work with you on your amendment. I know that you have to catch
a flight, but before you do Senator Murkowski would like to say
hello.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I am sorry that I had to come in in the middle of your
testimony, but I am pleased that I was at least able to hear a
portion of it. We recognize the great opportunities that we
have within some of our native corporations, and Sealaska
specifically, and I applaud you for your efforts in keeping the
languages alive. And we recognize that it is a challenge for us
in the State. It ought not to be so. So I appreciate your
efforts, and I look forward to working with you and the
chairman on this project.
Ms. Worl. Thank you very much.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you for traveling all the way back
here.
Ms. Worl. Thank you, Senator. And also thank you for your
work in working with Secretary Paige and coming to Alaska.
Senator Murkowski. It was an eye-opening experience for
him, and one that I am sure he will remember for some time. But
it was a great opportunity for him to see, at least with our
Yupic languages, how the immersion was working in some of the
schools in western Alaska. So it was a good opportunity for all
of us.
Ms. Worl. Thank you.
Senator Inouye. Thank you.
Ms. Worl. Thank you.
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Dr. Worl. We hope you
have a safe trip.
And may I now recognize Rosalyn LaPier. She is accompanied
by Joycelyn DesRosier.
Did I pronounce it correctly?
Ms. DesRosier. Joycelyn DesRosier.
Senator Inouye. Ms. LaPier.
STATEMENT OF ROSALYN LaPIER, PIEGAN INSTITUTE/NIZIPUHWAHSIN
SCHOOL, BROWNING, MT, ACCOMPANIED BY JOYCELYN DesROSIER
Ms. LaPier. Good afternoon, and thank you for this
wonderful opportunity for us to discuss Piegan Institute and
Nizipuhwahsin Schools. And we also would like to thank you very
much for including us in this very important legislation. We
feel very humbled and honored to be included, and we would just
like to thank you for this great honor to be here.
Piegan Institute, as you know, is a grassroots organization
from the Blackfeet Reservation. We were formed by a group of
Blackfeet educators who came together to address the issue of
Blackfeet language loss. We still have the same group of
founders who still run our organization and who still form our
board of trustees. We are now approaching being in existence
now for almost 20 years as a native language organization, and
approximately about 10 years ago we decided to open a native
language school for children. One of the things that we learned
from a lot of our research that we had done in native language
education, and in our discussions with a lot of elders, was
that if native languages were going to continue, it was going
to have to be the children who continued them.
And we began our school, which is called Nizipuhwahsin,
which means original language or real language in the Blackfeet
language, and we have a school for children ages 5 to 13, which
is approximately kindergarten through eighth grade. We have
worked very closely with Aha Punana Leo in Hawaii. They were
our mentors in organizing our school, and they have worked with
us for the past 10 years in our efforts at our school, and we
call them almost on a weekly basis, it seems like, to discuss
all sorts of issues, from funding to working with public
institutions to just the littlest thing, talking about our
cook, you know. We work with them very closely and they really
are our mentors in this effort.
One of the things that we have come here to really
encourage the Senate committee to support is the work of Native
American language survival schools. We are a Native American
language survival school, we are not a public school; we are
separate from the public school system. We are a private, not
for profit, and we do work very closely with the Blackfeet
Tribe and the Blackfeet Tribe, in fact, constantly supports our
efforts. We brought with us today a resolution from the tribe
supporting this particular bill. So even though we are a
private, not for profit, we do have a great amount of support
from the tribe and from the community.
One of the reasons that we got started as a separate
institution was that we saw a lot of the efforts that were
being made on behalf of native languages. Our community has
tried every effort. We have Head Start programs; we have got
programs in the public school system; bilingual education; we
have high school classes in the Blackfeet language; we have
classes at the community college; we do culture camps in the
summer; we have created computer programs and multimedia
programs.
But the thing that we have discovered in our community is
that the only thing that has created fluent speakers is our
survival school. Although a lot of those efforts create some
language retention, they do not create fluent speakers, and
that is the bottom line for our community. Our community wants
to create fluent speakers so they will continue the children,
as they grow to be older and as they become adults, they will
continue the language. And culture camps in the summer,
language classes at high school, et cetera, do not create
fluent speakers, and our school does.
That was one of the reasons why we have been working a lot
with elders. We have worked with elders since the beginning of
our institute. And the elders are the ones who really stand
behind what we do and they work with us very closely, and they
have really strongly encouraged us to continue what we are
doing.
In the past 10 years of us running our school, we have had
many ups and downs, and we have had many times where we have
felt like there may be a point where we are going to have to
stop, stop what we are doing and change to something else, and
it was the elders who have really encouraged our efforts and
told us of their problems that they have had with educational
systems and how they were impacted by many of the educational
systems, both parochial and public. And because of their
encouragement, we have continued on, and this has been very
difficult for us. Funding is always an issue. Because we are a
private institution, we are not a public institution, we search
for money every single year. And I know that there is, for us,
anyway, as an institute, there is somewhat of a stereotype that
we do have ongoing funding. We do not. And that is something
that we would strongly encourage, not only our institution, but
other institutions, that the whole movement of survival schools
be recognized on a Federal level, but also be funded on a
Federal level.
And with that I will complete my testimony.
And I would like to introduce Joycelyn DesRosier. Joycelyn
DesRosier is a teacher at our school, and you met her son 3
years ago when he came to testify. And she has been recognized
by the State of Montana. We work very closely with the State of
Montana's Office of Public Instruction, and this past year she
was recognized by the head of the Office of Public Instruction
as being the first State-certified teacher teaching in a
language immersion school in the State of Montana.
[Prepared statement of Ms. LaPier appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Oh, congratulations.
STATEMENT OF JOYCELYN DesROSIER PIEGAN INSTITUTE/NIZIPUHWAHSIN
SCHOOL, BROWNING, MT
Ms. DesRosier. Thank you. This was an address in my native
language, and I said hello, my relatives. I am very happy to
see you all here today.
This is my son, Jesse DesRosier, who came here 3 years ago
to lobby for the same bill. His Blackfeet name is Ahsinapoyii.
Thank you very much, Senator Inouye, and the rest of the
Senators on the committee here today, and the staff members,
for allowing me to be invited to speak on this bill.
It was 3 years ago my son came to lobby on this bill, at
which time he came we were burying a very important lady in our
community, a holy lady and a very valuable lady to me
personally, Molly Kicking Woman, who taught me a lot of my
ways, and still I can carry that on, but she is no longer with
us today. She was a very holy spiritual leader and a teacher,
and she was very inspirational in the school when I started.
My son has been given the greatest opportunity while
attending Nizipuhwahsin, the private immersion school in our
town, for learning our language. He has been one that has just
picked it up very fluently and speedily.
Our language school has connected my family to our
ancestors, as our language is so important to our people and
our sacred ways of life. My son has been given the prestigious
honor as being called upon by spiritual directors to carryout
ceremonial ways only because he can speak the language and
understand it. He is now 14 years old today, and he is sought
out by a lot of people from not only our community, but other
communities that speak our language, which is Canadians, the
Canadian border. And they come and ask him and they praise him
highly for learning his language. He would never have been able
to learn our language without attending the immersion school.
I also have another younger son that attends the immersion
school and is learning our language.
I began by bringing my small son there, my youngest son
there, 6 years ago to attend school. Being a mother, I could
not leave my child at school alone, so I started volunteering
my time. Within 1 year I was given a teacher's position there,
a teacher training position, where I committed to learning my
language, and so far it has been great and a great learning
experience, one that I couldn't obtain at any college or
university, as they do not teach my native language.
I began learning my language and then last year, through
the private sector, we didn't have any funding, so I returned
to college and finished my degree, because I didn't have a paid
position at the school to continue out. So my learning for last
year was a standstill because I could not learn the language;
every day I wasn't in an immersion school setting. But I did
practice a lot at home and go and sweep and clean the floors to
pay my children's tuition.
Yesterday, as well, was a very sad day at my home in the
Blackfeet Nation, as we buried a very precious and dear
grandfather of mine, someone who taught me and my sons our
language and much of our sacred ways. We will miss him.
Another sad day will be next week when I return home. My
14-year-old son will graduate from this immersion school, where
he has been protected and so immersed in the language and has
become such a leader in my home and in my family. I can only
hope and pray that he will be able to obtain and retain the
language. It is not taught very well in the public school
setting, as well as it is at the private immersion school. In
our public school we have non-fluent speakers teaching our
language, and some of them only know a few words and some of
them don't pronounce them correctly. So they mostly focus on
their skills, which may be in crafts, beading, drumming,
singing, dancing, and sometimes stick game.
My children are learning their native Blackfeet language
through Nizipuhwahsin, our private immersion school. What they
have learned and what I have learned has opened up a whole new
world for us, a world many think is gone. My children's pride
and sense of self-worth is so great that the hard work and
effort we all spend in learning it makes it so worthwhile. They
are singled out in our community and recognized for their
ability to speak Blackfeet. They are looked at as leaders by
their peers and with pride by their elders.
Today I stand before you and ask for your support and thank
you all very much. Without our language, we are just people
among people. Our language keeps us connected to the first
people of the native lands. My language gives me my identity as
a Blackfeet woman. Thank you all.
[Prepared statement of Ms. DesRosier appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much.
And do you wish to submit your resolution for the record?
Ms. DesRosier. Yes; I do.
Senator Inouye. Without objection, that resolution will be
made part of the record.
[Referenced document appears in appendix.]
Ms. DesRosier. Thank you.
Senator Inouye. And I can assure you that we are very
serious, because if I were not serious, I would not be running
back and forth, I can assure you.
Ms. DesRosier. Thank you very much.
Senator Inouye. Our next witness is Geneva Navarro,
Comanche Language Instructor of Oklahoma, accompanied by Rita
Coosewon, an instructor in the language, also from Lawton,
Oklahoma.
Mrs. Navarro?
STATEMENT OF GENEVA NAVARRO, COMANCHE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTOR,
COMANCHE NATION COLLEGE, LAWTON, OK, ACCOMPANIED BY RITA
COOSEWON, COMANCHE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTOR
Ms. Navarro. [Remarks in native tongue.]
Hello to you and all my friends and relations here. Thank
you for inviting the Comanches.
The beginning of the loss of our language came from forced
assimilation of our people and the Manifest Destiny policy, and
it is still trying to be implemented through the English-only
policies, which will leave all Native American children behind.
We are losing our languages, which was not our fault. We have
been trying everything to keep it from dying. Time is running
out, especially for me.
My name is Geneva Woomavoyah Navarro of the Comanche Nation
from Oklahoma. I am 77 years old. Comanche was my first
language. I have been teaching the language since 1990 to all
who are interested. I am presently teaching Comanche at the new
Comanche Nation College in Oklahoma. I am here to urge your
support for the S. 575 bill to amend the Native American
Languages Act that will provide support of the development of
Native American language survival schools to assure the
preservation and revitalization of Native American languages.
Today I want to discuss four important points. First, the
importance of the development of Native American survival
schools and language nests, which are of great importance. The
language nests will teach the youngest, who will learn it the
quickest, retain it the best, and will continue it to fluency.
The second one is the support for Native American language
survival facilities and endowment. Without your support and
support from the society that tried to kill our languages, we
will not be able to undo the damage that may lead to the Native
American language deaths. We need places, building for these
nests and schools to nurture them. It takes more than physical
work to develop the schools; it takes financial support that
many Native American language programs do not have access to.
The third is to encourage the amendment to S. 575 that
would exempt teachers of Native American languages in public
schools from having to obtain certification from outside their
tribe. It is urgent because our speakers are dying fast. There
are only a few of us speakers who are elders that are able to
teach.
And the fourth is on No Child Left Behind effects on the
native languages because of its relation to English-only Act,
which is a racist policy that only acknowledges English. It
doesn't take into account our native languages that are
endangered, and will endanger all Native American children. We
need an amendment to S. 575 that the English-only Act policy
does not overpower native languages, which will respect the
fact that these languages helped save our country in World War
I and World War II.
[Remarks in native tongue.]
The translation is: A long time ago we all spoke Comanche.
Now we will all speak Comanche again. From now on we will speak
Comanche forever.
Thank you.
And now I will introduce Ms. Coosewon, who is the only
Comanche speaker that works in any public school in our area.
But she has to work with a certified teacher above her; she
cannot do it by herself.
Thank you very much.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Navarro appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Before I call upon Mrs. Coosewon, may I
thank you for your very powerful message and may I tell you
that you will be around when we pass this bill. As we would
say, you are a young kid yet. I am two years older than you.
Ms. Coosewon.
Ms. Coosewon. Thank you all for inviting us here. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Senate Committee on Indian
Affairs, for this opportunity to testify regarding this bill.
There were so many things that I had written down here, but the
message that Mrs. Navarro has put forth speaks for me in so
many ways, and all of us in this room, and I think that I
couldn't add too much more to what she has said that my
testimony you have all gotten copies of. But there was a few
things I would like to add.
I do work in the public school system, and I have a lot of
people that have encouraged me in the school system that I work
in. I have high school students that I work with, and I also
work with the Comanche College students. But the day that I was
getting ready to leave class, I have a senior that is
graduating, and rather than go over what I was going to in my
testimony, he presented me with a letter and he has asked me,
he says, Mrs. Coosewon, why can't we not help you? Can we not
say something in behalf of our language? And can I write
something and can you take it with you and let them hear what
we have to say about the language?
And so with that, I have that copy. I couldn't make any
copies other than what he handed me, and if you don't mind me
not saying much more on my testimony, which you have copies,
can I just read his letter for you and let this be a part of my
testimony?
Senator Inouye. It will be.
Ms. Coosewon. And we will consider Mrs. Navarro's really
very well put together statement representing what we all have
to say.
Senator Inouye. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Coosewon. And I certainly appreciate it. Because I just
turned 71 myself, and I was thinking what a turnaround. I was
raised in a boarding school. I didn't even know how old I was
when they put me there. My grandparents passed away, and I
lived with them from when I was 2 years old, so I never knew
any other language than what we speak. So I had a lot. But it
is in my statement, you can read some of it. But I think what a
twist for them to ask me to come and teach this language that
they wanted so hard for me not to know. Our gracious heavenly
father continued to help me remember. I am still me. I am
myself. For this special gift that he gave me, this language
that is so precious to me, that I want to help preserve all
these precious languages.
So by that I am going to read this young man's testimony
here.
This was dated May 12, his last day in high school, mind
you. This is my senior that is leaving me. And we all kind of
had tears in our eyes when he handed this to me when I was
leaving class.
Dear Senate, I write to you because I am unable to attend
this meeting in person. This Comanche language class has meant
a lot to me and the rest of the class. I have learned to speak
a new language and learn and be a part of a different culture.
It has furthered my understanding of America's complex natives.
Without classes like this, we as Americans will forget where we
come from. I am a one-fourth Cherokee and that means I would
not be here without a Cherokee man. Learning about people like
me, learning about my ancestors has made me appreciate my
culture more. We have learned to speak many sentences and to
hold conversations. We have learned the history of these people
and many of their crafts. To stop these classes is to stop a
culture living on. Please keep this class and others like it
going on in our schools. With this I have only one thing left
to say: Soobesu Numunuu sumuoyetu numu niwunu? etu. Ukitsi nunu
tuasu numu niwunu hutui. Ubunitu tuasu numu niwunu hutui nuu.
Ms. Navarro, I am just repeating what she had, but he wrote
it down in his statement, about the language living on and we
are going to speak Comanche forever. And they really stress
this in my class at school.
Tommy Lemons and the Elgin High School Comanche Language
Class.
And with that I would like to thank you all for the
gracious hospitality you have shown us here for our stay for
the few minutes that we have been here, the few hours we were
lost here, and I want to thank you so much for your
consideration of this bill, and I look forward to it being
passed. Thank you so much.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Coosewon appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. I thank you very much, Mrs. Coosewon. And
will you express the gratitude of this committee to your
student? And his words will be made part of the record.
Ms. Coosewon. Thank you so much.
Senator Inouye. And I have just one question for the panel
here. What percentage of your students go on to higher
education?
Ms. DesRosier. Our immersion school goes to the grade 8.
Then after that they return to public school to grade 9 to 12.
Ms. LaPier. And we have only been in existence now for
about 10 years, so we are just beginning to graduate children
from the eighth grade into the public school. So actually the
students who have graduated out of our school have not actually
graduated from high school yet.
Senator Inouye. Would you say that their performance as
students has improved?
Ms. DesRosier. Oh, yes; their performance. They are all in
the honor society, the highest honors in grade eight that
return, nine, and ten. We have some going off reservation
schools, and the principal keeps phoning and asking us what we
did to these children. They are astonished because they are so
brilliant.
Senator Inouye. There must be some magic here.
And, Mrs. Navarro, do you have any dropouts? Because we
hear so much about students dropping out of Indian schools.
Ms. Navarro. Definitely. They are dropping out like flies,
I always tell the tribe. And we don't know what to do.
Senator Inouye. But this will help?
Ms. Navarro. I believe it will. They are beginning to know
who they are. We are interesting some younger people, and they
seem eager to want to learn our language, and I am sure it will
help.
Senator Inouye. Well, ladies, I thank you very much. I will
have to go to vote; I just missed one. And we will stand in
recess until 1:30, because I think all of you need some
nourishment. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 12:43 p.m., the Committee recessed, to
reconvene at 1:30 p.m., the same day.]
Afternoon Session
Senator Inouye. I presume we have all had our nourishment.
Now may I call upon the third panel, consisting of Lawrence
D. Kaplan, director, Alaska Native Language Center, University
of Alaska in Fairbanks; Kalena Silva, director, Ka Haka 'Ula O
Ke' elikolani College, University of Hawai'i at Hilo; and
William (Pila) Wilson, Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikolani College,
University of Hawai'i at Hilo, accompanied by Holo Ho'opai;
Namaka Rawlins, Director of the 'Aha Punana Leo; Dr. Mary
Hermes, Assistant Professor of Education, University of
Minnesota. Oh, Mr. Keiki Kawaiaea. I am sorry.
May I first call upon Dr. Kalena Silva.
STATEMENT OF KALENA SILVA, DIRECTOR, KA HAKA 'ULA O KE'
ELIKOLANI COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT HILO, HILO,
HAWAI'I' ACCOMPANIED BY KEIKI KAWAIAEA, DIRECTOR, KAHUAWAIOLA
INDIGENOUS TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM, AND DIRECTOR, HALE
KUAMO`O HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE CENTER, KA HAKA `ULA O KE`ELIKOLANI
[HAWAIIAN COLLEGE]
Mr. Silva. I ola no au I ku'u kino wailua, I oui mai e ke
ali`i o Kahiki, Ke ali`i nana i `a`e ke Kai uli, Kai `Ele`ele,
Kai Melemele, Kai Popolohuamea a Kane, I ka wa i po`i ai ke
Kaiakahinali`i, Kai mu, kai lewa, Ho`opua ke ao ia Lohi`au, `O
Lohi`au, i lono `oukou, Ola e, ola la, ua ola Lohi`au e, `O
Lohi`au ho`i e!
Thank you very much, Senator Inouye, for this opportunity
to allow us to express our support for S. 575. We are very,
very appreciative for this opportunity.
As you know, my name is Kalena Silva. I am director of Ka
Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikolani College of Hawaiian Language at the
University of Hawai'i at Hilo.
And I began my testimony with a chanted declaration by
Lohi'au, who was the lover of Pele, Hawai'i's volcano goddess.
Pele met Lohi'au on one of her dream travels to one of our most
northerly islands in the chain, Kaua'i. Living on Hawai'i
island some 300 miles south, Pele sends her sister, Hi'iaka, to
Kaua'i to bring Lohi'au back to her. And in this ancient epic,
Pele suspects that her sister Hi'iaka has romantic intentions
toward Lohi'au, and Pele, as was her wont, flew into a fit of
rage and jealousy and killed Lohi'au.
Now, many in Hawai'i know that Lohi'au was killed by Pele,
who was a foreigner according to Hawaiian tradition, coming to
Hawai'i from Kahiki; however, few people know that the epic
ends with a brother of Pele resuscitating and reviving Lohi'au.
His wandering spirit flying hopelessly over a cave on Kaua'i,
she snatches it and gently coaxes it back into the body of
Lohi'au until once again he is alive, almost as if awakened
from a deep sleep.
In the last lines of his declaration that I just chanted,
Lohi'au says:
The now silent sea, the sea that floats on the horizon, the
floating cloud brings forth Lohi'au. Yes, it is I, Lohi'au,
body trampled by the foreign chiefess. I live once again!
Like Lohi'au, we native Hawaiians are experiencing a
rekindling of life through the revitalization of our nearly
exterminated language. We want to join with other native
peoples in similar circumstances throughout the United States
so that together we may all move forward. Although Lohi`au was
killed by Pele, her own brother, Kamohoali`i, brought him back
to life.
Now, there have been many Pele bills in the political
history of Native American languages, bills that sought to kill
our languages. S. 575 is her brother Kamoho-li`i's bill, and
through it our languages, like Lohi'au, can find new life.
Thank you again, Senator and members of the committee, for
this opportunity to testify in favor of this very important
bill that gives much hope for the linguistic and cultural
future of Native Hawaiians and all other Native Americans.
Mahalo.
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much for this very beautiful
and moving presentation. I appreciate it very much.
Does Ms. Keiki Kawaiaea wish to say anything?
Ms. Kawaiaea. Aloha kakou.
Senator Inouye. Aloha.
Ms. Kawaiaea. My name is Keiki Kawaiaea. I currently am the
programs director for the Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language
Center, as well as the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education
Program, and I would like to talk about our work just briefly
over the last 20 years.
Our collective vision spans about 20 years of intensive,
intensive work, and through these years we actually began with
just a very small number of children. Our hands, our heart, and
very sincere intentions to revive our language through our
children.
Through the years we have been able to increase our
numbers, beginning in 1983, at around 32 speakers that we knew
were native speakers under the age of 18, to currently about
3,000 in the State. Our work has included the 22 schools we
have across the State; elementary, some of them are
intermediate or middle schools, high schools, we have a few K-
12 programs, along with 12 Punana Leo preschools. That, with
the other work that we have been working with the university
which I am at, including our lexicon work; all our new
vocabulary to be able to teach all the different subject areas
through our language; all of the see and eye support, including
curriculum through all the different content areas of
kindergarten through 12th grade; our pre-service; our in-
service professional developed training; our very advanced
computer technology, which is pretty well known across the
United States, including our own Hawaiian system in the OS-10
system of the Macintosh computer. We have come a long ways.
What we have learned through all of this experience is that
we know that we can successfully implement programs which
address the full range of academic needs, as well as cultural
wellness of our students, the wholeness in all of them. And we
can do this through our language and through our culture.
One of the biggest challenges, however, has been sustaining
a critical mass. I should say building of our critical mass, as
well as our capacity. It has been an extreme challenge for us,
even with all of this growth. From preschool, we are really
moving up all the way up from a P, preschool, up to a doctoral
program in which we just got approval to proceed with, a P to
20 kind of format. We are really looking at the whole
comprehensive model, but it has taken extreme planning and dire
work among us to build that critical mass.
And I just want to give one example of what that challenge
is, specifically in teacher education. It is very difficult for
us with decreasing numbers of native speakers, proficient
speakers and cultural practitioners, as well as new proficiency
amongst our new college students that are coming up. We don't
have huge numbers graduating from fourth level Hawaiian that
desire to go on into teaching, so the numbers of new teachers
is a very big challenge for us in ensuring the high level of
oral proficiency, their language proficiency, their cultural
proficiency, as well as the teacher readiness. That is already
in itself a big challenge.
Then our very limited amount of resources of our Kupuna
that we have that can work into the classroom. With the No
Child Left Behind, it has become extremely increasingly more
difficult, and I would really like to plant a little seed, if I
could, that some thought be given to a waiver for those of our
Kupuna that now need to have an AA degree but are at an age
where their wealth of wisdom is in their life experience, and
that is a value that they bring into the classroom that we
cannot provide from the university level.
The other is some possible provisional exemption or
alternative certification for those that are native speakers
that are of younger generation that we can bring into the
educational setting so that we have a full range of
possibilities to increase our critical mass and help us build
our capacity for immersion education.
Mahalo.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Kawaiaea appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much.
And may I now recognize Dr. William Wilson.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM (PILA) WILSON, KA HAKA 'ULA O KE'
ELIKOLANI COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT HILO, HILO, HI,
ACCOMPANIED BY HOLO HO'OPAI, STUDENT, KE KULA 'O
NAWAHIOKALANI'OPU'U, HAWAII, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT HILO,
HILO, HI
Mr. Wilson. Aloha, Senator. I want to thank you very much
for having us here and all these people from throughout the
United States. You have done a lot for native languages over
the years, and we really appreciate it. And, in fact, some of
the things that you have done in the past I believe that people
have mentioned other programs that have grown because of the
1992 amendments that you made which allowed for public schools
to have the languages and community groups.
This particular bill relates to a new step, which is to be
able to go to school in your language. Hawaiians are fortunate
that there was an example of this that existed in the past;
some other tribes had that, such as the Cherokees, and I know
the Choctaws had that, and others had bits of missionization
through their languages. But this is the first time in the
modern history of the United States that the Government is
supporting this idea.
It is very, very important because people generally now,
because the languages have been suppressed for so long, do not
realize what you can do with a language, that you can study
math and you can study science in your own language. Math and
science are not unique to English. In fact, the word
``algebra'' comes from Arabic and geometry came from the
Greeks, it wasn't from the English. So we can study math and
science in Hawaiian, but many people doubted this.
They also doubted that we could have children learning
English if they went to school in Hawaiian. And we go to school
in Hawaiian quite seriously. Totally in Hawaiian from
preschool, totally in Hawaiian all the way through fourth
grade. Fifth grade they begin to study English. Now, these
children can already speak English; they learn it in the
community. They even begin reading and writing English on their
own because they can read Hawaiian and they can read big books
in Hawaiian. So in fifth grade they begin English with what is
the book about the pig and the spider? Charlotte's Web. I know
because my wife is such a great teacher. So they do that book
and they continue on.
They have English all the way through 12th grade as a
language arts class just as they do in the English school, and
they have the same things that they study. But they also have a
Hawaiian language arts class, so they study Hawaiian epics such
as Kalena did a bit of an expert quotation from, they do short
Hawaiian stories, and then in English they so Aesop's Fables
from the Greeks, they do even Chaucer and Shakespeare in the
upper years. But they can compare that to the Hawaiian
tradition. Their viewpoint of those things is from the Hawaiian
viewpoint rather than saying, oh, Hawaiian this is like
Shakespeare or Hawaiian this is like Chaucer. So we are very
proud of that. They can do science. So I think it is important
that people realize that if you are going to do this, you have
to be very serious.
And I am going on a little bit, but one thing that I read
recently that really struck home was they have done studies of
children who have been adopted from Korea and Russia at seven,
six years of age, and they have completely forgotten the
language. So we need to continue at least to grade six, seven,
eight, at the very least, if they are going to remember.
So with that I would like to introduce one of our
graduates. We have had about 100 immersion graduates now. No
dropouts so far. Over 80 percent have been accepted to college,
and this is one of them who is going on to Stanford.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Wilson appears in appendix.]
Mr. Ho'opai. [Remarks in native tongue.]
Greetings, Mr. Chairman and members of the Senate Committee
on Indian Affairs. My name is Hololapaka'ena'enao Kona Ho'opai,
and I am a senior attending Ke Kula 'O Nawahiokalani'opu'u, one
of a few Hawaiian immersion schools or programs in the State of
Hawai'i, and I am very happy and thankful to be here today to
testify in favor of this bill.
I began my education in the first grade at six years of
age, and I graduate on the 24th of this month. I can honestly
say that if it was not for this program, I would not have
become fluent in my native tongue, nor would I have gained a
great awareness of my culture and an understanding of who I am,
where I am from, where I fit in my community, and what my roots
are.
The education I received is truly unique and innovative.
The immersion education provides a holistic learning
environment that not only instills cultural values upon
students, but also provides quality academic courses. I have no
doubt in my mind that I have the ability to succeed in a non-
Hawaiian language setting, with my recent acceptance to
Stanford University. I can honestly say and genuinely say that
I, along with other immersion students, not only in Hawai'i but
also outside, can succeed in all settings. The immersion
program really taught me how to grow up and how to live not
only in that program, but also outside, and how to gain
knowledge not only within, but also outside, and come back and
try to use what knowledge you have gained to improve your home
and your setting.
I would like to thank you for this opportunity to support
this bill, and I would also like to thank all of the people in
support of this bill, because even though we are sitting in
different canoes, we are all on the same stream paddling in
unison towards the same direction.
Mahalo nui loa. Thank you very much.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Ho'opai appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much. One of these days I
hope you will take me to a performance of Shakespeare in
Hawaiian.
Mr. Ho'opai. Sure. Sure.
Senator Inouye. How would you say ``to be or not to be''?
Mr. Ho'opai. [Remarks in native tongue.]
Senator Inouye. That sounds pretty good.
And now may I call upon the director of 'Aha Punana Leo,
Namaka Rawlins.
STATEMENT OF NAMAKA RAWLINS, DIRECTOR, 'AHA PUNANA LEO, INC.,
HILO, HI
Ms. Rawlins. [Remarks in native tongue.]
Thank you, Senator Inouye, and aloha to you, Senator
Murkowski. I just met you last night at our shindig over at the
reception; it was very nice. And thank you, Senator and the
staff and everyone here that have come to show support for this
bill that you introduced again this year, Senators, S. 575. The
years that we have worked together with you, it is just, I
guess just awesome and overwhelming that you continue to
support us at home and to hear how everyone just loves you, you
know, from all the other States, from Indian country. It gives
us much pride. And to see how you want to recognize us, the
Punana Leo, with our consortium, Ka Haka Ula O Keelikolani, at
the Federal level to honor the work that we have done all of
these years. It has been 20 years. It has been a beautiful
ride, and it is an experience that, you know, we want to share.
In fact, we have been sharing all of these years with those
that want to come and see our model in Hawaii. A couple of
years ago the Ford Foundation gave us a grant because we needed
the human resource to help us take people around and coordinate
and come and see our Punana Leo babies, then into the
kindergarten classroom, up into the college, and developing
curriculum, and doing everything, you know, spinning all of our
plates all at once.
And he [Holo] is in the fifth graduating class. We have had
four other graduating classes that have come through the
program, and it is just wonderful to have our own student from
Hilo, from Nawahiokalani'opu'u, come here today and testify and
to verify and validate the work that we have done all of these
years. And we are more than ready to charge some more with what
you propose for us to do in our consortium as demonstration
sites, along with the Blackfeet and all of the other indigenous
peoples that want to, that have the desire to carry this kind
of work forward for [remarks in native language] language
survival.
[Remarks in native language.] Aloha.
[Prepared statement of Ms. Rawlins appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Aloha and mahalo.
I am glad our recording secretary understands native
languages.
Ms. Rawlins. Only 13 letters.
Senator Murkowski. You make it sound so simple, so
beautiful.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to introduce the next
panelist, and I appreciate the favor that you have accorded me
in welcoming Dr. Lawrence Kaplan, the director for the Alaska
Native Language Center at the University of Alaska in
Fairbanks.
Dr. Kaplan, welcome. Thank you for being here.
STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE D. KAPLAN, DIRECTOR, ALASKA NATIVE
LANGUAGE CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS, FAIRBANKS, AK
Mr. Kaplan. Thank you, Senator Murkowski, and thank you
both for taking time out of your busy schedules and for
inviting us here to testify on this important bill.
It is an honor for me to sit here with my Hawaiian
colleagues, who have given us so much inspiration in the area
of language immersion schools and Hawaiian language programs at
all levels, so I am very happy to be here with them.
Dr. Michael Krauss had hoped to be here today, but his
personal situation has meant that he can't attend, and so he
sends his regrets.
The core of my testimony today will concern the vital need
for documentation of languages and the urgency of this
documentation in the case of languages whose survival is
threatened.
The documentation of languages makes an important
contribution to human knowledge and is essential to the
production of sound dictionaries, grammars, and educational
materials for native languages. Even the relatively few Native
American languages still spoken by children are endangered.
This is the case of Navajo, for example, our largest language
in the United States. Without documentation, this fundamental
aspect of a nation's culture will be irretrievably lost. If an
undocumented language ceases to be spoken, it is condemned to
oblivion. The loss of any American language is a loss to all
Americans.
Linguists have the expertise to determine what language
data must be recorded in order to enable future revitalization
efforts and in order to make language teaching possible.
Languages are enormously complicated systems. Native languages
are very different from European languages, native languages
are very different from each other, and there is a great deal
of study and research that is needed to backup a sound
education program. Experienced linguists are required to
understand grammatical systems accurately and to formulate
rules which describe them.
At the Alaska Native Language Center, we feel a scholarly
responsibility to find, procure, and account for all previous
documentation of native languages. And in the case of Alaska,
this goes back to the year 1732. Concentrating on Alaskan
languages, we strive nevertheless to provide a full perspective
on whole language communities and language families, bringing
to bear material from related languages outside of Alaska. For
instance, Canadian, Greenlandic and Siberian Eskimo, or Navajo
and Apache in the case of Athabascan, representing our two
major language families in Alaska.
Resources from related languages must be considered for the
information they contain and for the model they provide. These
resources are sometimes written in French or Danish or even
Russian, and they may be 200 years old, and all of this
requires a scholarly approach. Further, contact among
communities of speakers of related languages and dialects,
whether this is within the United States or international, must
be encouraged so that language work is cooperative. We cannot
afford duplication of effort. Traditional efforts cannot
normally be expected to have access to far-flung archives or
contacts; whereas academics can and should be in the best
position to provide and interpret research results to the
communities.
The staff at the Alaska Native Language Center and Dr.
Krauss have compiled an archive of some 10,000 items
documenting the State's languages and serving as a model for
other States and groups interested in undertaking their own
language documentation so that there is an accessible
collection of material. ANLC is involved in working with
communities on conducting their own language documentation by
training students and native speakers in techniques of applied
language research. We are experienced in native language work
and prepared to assist native groups and communities in
learning to meet their own needs for language documentation and
collection and archiving of language materials.
A special aspect of the Center involves the strong voice of
native people in Alaska, who are over 15 percent of the State's
population. They have given the Center an important service
orientation which is not found in the same way in academic
linguistics and anthropology departments with their theoretical
orientation. We have developed a strong focus on documenting
languages and we have hired expert native personnel and native
speakers.
The Alaska Native Language Center is prepared to fulfill
the role of demonstration center specified in S. 575, and we
believe we would work in good complementation with the other
two centers. We would be pleased to be of service to Native
American groups interested in language analysis, documentation,
and archiving. We are also in a position to advise on some of
the complex issues that No Child Left Behind poses for native
languages.
That concludes my testimony. Thank you all very much.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Kaplan appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Dr. Kaplan.
And may I now recognize Dr. Mary Hermes.
STATEMENT OF MARY HERMES, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION,
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, DULUTH, MN, ACCOMPANIED BY LISA
LaRONGE, OJIBWE LANGUAGE IMMERSION SCHOOL, HAYWARD, WI
Ms. Hermes. Thank you, Senators, for the opportunity to be
here today. The first thing I would like to do is introduce
Lisa LaRonge, who is accompanying me today, and she would like
to greet us in Ojibwe.
Ms. LaRonge. [Remarks in native tongue.]
Ms. Hermes. [Remarks in native tongue.]
I am Mary Hermes. I am a professor of education at the
University of Minnesota Duluth. I am very happy to be here
today, and honored to sit among people I consider my heroes.
I would like to make three main points. I think the main
reason I am here, actually, is because I am a parent of two
children in the Waadookodaading Ojibwe language immersion
school, which has been started in Hayward, Wisconsin, and
running for two years now. We are at the beginning of a long
journey. We are at the beginning of our first hill.
My professional expertise is in educational research and in
teacher education. The three points I want to make today are,
first of all, about the need for more language immersion
schools in our area; second, I would like to mention my
research, which points to language immersion as a potential key
for Indian education for academic success; and last I would
like to make recommendation for alternative teacher
certification programs for our language immersion teachers.
I have been very fortunate in being invited into this
movement through the research work of two language activists.
Through the work of research conducted through an ANA grant at
the Lac Courte Reservation, Keller Paap and Lisa LaRonge really
came to see clearly the need for an immersion school because
our language resources are so sparse. In 1999 they surveyed the
reservation of about 1500 residents and found only 15 speakers
alive, 15 people whose first language was Ojibwe, all of them
above 60 years old. There is less today, I think there is about
10. The other 13 reservations in the three-State area,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, are in similar situations.
Some reservations have no speakers they can identify from their
area; some reservations have more. We are the first immersion
school and everyone is talking about it now. It is a light.
Through the research work that they did, they recognized,
Keller often put it that the resources we have are like a pat
of butter, and we are trying to spread it on a football field.
And that is what led them to go to the Blackfeet school and see
what they were doing. It led me to go to the Hawaiian school,
to the Mauris, and study the immersion model and then start. So
we had a pilot and then we have two years as a charter school
in the border town of Hayward, Wisconsin, that borders the
reservation, where people said don't go to that school, we
walked out of that school 20 years ago to start our own school
because that school was so racist, don't go there. But this
movement is bringing people together. It is powerful, it is
healing. It is bringing people across boundaries together, and
that is how we started.
The second point I want to make is about my research in
culture-based education. I have been doing that for about 10
years. My Ph.D. is in curriculum instruction from the
University of Wisconsin Madison. And through researching, I was
very interested in the culture-based movement, and I will just
briefly summarize 10 years of research and say that my question
was why doesn't culture-based curriculum, which is like a
mantra for us in Indian education, why hasn't it produced more
academic success. Why do we still have such very high dropout
rates? Why do we still score 30 percentile points below non-
native students on all our proficiency tests?
And what I found in the two-State area was that it has
really grown up as an add-on curriculum: Culture, academics. In
the tribal schools, the culture classes are added on. We are
forced to have certified teachers in our tribal schools. The
certified teachers, 80 percent of them are non-native. Even in
our tribal schools they are mostly non-native teachers. They
come in at a higher pay rate and a different curriculum than
our culture teachers who are native people from the reservation
areas. So you can see there is two competing curriculums in the
same schools.
Further, when I talk to students, many of them read this as
an identity choice. So they would read academic success as
assimilation. They read that as becoming white if I get good
grades. They read in succeeding in the culture-based
curriculum, I am being Indian. So it becomes a choice: be
Indian or be smart; be assimilated or be native. And this work
echoes other work by Cygnithia Fordham and John Ogboon from the
African-American communities. They find that students see
academic success as tantamount to assimilation.
This concerned me very much, as a person who believes very
deeply in the power of education. As I was doing this research,
I was talking with Lisa about them seeing the need for an
immersion school, and I felt like it fell out of the sky.
Language is an answer to the problem of bringing the academic
and the culture curriculum together. So much research shows us
that second language research has many benefits, metacognitive
benefits, academic benefits, and yet you can see the world
still through that indigenous lens so that the affective
benefits of identity, intergenerational connectedness, self-
esteem are also there as well. Language brings the two
together.
The third point I want to make is about teacher education.
As I mentioned, one of the main reasons I think that the two
curriculums have been competing and so differentiated is
because of the strict need for teacher certification. I have
been professionally making teachers for 7 years. I believe in
it deeply. I think there is so much to it, so much to be
learned. I don't think, and the Mauris also advised us this
way, we don't need to just slide our language teachers through
and say, well, you are not certified, but you can teach. They
need to have training, they need to be ready to teach. It is a
license to drive our children.
And yet the two speakers that we have at our school, they
are both in their thirties and they have learned as a second
language. It has taken them 10 years to get to the level of
proficiency they need in order to be able to teach in
immersion. We cannot pull them out of teaching for a 4-year
degree program; they need some kind of alternative
certification.
So we support very much the Hawaiian's effort and their
desire to be a demonstration school. We don't really know what
that means, but we do know that in our area we need to pull
together the 13 bands. We have already started talking about
the need for a curriculum center or an administrative center
because our schools are so small. So we are also interested in
that idea.
And I think I will stop there.
[Remarks in native tongue.]
[Prepared statement of Ms. Hermes appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Well, I thank you very much, doctor, but
Senator Murkowski and I will have to dash off to vote. So can
you stick around for a while?
Ms. Hermes. Yes.
Senator Inouye. We will be right back.
[Recess.]
Senator Inouye. I am sorry to tell you that the voting will
continue on until about 8 o'clock tonight, so we are getting a
good exercise.
I would like to begin by saying how proud I am to hear all
of the witnesses say that Hawaii has been a model, Punana Leo
has been an icon, a leader. It makes me feel good. It makes me
very proud.
In your studies, have you found that culture and language
studies help to attack the dropout rate among Native Hawaiian
students?
Mr. Wilson. Yes, Senator; in our immersion program now, as
Keiki said, we have about 3,000 kids now, and so far, to my
knowledge, there has not been a dropout. We have had children
go to other schools, but we haven't had any dropout of
education.
Senator Inouye. Not one?
Mr. Wilson. Not that I know of. And we kind of talk about
each other quite a bit, you know, what is happening over there
and all that. So there may have been, but I haven't heard of
any. I know about those who go to other schools and things,
they move. Each one is very precious to us.
Senator Inouye. This is the system that has the greatest
number of years of experience in this area, so you may be able
to respond to this. All of the witnesses have been speaking of
the positive impact, the favorable side of language immersion.
Is there any negative impact of this program that we should
address?
Ms. Kawaiaea. I think I am going to address that from my
experience as being an immersion teacher as well as being
somebody that trains teachers up at the university. I think
experience in the long-run has been more positive than
negative.
The negative that I could count has to do with attitudes of
the surrounding community, you know, the old attitudes that you
must learn English, that you can succeed better in English. So
even within the children's own families, grandparents that were
native speakers, that were beaten and scolded for speaking
their native language, those kinds of attitudes seem to
continue down the generations, and so we have seen this
attitude shift about attitudes toward language, the community
in the general that there could be more success in regular
English medium, so how is it possible that Hawaiian could have
a greater success. But the fact is we have between an 80 to 85
percent college acceptance rate, and as Pila said, we don't
know of any of our students that have dropped out, and we
currently have about 3,000 students in our schools and five
classes that have graduated already. So it is pretty amazing.
Senator Inouye. Now, when you speak of community
acceptance, what community are you speaking of?
Ms. Kawaiaea. Communities across the State where there are
immersion children attending.
Senator Inouye. So you are not speaking of the Native
Hawaiian community.
Ms. Kawaiaea. Yes; many of our schools are within homestead
areas, as well as non-homestead areas.
Senator Inouye. And the people there are not too keen about
your program?
Ms. Kawaiaea. I think that is the original, the very first
impression that they get because of their historic experience
in education and the failure of their students within the
community. So how can you succeed adding on, this is what they
are thinking, adding on, and perhaps we are not teaching
through, we are teaching the language. So the concept of what
we are trying to do isn't quite connecting; that we are in fact
not teaching to speak Hawaiian, we are teaching through
Hawaiian. That concept is really still a new concept in the
islands.
Mr. Wilson. Could I say something about this? I think what
we need to do is get the word out about our successes, because
the language has been considered like Hawaiian language and
culture have been considered a bit of a baggage that holds
people back in the past, and so many people have aloha for the
children, they worry that we are harming the children. And then
you get rumors going around here and there, those children at
this school don't speak English, they can't speak English, they
are not doing well academically; it is just the opposite of the
truth. So what we have to also address getting the word out in
the community, and this year Namaka did have some ads during
the Merrie Monarch, which were very good on TV, to let people
know of the success.
Ms. Rawlins. I think the other thing that is going to help
with letting people know is what was discussed in the first
panel, about the kind of research that needs to be done that is
going to get that message out, because in order to change
attitudes, it is baggage and baggage kind of hung on into our
Native Hawaiian community, once we get the word out that you
don't have to give up one to do the other.
Senator Inouye. Several witnesses have suggested that the
No Child Left Behind Act has had some negative impact upon
language immersion.
Mr. Wilson. For example, on the State of Hawaii in
compliance with No Child Left Behind is giving tests to
children throughout the public schools, and because our
immersion programs are connected to the public schools, they
are required to have a test at third grade, and it is a
standardized test in English, but our children do not start
reading and writing in English until fifth grade, so it is very
difficult to pass a test that you don't study. I mean, it is
completely unrelated to their studies. And then the rule is
that if you don't pass for a number of years, that your school
will be closed down. So I know in some of the immersion schools
the parents have had a blanket refusal to take the test, but
something needs to be done about that.
Ms. Rawlins. The other thing we need to do, I want to add
one more thing about the No Child Left Behind, and I think it
came up throughout the whole testimony, and we don't know and
maybe that is something that we can be discussing, is to find a
way that we can utilize the traditional language and culture
experts in our schools, much like the Comanche women had said
earlier. We don't know, we need to find a way to use them, to
be able to use them, and that not only No Child Left Behind,
but any other legislation that comes up that would hinder the
movement of language survival schools or use and promotion of
the Native American languages, that it doesn't hamper the
forward momentum, but that there are roadways that we can make
through. And I might not have the answer right now, but I think
with others working we can come up with something really good.
Senator Inouye. Senator Murkowski wanted to be here, but
she has many conflicting schedules. But she has asked that I
call upon Dr. Demmert.
The question is does the No Child Left Behind Act present
problems for the native language programs.
Mr. Demmert. I think that to a large extent Pila and Namaka
have responded to that very well. In the first instance, Pila
points out that when you require testing in English and your
students have been going to school in the native language, you
have got a problem. They should really be tested in the native
language. That doesn't mean they are not going to learn English
or they won't catch up and surpass the monolingual students who
are going to school in English at some point. I think the
research that I testified about earlier implies that there is a
good chance that bilingual children when properly supported,
will do as well or better than mono-lingual students.
The second piece that Namaka addressed is the importance of
continuing to use the traditional language and cultural experts
of the different communities, who probably have not had an
opportunity to go to school, and the need for some kind of
waiver to ensure that those skills are utilized. I think that
is true in Alaska, it is true in Hawaii, it is true in any part
of the Continental United States, and I know it is true in the
circumpolar north. I do a lot of work with Greenland, and they,
of course, are Inuit Eskimo that have migrated across from
Alaska. I mention to them periodically that we waved to them as
they went by about five or 6,000 years ago. I also work with
the Sammis in the nordic countries, and the same thing is true
there. In both of those international communities the countries
have given a high priority for traditional speakers and for the
native languages.
Senator Inouye. I am sorry she was not here to listen to
that, but she wanted that on the record.
Mr. Demmert. Thank you.
Senator Inouye. Dr. Kaplan, you suggested that a center be
established in Alaska. Where would you envision the center
being established?
Mr. Kaplan. Based in Fairbanks at the University of Alaska
Fairbanks, related to the Alaska Native Language Center. We
would be the demonstration center, and from there we would
coordinate efforts to provide training to groups in the rest of
the country and have them travel to Fairbanks for----
Senator Inouye. Not to cause any problem, but is Fairbanks
better than Anchorage?
Mr. Kaplan. Oh, that is just where the Alaska Native
Language Center is located.
Senator Inouye. Oh, oh.
Mr. Kaplan. It is better than Anchorage, but that is not
the reason.
Senator Inouye. You should not have said that.
Mr. Kaplan. Now it is on the record.
Senator Inouye. Dr. Hermes, you have had some personal
experience in this with two of your children in school.
Ms. Hermes. That is right.
Senator Inouye. Now, as a mother, have you seen
improvement?
Ms. Hermes. Improvement? I have seen an awareness and a
consciousness and a love of the language that blossom in both
of them. They knew I was coming out here, and I have had a lot
of traveling this spring, and they hate it when I go. They are
seven and nine. They said, mom, you do whatever you have to for
our language. And they will stick with school. They love school
because of the language.
Senator Inouye. Does it provide better cultural identity
and self-pride?
Ms. Hermes. I believe it does because they are able to
think and create in the language; they are not just carrying
out activities. You know, we do all the traditional activities.
They are not just doing the activities, but they can do
anything. They can go to St. Louis, they can study anything and
think about it in the language.
Senator Inouye. Obviously I am not a scientist, I am a
politician, but does this language immersion program do
something to exercise the brain cells?
Ms. Hermes. There is research, brain research that shows
that there is cognitive benefits. I used the term and Bill used
it before, metacognitive gains. So when a young child up to, I
think, the age of four or five, they have four lobes of their
brain devoted to learning language. They are like a sponge for
language. So to engage them in different languages, in more
than one language, creates connections in their brains that
will be there for life, that are not there if they are only in
a monolingual environment.
Senator Inouye. Well, I can assure the panel that we are
going to do everything to report this measure out of the
committee before the end of July. I thank you all very much.
Believe it or not, this is our last panel. Our last panel,
the Director of the Bishop Museum of Honolulu, Dr. William Y.
Brown, accompanied by the Director of Program Planning and
Development, Ms. Jennifer Chock; Dr. David Dinwoodie,
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico in
Albuquerque; the Director of National Indian Education
Association of Alexandria, Mr. John Cheek, accompanied by Ms.
Cindy La Maar, President-Elect, National Indian Education
Association.
I expect all of you to wrap it up nicely now.
May I call upon Distinguished Director of the Bishop
Museum, Dr. Brown.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM Y. BROWN, DIRECTOR, BISHOP MUSEUM,
HONOLULU, HI, ACCOMPANIED BY JENNIFER CHOCK, DIRECTOR OF
PROGRAM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT.
Mr. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I understand your
message. And accompanying me, as was noted, is Jenny Chock.
I would like to thank you and Senator Akaka for sponsoring
this bill. We appreciate the chance to be here and we fully
support the bill and look forward to its passage.
As you know, the Bishop Museum is now 114 years old,
established in the memory of Princess Pauahi Bishop by her
husband to honor her and to be the house of the treasures of
the Kamehameha family, and we have over 2 million cultural
objects and then many other things that the Senator is familiar
with, some with six legs. Over 400,000 people come to the
Bishop Museum annually, and over the last 3 years we have had
various organizations, the Council for Native Hawaiian
Advancement, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Peabody
Essex Museum, the Inupiat Heritage Center, New Bedford Whaling
Museum, for all of which we have programs for cooperation and
joint cultural development.
You know, Mr. Chairman, if I may, I know time is short. I
don't think I really need to read the rest of the details of my
testimony.
Senator Inouye. Before you proceed, may I assure all
witnesses that your full text of your prepared statement will
be made part of the record.
Mr. Brown. Let me just, then, summarize relatively brief
remarks.
We have an enormous collection of documents and tape
recordings and photographs, hundreds of thousands of them that
represent much, maybe most, of what is left that is documented
of the language of old Hawai'i, and we have individuals like
Pat Namaka Bacon, she is my Namaka, who began work at the
Bishop Museum in 1939 and works there today, and spends
everyday listening to tapes, many 50 years old, that were
recorded of Hawaiians, and transcribes them in Hawaiian. So we
have this enormous capability and commitment in the Bishop
Museum to keeping that language intact.
We have another program that we are investing in to scan
the old 19th century Hawaiian newspapers. You know, it turns
out there were just a few sources, Malo, Kamakau, John Papa Ii,
a few others, but very few, who lived before the Kapu system
fell in 1819 that are published now. Those newspapers have
words of many people that no one has ever read since probably
the day they were published--words of people that lived before
the kapu system fell--people that have that old knowledge.
And then we are very interested in trying to make sure that
we keep all of the nuances alive, the different dialects. So
for the Bishop Museum, this enterprise of language preservation
is central to our purpose, and we thank you for moving forward
with this legislation to help on that.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Brown appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. I think this might be an appropriate time
to bring this up. Several months ago Senator Stevens of Alaska
and I were discussing some of the employment problems in the
reservations and among native peoples of the United States. He
is the chairman, I am the vice chairman of the Defense
Appropriations Committee, and we noted that there are tons of
operational manuals used by the U.S. Army, the Navy, et cetera,
and we are running out of space. There is a manual for tires,
there is a manual for gas tanks, there is a manual for rifles,
and so we decided that they should be digitized. And the
program has started with the U.S. Army and it is now being
established in several Indian reservations, and in Anahola
Kavai, the Hawaiian homesteaders of Anahola Kavai have just set
up a center for digitizing. And I know that in Alaska and in
many other places there is great potential and capacity to
conduct digitization work.
I suppose you would not mind if we have Indian country and
Alaskan natives and Hawaiian natives participate in digitizing
your documents? Any opposition to that?
Mr. Brown. No, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Inouye. You are for it, Dr. Hermes?
Ms. Hermes. Yes.
Senator Inouye. Well, with your smile, I cannot say no.
So I thought the Bishop Museum might be a logical place in
Polynesia for that purpose.
Mr. Brown. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Inouye. You must have tons of things to be
digitized.
Mr. Brown. We have literally tons of things that need to be
digitalized. And I think you have touched on what may be the
top priority for museums now, because, when you think about it,
what is a higher purpose than to protect and provide access to
that history? And the only way to provide access effectively to
the public now is to digitalize it and put it on the Internet.
And I would add that, you know, all of the great institutions
of the world that date back many centuries have at some point
been destroyed. And I hope this never happens to the Bishop
Museum, but it happened to the Library of Alexandria, it
happened to the Library at Pergamon. So we need to do two
things: Protect what we have, but try to make sure that that
information is out there in another way for all the world to
have, we hope, forever.
Senator Inouye. You have just given the marching orders to
Dr. Zell here. Right?
Ms. Chock, do you have anything to add to us?
Ms. Chock used to be on my staff.
Ms. Chock. Thank you very much, Senator. It is a tremendous
honor to be on the other side of the table. And I just want to
thank you because you have been such a crusader on behalf of
not only Native Hawaiians, but for native people generally. And
you just have this ability, I am sure partly because of your
great staff, to understand all the different ways that
language, culture is all interconnected to how we understand
ourselves. And that kind of guidance, that kind of leadership
has just been tremendous, and we cannot begin to thank you
enough for your continued support for this. And anything that
we can do at the Bishop Museum to help with the passage of this
bill, please do not hesitate to call upon us.
Thank you.
Senator Inouye. See, if you were on my staff, you would get
a pay raise.
Dr. Brown, you heard that, did you not?
Mr. Brown. Yes, sir.
Senator Inouye. And now may I call upon Dr. David Dinwoodie
of the Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.
Doctor.
STATEMENT OF DAVID DINWOODIE, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY,
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Mr. Dinwoodie. Greetings. It is a distinct honor to have
the opportunity to testify and contribute to this discussion.
My professional interest is in language use among Native
Americans and First Nations people of Canada. Presently, I am
participating in an effort initiated by the leadership of the
Nizipuhwahsin school and Piegan Institute to begin a second
phase in their work, and it is a distinct pleasure to be
involved in that work. And it is on the basis of that work and
my previous experience that I have been asked to testify.
In summarizing my testimony, it is my experience that what
Dr. Sims earlier described as community-based efforts are
underway in virtually all Native American communities, that is,
community-based efforts to support indigenous languages and
also to address the linguistic situation more generally. There
are efforts to increase proficiency in English, and in many
cases those are compatible, very much compatible with efforts
to preserve indigenous languages.
And it is my belief that these movements should be taken
very seriously. The leaders of these movements, some of which
are very small and consist of families, are in the best
position to resolve some of the difficulties in supporting
these languages, and we heard a little bit about that in the
last panel. It is my belief that anthropologists in particular
are not able to sort out those difficulties. In other words, we
are in a position to learn from what is going on in these
communities, but the people, the community members themselves
are in the best position to organize and implement these
programs. And I think that the Piegan Institute serves as a
model. In my view, it is exactly the way it presents itself, it
is a grassroots movement and should be taken very seriously.
That is the gist of what I have to contribute.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Dinwoodie appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. What you are saying has been said in
different ways by other witnesses, that in order to succeed, an
important factor is community involvement or support. Now, how
do we achieve that? How would you suggest? What do we do?
Mr. Dinwoodie. Well, I think the simplest way in the case
that I know best here, which is the Piegan Institute, is to
support the leaders of that institution. In other words, they
have already addressed many of these extraordinarily complex
issues, and they are in a position to really proceed and do
great things. And I think that is true of the other programs,
it is just that I am not an expert in the other programs. But I
think the key is to move beyond generic participation toward
leadership and support that puts them in a position to
implement these programs.
Senator Inouye. I will let you in on a little secret here.
This Committee was all prepared to report this bill out
immediately, because we believe in this measure; however, we
felt that our Nation should be made aware of why we are doing
this, that native language immersion and instruction conducted
in native languages do cut down on dropout rates, it does
involve improvement and performance, scholastic performance,
all the things that we have been seeking. It somehow instills
better discipline among the students; it brings about better
cultural identity and pride. And so that is why we are having
this hearing. And I am glad that all of you have assisted us in
this.
And now may I have the wrap-up witness, Dr. Cheek.
STATEMENT OF JOHN CHEEK, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INDIAN EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION, ALEXANDRIA, VA
Mr. Cheek. Good afternoon, Mr. Senator. It is good to be
here.
Again, my name is John Cheek. I am executive director of
the National Indian Education Association. Our president-elect,
Cindy La Maar, had to catch a flight, so I am just going solo
on this part of it. I think it is very appropriate that you
saved the longest testimony for the end of the hearing today,
so I appreciate that.
During various periods in the history of this country,
there have been efforts to eliminate native languages. Rarely
has the use of these languages been supported or even
encouraged by the Federal Government. Since native languages
are closely related to the cultural identity of tribal groups
that speak them, the failure to support retention of these
languages also means a lack of support for the cultural
identity of numerous indigenous populations. The ill-conceived
efforts to eliminate the language and culture of all of
America's indigenous populations is one of the darkest periods
in this Nation's history.
Native languages are one of the treasures of this country's
heritage, as well as the treasures of tribal groups themselves.
During World War II, several Indian nations utilized their
native language to help America win the war. Even as World War
II came to an end, Indian languages here at home were under
attack in the Indian schools as termination advocates sought to
remove language and culture from Indian students. Recently,
proponents of the English-only movement have sought to
mainstream the English language in America, even though today's
minorities will become tomorrow's majority.
To American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians,
our languages are synonymous with cultural identity. Without
language, there is no effective way to communicate and pass on
the values and teachings from one generation to the next.
Sadly, many tribal groups have already lost their languages. In
1992, when the Native Languages Act was first considered by
Congress, only 150 Indian languages were still being used, out
of an estimated several hundred.
Today I am speaking on behalf of the advocates of the
survival school movement and amendments to the Native American
Languages Act. The amendments would include the addition of
survival schools, and I won't really go into that since we have
had adequate testimony on that and it is in my record. But, in
short, S. 575 is a modest step in the process of supporting the
revitalization of native languages in America. It would put
existing language immersion programs on firmer financial
footing and provide some encouragement for others to begin. It
plans a seed that hopefully can grow into a larger effort to
slow down and perhaps, in some cases, reverse the march toward
the loss of the American Indian language and culture.
Specifically, the bill would support the development of
survival schools and language nests, which NIA fully supports
and endorses.
We did have a couple of comments that we wanted to at least
bring to your attention, and I won't read them all, but they
are in my written statement.
The certification issue definitely needs to be dealt with.
One of the problems is that the No Child Left Behind Act is
totally achievement driven and doesn't really consider any
other language validity, I think, and reliability, so we need
to make sure that somehow whatever language programs are
created and the money that is there for them also includes some
way to certify those programs so that they at least will
maintain some sort of status under No Child Left Behind.
The act also didn't recommend an authorization amount, even
though I believe the previous survival school bill that didn't
make it through recommended about $8 million, I believe. I
think our recommendation is to provide about $8 million for
existing programs and to create new programs in order to keep
the momentum going that we have seen here today.
I would also want to include an additional $1 million for
research to back up what we know is happening in these local
schools and in these survival schools. Without research, you
can't really back up and support the work that is going on that
is actually working for Indian communities, so we need to have
that in with it.
I believe there is one provision that it looked like they
had omitted Alaska Natives, it was under section 103. So if it
needed a technical amendment or not, I would make sure that
Alaska Natives are included in that section.
The rest of my comments I will just include in my record.
In closing, I would like to thank the Committee on Indian
Affairs for its unwavering support for the concerns of all
native people and for holding today's hearing on S. 575. Tribal
languages, as with tribal sovereignty, can only be maintained
when committed native peoples work in concert with the Congress
to ensure their existence. To this end, we ask the committee to
recommend support for this legislation and its potential impact
on the future of Indian generations.
I would be happy to answer any questions the committee may
have.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Cheek appears in appendix.]
Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Mr. Cheek.
I am very pleased that we did have this hearing for another
reason, a very important one, because many witnesses suggested
that this measure, like most legislative measures, has some
imperfections and that we should amend it to address the
problems associated with the provisions of the No Child Left
Behind Act, for example. And, therefore, may I suggest that all
of you who have interest in suggesting amendments to this bill
assemble in room 836 of the Hart Office Building, which is two
buildings down. That is one of the offices of the Committee on
Indian Affairs. So if you will meet with the staff of the
committee and discuss the changes that you would like to
suggest to the bill, amendments to the bill, I would personally
appreciate that.
So, with that, I thank all of you and I thank Dr. Navarro
for the books. Thank you very much. And Dr. Hinton.
One of these days I am going to learn the language. I do
speak Navajo.
So, with that, thank you all very much. It has been very
helpful. And I can assure you that this measure will be
reported out with your changes by the end of July. Thank you
very much.
[Whereupon, at 3:25 p.m., the committee was adjourned, to
reconvene at the call of the Chair.]
=======================================================================
A P P E N D I X
----------
Additional Material Submitted for the Record
=======================================================================
Prepared Statement of Hon. Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. Senator from Hawaii,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs meets this morning to
receive testimony on S. 575, a bill to amend the Native American
Languages Act to provide authority for the establishment of Native
American Language Survival Schools and Native American Language Nests
and for other purposes.
Historians and linguists estimate that there were between 1,000 and
2,000 distinct Native languages at the time that Europeans first set
foot on this continent.
Since that time, there have been many influences brought to bear on
Native people and their cultures, and few of them have been positive as
they affect the preservation and ongoing vitality of Native languages
For instance, there was a time in our history when Federal policy
strongly encouraged the assimilation of Indian people. In carrying out
this policy, Indian children were taken from their homes and forced to
attend boarding schools, where against most Native religious beliefs,
the children's hair was cut, and they were forbidden from speaking in
their Native languages, or practicing any aspect of their traditions
and culture, including dancing, singing, and ceremonial rites.
In contemporary times, we have seen the effects of the ``English-
only'' movement on the speaking of other languages in this country--and
on school curricula which at one time placed a premium on the learning
of other languages by American students.
In my home State of Hawaii, fortunately we have a different set of
circumstances.
The Native Hawaiian language is recognized as one of two official
languages of the State.
Native Hawaiian language immersion programs are part of the public
school curriculum, and private schools using the Native Hawaiian
language as the exclusive language in which instruction in all academic
subjects is carried out have more applicants than they can accommodate.
In Hawaii, we have not only kindergarten through twelfth grade
Native Hawaiian language instructed curriculum in the private schools
administered by Aha Punana Leo, we have a masters' degree program at
the University of Hawaii at Hilo where teachers are trained to provide
instruction in the Native Hawaiian language.
Many of our streets bear the names of Native Hawaiian leaders or
are simply Native Hawaiian words, and ancient and traditional
practices, such as hula, ho'o'ponopono, and lomi lomi are not only
widely accepted but enthusiastically embraced.
Native Hawaiian traditional healers play an integral role in the
provision of health care to Native Hawaiian patients.
So in Hawaii, while there was a time when the influence of the
missionaries and their efforts to discourage the Native Hawaiian people
from expressing their culture and their traditions and from speaking
their language, we are no longer fighting those influences.
But there is a new threat to Native languages and I don't suppose
that any of our well-intentioned legislators would have predicted
this--but the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are having a
significant effect on the inclusion of Native languages in school
curricula, on teacher certification, and in many other areas that we
will hear about today.
Some have suggested that the only solution is to take Native
languages out of the public schools and to provide Native language
instruction in another venue.
There are a number of programs already operating in this manner,
and they have demonstrated that students can not only become proficient
in their Native language, but that their academic performance is
improved.
Other scientific tests of human brain development instruct us that
when children become proficient in more than one language, they
actually generate more brain cells and their life-long capacity for
learning is enhanced.
But we also know that there are only about 155 Native languages
remaining and that 87 percent of these languages have been classified
as either deteriorating or nearing extinction.
Native languages are losing their vitality as those who speak the
Native language pass on, and with the loss of language comes the loss
of the means to convey the history, the culture, the traditions that
are unique to each group of people.
We are speaking of the very survival of Native languages, and we
must do our part to assure that they do survive.
(We are told that Senator Murkowski will be at the hearing--so you
may want to call on her next).
Before we begin the hearing today, I want to advise the witnesses
that your full statements will be made part of the hearing record, and
the committee would appreciate it if you would summarize your thoughts
so that there will be sufficient time for all of the presentations.
Because of other meetings that will be taking place in the Senate,
we have to complete this hearing before noon today, so I would ask all
of the witnesses if they will please respect the Committee's desire
that all witnesses have time to make their presentations before the
hearing must be adjourned, by keeping their statements within the 5-
minute timeframe that has been designated. Thank you.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator from Alaska
Mr. Chairman. The preservation of our Native languages was very
important to my father, former Senator Frank Murkowski, who joined with
Senator Inouye and others in this room to craft the early Native
American language legislation in the early 1990's.
Senator Frank Murkowski was particularly supportive of the work of
Dr. Michael Krauss and his colleagues at the Alaska Native Language
Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He would be very pleased
to know that S. 575 designates the center as a demonstration site, in
recognition of its pioneering work in language preservation, as I am.
But the challenges facing those who educate in Native languages are
perhaps greater today than they ever have been. Although the United
States has long abandoned the practice of terminating Native languages
by discouraging educators from teaching in any language other than
English, the recent ``No Child Left Behind'' legislation poses
particular challenges to the advancement of Native language education.
The written testimony submitted today suggests that these challenges
will be felt throughout Indian America.
For months, school districts throughout rural Alaska have been
working with the Department of Education in hopes of finding some
flexibility to assure that ``No Child Left Behind'' does not undo all
of the good work that the Native language survival community has done
for more than one-quarter century. I need to point out that while the
Native American Languages Act dates back to the early 1990's, the
Alaska Native Language Center was established by state legislation in
1972.
I was proud to host Education Secretary Rod Paige's recent visit to
Alaska, so that he and his senior staff could have a first hand view of
all the good learning that is occurring in our rural school districts
and why the implementation of ``No Child Left Behind'' must be
accommodated to our special circumstances.
While we opened the Secretary's eyes to how education works in
rural Alaska, there is much left to be done in reconciling Native
language education with ``No Child Left Behind.'' Mr. Chairman, you
have brought together many of the brightest minds in Native language
survival for this hearing. I will be most interested in hearing how we
can continue our progress in Native language education, without
compromising the essential objective of ``No Child Left Behind,'' which
is that every child must be educated in away that he or she can
effectively participate in the American economy. I would like our
witnesses, and their colleagues, to carefully consider how their
talents can be brought to bear in resolving this dilemma.
I am encouraged by the written testimony which indicates that
intensive education in Native languages does not inhibit educational
achievement, but enhances it, and I would ask the witnesses to help us
fully understand this point during the course of this hearing or in the
supplemental information they might submit for the record. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman, for convening this important hearing. It could not have
come at a more critical time.
______
Prepared Statement of Joycelyn Davis-DesRosier, Teacher, Nizipuhwahsin,
School, Piegan Institute Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Browning, MT
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of S. 575, the
``Native American Languages Act Amendments Act of 2003.'' Today I would
like to tell you how important Native American language survival
schools are for educating our Native children.
Three years ago my son Ahsinapoyii (Jesse DesRosier), along with
Darrell Kipp the Executive Director of Piegan Institute and fellow
student Terrance Guardipee came to testified on behalf of this bill.
(Here is their picture with Senator Inouye) I am here today on behalf
of my son and on behalf of all the children at Nizipuhwahsin to tell
you how important Native American language survival schools are at
developing fluent speakers, returning status to Native languages and at
educating our children. Nizipuhwahsin is a K-8 school on the Blackfeet
Indian reservation where core academic subjects are taught in the
Blackfeet language.
When I first enrolled my two boys at Nizipuhwahsin a lot of people
told me not to send them there, even my own family. They said that my
boys would never learn to read and write English, that my boys would
have lower academic achievement and would never make the transition to
public school and that the Blackfeet language the children were
learning was ``incorrect.'' At times even I began to question, am I
making the right decision for my children?
I was born and raised on the Blackfeet reservation and I have lived
here all of my life. Growing up the Blackfeet language was spoken in
our house but we were never encouraged to speak the language. As I grew
up I took classes in high school and I took all the Blackfeet language
classes at the community college but I never learned more than one word
a week. It was not until my sons started school at Nizipuhwahsin that
my family returned to speaking the Blackfeet language.
I began volunteering at Nizipuhwahsin 5 years ago and then entered
a 3-year Kellogg Foundation funded Blackfeet language teacher training
program at Piegan Institute. I completed the 3-year program and a B.A.
in Elementary Education. I became a state certified teacher and for the
past year I have worked full-time as a teacher at Nizipuhwahsin.
As a teacher I see the value of Native American language survival
schools not only for my children but for all the children and for the
community as a whole. When children begin to learn the language the
first thing they do is to go visit their grandparents--and speak to
them in Blackfeet. The children visit with each other at the grocery
store and people in the community listen. What was once thought of as
taboo or old fashioned has become a symbol of high status. Elders seek
out children from Nizipuhwahsin to visit with because they know they
can have a conversation with each other. It is bringing about a healing
between the generations.
Unlike educators and academics the elders do not argue about
whether or not the children speak the ``correct'' type of Blackfeet.
The elders acknowledge the children's abilities. The elders reflect on
their experiences, mostly when they were young and with their parents.
The elders share the socializing of long visits, singing, and dancing.
The Blackfeet language is the bond because everyone spoke only the
language in the old days. Elders today face and experience the most
change of any generation of people. The fast pace of living has caught
up to the Blackfeet and the elders are worried about it. The
spirituality in the families and community used to be strong.
Nizipuhwahsin has an open door policy and elders are welcome at all
times of the day. When Nizipuhwahsin school was first designed and
built, it was built with a grandmother's house in mind. The classrooms
were designed to be open, airy and welcoming. The kitchen is always
open for the children and visitors. Our school is accessible to all the
community. Our school has evolved from being not only a school but the
center of community life. Many community cultural events are held at
the Nizipuhwahsin because it is made comfortable and people want to
hear and speak the language.
But most of all I am happy for the children who are thriving in a
safe, nurturing environment and learning their language. Many children
who go to Nizipuhwahsin have gone on to public school and they move
directly into taking honors classes in high school, becoming members of
the National Honor Society and scoring above average on the ITBS.
Learning academic subjects in the Blackfeet language has not diminished
their academic ability but enhanced it.
Pitohkiiyo (Michael John DesRosier) is now completing his 6th year
and Ahsinapoyii (Jesse DesRosier) is completing his 4th year at
Nizipuhwahsin and they are speakers of the Blackfeet language. Elders
now come to my sons and ask them to lead prayers at our religious
ceremonies. The elders hold this knowledge sacred. This knowledge can
only be obtained through the Blackfoot language. Ceremonial rites and
rituals have been handed down by Creator since the beginning of time
and must continue to remain so. The time is coming when many ceremonial
rites need to be transferred to younger people. Therefore, the need for
reviving the teachings through the Blackfoot language is urgent.
Ceremonies must continue on to provide protection to the people. My
sons are beginning to participate in the ancient ceremonial ways of our
people. My sons now have opportunities that they never would have had
without our Native American language survival school.
Did I make the right decision? Yes, our lives have been forever
changed by Nizipuhwahsin.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.001
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.002
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.003
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.004
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.005
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.006
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.007
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.008
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.009
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.010
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.011
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.012
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.013
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.014
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.015
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.016
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.017
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.018
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.019
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.020
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.021
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.022
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.023
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.024
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.025
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.026
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.027
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.028
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.029
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.030
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.031
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.032
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.033
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.034
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.035
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.036
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.037
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.038
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.039
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.040
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.041
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.042
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.043
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.044
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.045
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.046
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.047
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.048
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.049
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.050
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.051
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.052
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.053
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.054
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.055
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.056
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.057
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.058
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.059
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.060
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.061
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.062
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.063
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.064
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.065
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.066
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.067
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.068
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.069
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.070
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.071
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.072
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.073
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.074
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.075
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.076
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.077
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.078
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.079
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.080
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.081
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.082
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.083
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.084
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.085
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.086
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.087
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.088
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.089
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.090
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.091
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.092
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.093
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.094
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.095
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.096
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.097
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.098
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.099
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.100
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7260.101