The Native American Languages Act has finally made it into
the statute
books (as part of the Tribally Controlled Community Colleges
Bill,
PL101-477). The Act makes it U.S. government policy to
"preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native
Americans
to use,practice, and develop Native American languages". Such
protection
is of course way overdue. Native American language endangerment
and
in
manycases, death, are part of the legacy of 1492.
In any case, it is now Federal policy to: encourage and
support the
use
of N.A. languages as a medium of instruction in schools; offer
exception
to teacher certification programs where necessary to enable
hiring
qualified teachers who teach in N.A. languages; recognize the
right
of
Indian tribes to give official status to their languages for
the
purpose
of conducting their own business; support proficiency in N.A.
languages
by granting the same academic credit as for comparable
proficiency
in a
foreign language, and by allowing N.A. language proficiency to
fulfill
foreign language requirements in schools; and encourage
schools
to
include N.A. languages in the curriculum in the same way as
foreign
languages.
It is hoped that the N.A. Languages Act, together with
language
maintenance programs in local communities, will strengthen the
position of N.A. languages in those communities and in the
country as a
whole.
source: Madison Treaty Rights Support Group
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