In the Current Issue: Language Revitalization
Tribal colleges and universities are working harder than ever to cauterize the wounds inflicted by assimilationists during the 20th century. And they are succeeding. They are building dynamic language programs from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the deserts of the Southwest and all points in between.
Ojibwemotaadidaa: Preparing a new generation of fluent speakers
By Persia Erdrich
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s language program offers students a complete immersion experience where they learn to speak Ojibwe in everyday situations.
More Than Words, A Way of Life: Language restoration programs reach beyond tribal colleges and universities
By Laura Paskus
From the Arctic Circle to the Great Plains, tribal colleges and universities are launching a vast array of new programs to revitalize and preserve Native languages.
Editor's Essay: It Takes a Movement
By Bradley Shreve
Carolyn Burgess Savage was one of the last fluent Chitimacha speakers when she passed away on August 16, 2012. Despite making it her life mission to save her language, one person cannot do it alone. It takes a movement -- and tribal colleges and universities are leading the way.
On Campus: Tribal College News
Read about recent news from the tribal colleges and universities including an announcement about the first smartphone app for a Native American Language, new program offerings and infrastructure, and strengthened collaborations.
Web Exclusive
In this video interview with Albert White Hat, the Sicangu Lakota elder, teacher and author speaks about the survival of the Lakota language. Lakota Documentaries, an elder documentary project at Sinte Gleska University, produced the film.
Web Exclusive
Natalie Diaz, director of the Mojave Language Recovery Program, believes that language preservation is vital to cultural revitalization. In this web-exclusive feature, Jon Davis uncovers how Diaz and others are working to preserve Mojave as a living language.
Profile
Longtime language instructor Louis Soop binds culture and language together at Red Crow Community College.
In this new, provocative monthly column, College of Menominee Nation professor Ryan Winn offers food for thought on the value and importance of a liberal arts education.
In Memoriam
Few lawmakers embody the spirit and history of the tribal college movement more than the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye.
Tribal College News
ANC preserves language through translation
The Aaniiih Nakoda College (ANC, Harlem, MT) Library, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Fort Belknap Indian Community, is undertaking a two-year project to translate 21 popular children’s books into the Aaniiih and Nakoda languages. Once each book has been translated and prepared, readings will take place at three (more)
NTC joins Collegiate Archery Association
Navajo Technical College (NTC, Crownpoint, NM) was granted membership into the United States Collegiate Archery Association (USCAA) this past spring. The national governing body for college archery in the United States, the USCAA is responsible for organizing local, state, regional, and national competitions, as well as selecting the international university archery team. Admission into the (more)
TOCC opens permanent main campus
By Heather Baxter and Martha Lee A dream in the making for many years came true in the fall of 2012 when Tohono O’odham Community College (TOCC, Sells, AZ) opened its new main campus in the Schuk Toak District on the Tohono O’odham Reservation in southern Arizona. The college can now offer students a residential (more)
Opinion
It Takes a Movement
Carolyn Burgess Savage grew up in a one-room shack among the sugar cane fields of southern Louisiana. Her family of eight didn’t have any of the conveniences or consumer trappings that characterized postwar 1950s America. Even worse, they experienced firsthand the grinding oppression of the South’s Jim Crow laws and the social, political, and economic (more)
Words Are Mightier Than Colonialism
College of Menominee Nation professor Ryan Winn writes on the importance of taking a stand against persistent misconceptions and stereotypes.
Wild Rice and the Anishinaabe Scientist
Michael Price believes in the importance of integrating science with Indigenous knowledge and cultural values. This creates the correct path for today’s generation, where technology can be used to sustain sacred ways and the integrity of tribal lands.
Resource Guides
24-4 Summer 2013 “Language Revitalization” Resource Guide
While reporting one of the stories in the current issue of Tribal College Journal, I had the opportunity to speak with Chief Dull Knife College president Richard Littlebear. Littlebear is a leader in language revitalization, not only on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, but across North America. I kept recalling our conversation. Many of the linguists (more)
24-3 “The Science of Place” Resource GuideOver the past few hundred years, Western science has considered Indigenous knowledge about our natural surroundings as an entirely separate way of viewing the world. In recent years that has started to change, as Native students, scientists, and writers communicate with the public about traditional knowledge. Increasingly, scientists and academics have acknowledged the crucial role Indigenous (more)
24-1 “Communicating Yesterday’s Stories Today” Resource GuideGenerally speaking, the act of Indigenous storytelling is a sacred practice that passes culture and wisdom from one generation to another. While there are some similarities among the storytelling practices of all Indigenous peoples, each tribe has unique methods of storytelling and attempts to generalize Indigenous storytelling as a whole are problematic. With this in (more)
