Montana law supports tribal language preservation efforts

Montana law supports tribal language preservation efforts

By Clara Caufield,

NSNT Staff Writer

 

 

MISSOULA, Mont. – Three Montana Tribes and the Montana State University Center for Bilingual and Multi-Culture Education will co-host a Workshop at the University of Montana in Missoula to provide professional development training for teachers of tribal languages. The hosting Tribes will include Chippewa Cree of the Rocky Boy’s; the Assiniboine-Sioux of Fort Peck and the Salish-Kootenai of Flathead.

Montana State Representative Jonathan Windy Boy (D), Chippewa-Cree will moderate the workshop. Having served two decades in the State Legislature and as a Tribal official, Windy Boy has been instrumental in gaining enactment of State and tribal law and funding to support the Montana Tribal Indian Language Preservation.  Windy Boy is also a fluent speaker of his tribal language, singer and dancer, well-regarded across Indian Country and the Great Plains for his advocacy of traditional Native ways and fancy foot-steeping ways in pow wow arbors across the country.

In 2013, he first sponsored legislation to create a tribal language pilot program which paved the way for permanent legislation for that program, though the funding is contingent upon the bi-annual legislative budget process, altogether about 8 million since then

A focus of the workshop will be Class Seven professional development for level seven state-certified tribal language instructors.  Such certification is provided to tribal language instructors who must demonstrate proficiency under standards established by the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

Windy stresses, however that the workshop is available to all teachers working with native languages, tribal legislators, leaders from all areas.  There is no cost for the workshop.  “In the battle to save our languages, this is a subject that everyone, especially our leaders needs to learn more about, and get involved in,” Windy Boy stressed.

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to exchange information and learn more about several linguistic topics including:  classroom empowerment through Culturally Responsive pedagogy; increasing tribal language contact in schools; Indian Language Immersion laws, including Federal, State and Tribal; Tribal Language government records archival research methods; review of the Montana Indian Education for All Act; Tribal language curriculum, tribal language standards and tribal classroom management strategies.  Continuing education units will be offered for Montana Class 7 licensed educators.

Representative Windy Boy has long made tribal language preservation a priority in his legislative career at both the tribal and state levels. In future issues, Native Sun will visit more with him and others who are engaged in the desperate effort to preserve tribal languages to share this information with our readers.

For more information or to register for the workshop, contact Mike Gebo, Data Analyst of the Department of Indian Education, Chippewa Cree Cultural Resources Preservation Department at mgeboe@chippewa-cree.org…

 

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