Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Article About the ANA Tlingit Language Survey Appears in Today's Sitka Daily Sentinel
A front page article about the ANA Tlingit Language Survey appeared in today's Daily Sentinel along with a photo of Survey Technician Jacqueline Geboe administering the survey to SNEP Alumni Christine Kagak. It can be found at http://www.sitkasentinel.com/
Friday, June 5, 2009
The Community of Sitka's Tlingit Language Preservation Project
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has predicted that half of the world’s 6,700 spoken languages are in danger of disappearing before the end of the century. For most of us, language simply represents a means of communication. However, language is so much more; not only is language our primary means of communicating, but language and languages are “humankind’s principle tools for interacting”, for expressing “ideas, emotions, knowledge, memories and values”. Language and languages are a primary means of cultural expressions and transmit cultural heritage from one generation to the next, something essential to the identity of individuals, groups and societies. In their “Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” UNESCO placed Tlingit (or Lingit) on its list of critically endangered languages—one step from extinct—with the number of fluent Tlingit speakers listed at 300 persons in the year 2000, a number that has continued to decline.
In an effort to counteract this trend, Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA), with assistance from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Native Americans, has launched a multi-year, multi-phase Tlingit language preservation and maintenance project. The ANA Tlingit Language Survey is the first phase of a project that STA hopes will lead to a “major comeback of the Tlingit language”, culminating in Haa Lingit Yoo X'atangi Kudi (as named by the ANA Language Committee), or the establishment of a Tlingit “language nest” and Tlingit language survival school.
With this in mind, the main goal of the first phase of the project, the ANA Tlingit Language Survey, is to identify the current status of the Tlingit Language in Sitka. In addition to this, the survey hopes to foster a community-wide discussion and dialogue about Tlingit language and its past, present and future place in Sitka, while at the same time providing an opportunity for the community to be heard and for its feedback to play a role in the project’s subsequent phases. After establishing the current status of the Tlingit language in Sitka, the next phases of the grant will include a planning phase, an implementation phase and, ultimately, an immersion phase.
The need for these types of programs in Sitka is high and, while the Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP) has been engaged in language and cultural teaching for three and a half decades, its resources and access can only go so far. The need for a broader and more substantial Tlingit language program is twofold. On the one hand, it is urgently needed to help preserve the Tlingit language and ensure its survival for future generations. On the other, it is needed to reengage tribal youth who have become disillusioned with and disenfranchised from their educational experiences. With higher than average dropout rates, Sitka’s native youth would benefit tremendously from Tlingit language programs that honor their cultural heritage and the resilience of their ancestors while simultaneously acknowledging and reinforcing the value of the Tlingit community’s past, present and future contributions to Sitka’s development and to the larger society.
In a short language revitalization survey conducted by STA at the 2009 “World of Work” job fair, Sitka youth echoed the need for the introduction of Tlingit language instruction into their everyday educational experiences. Of the roughly 150 survey respondents, over 50 percent said that they would be interested in participating in a Tlingit language program, while even more said that they would participate in school-day Tlingit language classes. The same can be said for Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s tribal members who, in the STA Tribal Needs Assessments of 2004 and 2008, listed “preservation of the Tlingit language” as their number one priority.
Meeting the need for more widespread Tlingit language programs in Sitka would provide a win-win situation for all and can no longer be ignored. Meeting this need would help save a vanishing language, a language that for millennia has been the means of transmitting unique knowledge, cultural heritage and values; it is a need that will allow Sitkans to acknowledge the many contributions of people past, present and future; and it is a need that will give Sitka’s native youth an opportunity to take pride in their cultural heritage and themselves, while expressing their feelings and thoughts in the language of their ancestors. Not only is Tlingit language preservation a need for Sitka’s native community, but it is a need for all Sitkans; it is a need that will help us, as a community, heal old wounds and establish new relationships. Much like the flickering of the sparks from a fire, the Tlingit name for Mt. Edgecumbe is L’ux (“to blink”). The question we must ask ourselves is, after we blink, will we open our eyes and find that the Tlingit language is gone? Or, will we blink and open our eyes to the reemergence and revitalization of the Tlingit language for generations to come? STA’s ANA Tlingit language Preservation project will ensure that every attempt is made at the latter so that generations to come will be able to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the Tlingit language, all that it means and all that it has to offer.
The ANA staff would love to hear from you and would appreciate any input or ideas you might have on the project. If you have not yet taken the ANA Tlingit Language Survey we would encourage you to do so. To share your ideas with us or to take a survey you can drop by the ANB Hall Monday through Friday from 9 to 2, you can call us at 747-8561 or 747-8105 (just ask for Tristan) or you can reach us at tristan.guevin@gmail.com.
In an effort to counteract this trend, Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA), with assistance from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Native Americans, has launched a multi-year, multi-phase Tlingit language preservation and maintenance project. The ANA Tlingit Language Survey is the first phase of a project that STA hopes will lead to a “major comeback of the Tlingit language”, culminating in Haa Lingit Yoo X'atangi Kudi (as named by the ANA Language Committee), or the establishment of a Tlingit “language nest” and Tlingit language survival school.
With this in mind, the main goal of the first phase of the project, the ANA Tlingit Language Survey, is to identify the current status of the Tlingit Language in Sitka. In addition to this, the survey hopes to foster a community-wide discussion and dialogue about Tlingit language and its past, present and future place in Sitka, while at the same time providing an opportunity for the community to be heard and for its feedback to play a role in the project’s subsequent phases. After establishing the current status of the Tlingit language in Sitka, the next phases of the grant will include a planning phase, an implementation phase and, ultimately, an immersion phase.
The need for these types of programs in Sitka is high and, while the Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP) has been engaged in language and cultural teaching for three and a half decades, its resources and access can only go so far. The need for a broader and more substantial Tlingit language program is twofold. On the one hand, it is urgently needed to help preserve the Tlingit language and ensure its survival for future generations. On the other, it is needed to reengage tribal youth who have become disillusioned with and disenfranchised from their educational experiences. With higher than average dropout rates, Sitka’s native youth would benefit tremendously from Tlingit language programs that honor their cultural heritage and the resilience of their ancestors while simultaneously acknowledging and reinforcing the value of the Tlingit community’s past, present and future contributions to Sitka’s development and to the larger society.
In a short language revitalization survey conducted by STA at the 2009 “World of Work” job fair, Sitka youth echoed the need for the introduction of Tlingit language instruction into their everyday educational experiences. Of the roughly 150 survey respondents, over 50 percent said that they would be interested in participating in a Tlingit language program, while even more said that they would participate in school-day Tlingit language classes. The same can be said for Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s tribal members who, in the STA Tribal Needs Assessments of 2004 and 2008, listed “preservation of the Tlingit language” as their number one priority.
Meeting the need for more widespread Tlingit language programs in Sitka would provide a win-win situation for all and can no longer be ignored. Meeting this need would help save a vanishing language, a language that for millennia has been the means of transmitting unique knowledge, cultural heritage and values; it is a need that will allow Sitkans to acknowledge the many contributions of people past, present and future; and it is a need that will give Sitka’s native youth an opportunity to take pride in their cultural heritage and themselves, while expressing their feelings and thoughts in the language of their ancestors. Not only is Tlingit language preservation a need for Sitka’s native community, but it is a need for all Sitkans; it is a need that will help us, as a community, heal old wounds and establish new relationships. Much like the flickering of the sparks from a fire, the Tlingit name for Mt. Edgecumbe is L’ux (“to blink”). The question we must ask ourselves is, after we blink, will we open our eyes and find that the Tlingit language is gone? Or, will we blink and open our eyes to the reemergence and revitalization of the Tlingit language for generations to come? STA’s ANA Tlingit language Preservation project will ensure that every attempt is made at the latter so that generations to come will be able to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the Tlingit language, all that it means and all that it has to offer.
The ANA staff would love to hear from you and would appreciate any input or ideas you might have on the project. If you have not yet taken the ANA Tlingit Language Survey we would encourage you to do so. To share your ideas with us or to take a survey you can drop by the ANB Hall Monday through Friday from 9 to 2, you can call us at 747-8561 or 747-8105 (just ask for Tristan) or you can reach us at tristan.guevin@gmail.com.
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