The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs recently announced $7 million in grant funds to protect and preserve native languages.
According to a June 15 BIA news release, funding is provided through the Living Language Grant Program and will benefit 45 American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal organizations. Funding will go toward preserving and revitalizing tribal languages that are declining and at risk of disappearing.
“Native language preservation has, for many years, been cited by Indigenous leaders as important to their self-preservation, self-determination and sovereignty. Native preservation and language revitalization is a critical priority because languages go to the heart of a Tribe’s unique cultural identities, traditions, spiritual beliefs and self-governance,” Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said in the BIA release. “Through the Living Languages Grant Program and other interagency efforts, the Biden-Harris administration is working to invest in and strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship and ensure that progress in Indian Country endures for years to come.”
In November 2021, the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Education and Health and Human Services came together to launch an initiative to preserve and promote the rights of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native languages, according to a DOI news release.
"The cornerstone of any culture or community is its language. Languages are where oral histories are passed down, knowledge is shared and bonds are formed. As part of our commitment to strengthening and supporting Indigenous communities, the Interior Department is resolute in its efforts to ensuring Native languages are preserved and protected," Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in the release. "From our libraries and schools to museums and cultural centers, the Department is proud to help lead this interagency effort to encourage programs and projects to include instruction in and preservation of Native languages."
The BIA evaluated grant proposals based on several key metrics including the extent of how funding would benefit preserving or revitalize a Native language, the risk of the language's extinction, the likelihood that funding would prevent intergenerational disruption and the number of tribal members that would benefit from funding, the BIA release reported.
For a list of the grantees and funding amounts, see the BIA news release.
