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Departments of the Interior, Education, and Health & Human Services Launch Multi-Agency Initiative to Protect and Preserve Native Languages
Interagency efforts will align federal language preservation programs to ensure the viability of Native languages
Monday, November 15, 2021
Indianz.Com
The following is the text of a November 15, 2021, news release from the Department of the Interior.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Departments of the Interior, Education and Health and Human Services launched a new interagency initiative today to preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native languages.
The announcement was made as part of the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, which brings government officials and leaders from federally recognized Tribes together to discuss ways the federal government can invest in and continue to strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship and ensure that progress in Indian Country endures for years to come.
The three agencies joined five others in signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to further the Native American Languages Act of 1990 by establishing new goals and programs that support the protection and preservation of Native languages spoken by federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, Native Hawaiians, and other Native American groups in the United States. The MOA reaffirms the establishment of an annual national summit on Native languages, which will take place this year on November 18-19, 2021.
- Identifying statutory or regulatory barriers that impede federal implementation of Native language activities;
- Identifying research that explores educational attainment and Native language retention and/or revitalization;
- Simplifying the process to integrate Native language instruction and language and other cultural activities into educational settings, including libraries, museums, cultural and historic preservation programs, and in the arts; and
- Strengthening Tribal consultations on the issue of Native languages.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, provides scientific and other information about natural resources and natural hazards to address societal challenges and create opportunities for the American people, and honors the Nation’s trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities to help them prosper.
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