ANC Childcare and Education Center DBA Life’s Language Lodge

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) In our community, we were lacking speakers; we lost a lot of our elders who's first language was Aaniiih or Nakoda. In the Aaniiih Language today, there are no known first language speakers and multiple second language learners. In Nakoda, there is around 4 first language speakers and multiple second language learners. There is a need for language preservation here. If we don't learn and preserve it now our language will be lost in the future. Our unique languages are part of our identity as Native people.

-This project will create new material from raw language data that has sat dormant for 50-100 years. -This project will utilize a process that will help Aaniiih and Nakoda People retain their traditional stories in our own voices. -This process will allow us to control the narrative of our stories.