Native Language Immersion Initiative 2022

Only nine first-language Yuchi speakers, ages 60 to 90 years old, are alive today. The Euchee (Yuchi) Language Project Inc will grow new, young speakers in the Yuchi language and restore natural transmission in homes by focusing on family-based immersion. The program will develop 12 youth as new speakers in the first year. In the second and third years, the program will offer more expertise and capacity-building to include language documentation and resource development.

Plans are to revitalize the Tlingit language by providing Tlingit language curriculum and teaching methodology to Southeast Alaska communities. A fluent Tlingit speaker will mentor two high school-based Tlingit language teachers in a master-apprentice immersion program. These teachers will pass on their newly acquired language skills to high school students. All participants will create immersion dialogue videos and the components of three seasonal curricular units to share with Southeast Alaskan educators and community members.

This grant will strengthen Hawaiian immersion education by building capacity to teach more children, families, and community members. Curriculum will be created across two thematic units of Lani and Kai (atmospheric space, ocean/seas) ―allowing teachers to develop lesson plans that put all participants on the same educational journey rooted in Hawaiian values and thought. Funds will support a new Po’o Kumu (head teacher) position and help restructure the organization to better enable teachers to focus and specialize on subject matter that suits their talents and interests.

This project will offer Salish language training to parents and other community members in the Spokane Metro area. Participants will achieve at least intermediate proficiency and become language ambassadors, advocates and mentors to children enrolled in immersion programs at Salish School of Spokane (SSOS). Trainees will have direct relationships with children and families currently served by SOSS to sustain intergenerational use and transmission of this critically endangered Indigenous language that has fewer than five surviving fluent speakers in the U.S.

Less than three percent of fluent speakers remain on the Pine Ridge Reservation. To address this language crisis, TVCDC’s Lakota Language & Education Initiative provides Lakota immersion education for children pre-K to 2^nd grade via the Montessori approach. The Lakota Lifeways life skills curriculum introduces cultural practices for children and caregivers in their home environment. New teachers will be recruited and trained in the Montessori approach, while increasing their own Lakota language fluency.

This grant will help the 435-member Tribe preserve its language and culture. All teachings of traditions, regalia, culture, crafts, and traditional foods will use language immersion curriculum to engage students in becoming active speakers. Elders will provide stories and lessons to the young, from toddlers to high school seniors. Classes are open to all ages, and families are encouraged to participate to learn how to share the language within the home.