WHY DON'T WE GIVE OUR CHILDREN TO OUR NATIVE LANGUAGES?

• Main Author: Edna Ahgeak Maclean
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Inupiaq; Inupiat; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.608.8318; http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/cafe/upload/berkeley-_word4_-2.pdf

communities and schools is directly related to past and present educational policies. The consequences of the language policy initiated by the federal government at the turn of the century calling for the eradication of indigenous languages continue as present educational policies and practices fail to provide for Alaska Native language use and development in schools, communities, and homes adequately. This attitude is reflected in the nature of the educational policies and programs that are developed for Alaska Native languages. The emerging insistence of the young English-speaking Inupiat to learn their heritage language should challenge North Alaska Inupiat schools and communities to rethink their attitudes towards the status of Inupiaq language programs in their schools and develop creative language learning programs which promote fluency and literacy in Inupiaq. First, a brief overview of the introduction of schools to Alaska Natives is given, followed by a description, somewhat personal, of the possible effects of schooling when one's only language is rejected as the language of interaction and communication in the school. Then a discussion on the status of Alaska Native languages is given, followed by a description of the State of Alaska's approach to bilingual education. Finally a suggestion is given for the conceptualization of an Alaska Native language revival or maintenance program.