mathias | October 26, 2011

On Sunday, September 25th, 2011, Twin Cities Public Television was awarded and Upper Midwest Emmy – having received 26 nominations in 20 categories – for Eugene Stillday’s (Ojibwe) Native language documentary “First Speakers: Restoring the Ojibwe Language, narrated by writer, Louise Erdric (Ojibwe). The project was funded through Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment and follows Anton Treuer [...]

Category: Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa) | 2 Comments »
Tags: Anna Gibbs, Anton Truer, documentary, Eugene Stillday, First Speakers, First Speakers: Restoring the Ojibwe Language, immersion, Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, Larry Stillday, Leech Lake Reservation, Louise Erdric, Niigaane Ojibwemowin Immersion School, Ojibwe, Ponemah, Red Lake, Rose Tainter, Susan Johnson, tpt, Twin Cities Public Television, Upper Midwest Emmy, Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion Charter School

mathias | October 14, 2011

The Indigenous Language Institute is holding a symposium at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from Monday, October 24th – Tuesday, October 25th, 2011, organized into 45 minute sessions with 15 minute question/answer periods. Registration (through the ILI website) is $225, or $150 for students and elders. This year’s symposium is focused on immersion. [...]

Category: Native Language Events | 5 Comments »
Tags: 2011 Indigenous Language Institute Symposium, Akwesasne Mohawk School, Hyatt Regency Hotel, immersion, Indigenous Langauge Institute Symposium, Indigenous Language Institute, Leslie Harper, Margaret Cook-Peters, Mark Macarro, Mohawk, Niigaane Immersion School, Ojibwe, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Speaking in Tongues

mathias | September 26, 2011

Sequoyah Schools of the Cherokee Nation extended full immersion classes to 6th graders and provided iPads and iPods to 7th and 8th graders as part of Sequoyah’s Technology Education Program (STEP). They’re using new technology in dynamic ways, consulting dictionary and vocabulary apps, taking reading comprehension quizzes, and creating video presentations. Reportedly, children are using [...]

Category: Cherokee | No Comments »
Tags: Ancient Village, Cherokee, Cherokee Heritage Center, Cherokee Nation, iCherokee, immersion, International Museum of Library Studies, iPad, iPod, iSyllabary, J. D. Ross, Oklahoma, Park Hill, Sequoyah Schools, Sequoyah's Technology Education Program, STEP, Steven Daughtery, Thornton Media, Writing Cherokee

mathias | September 19, 2011

Indian Country Today just came out with a report on Dakota language immersion programs with a touching 10 minute video. Also, a Lakota language class is returning to Sioux Falls high schools, having been downgraded to a generic Native American Connections class two years prior due to trouble finding a teacher. Now, Tim Easter, a [...]

Category: Dakota (Santee Sioux, Yankton Sioux), Lakota (Teton Sioux), Siouan Languages | No Comments »
Tags: Dakota, immersion, Indian Country Today, Lakota, Lakota Summer Institute, Native American Connections, Sioux Falls, Tim Easter

mathias | June 30, 2011

70 educators recently participated in a three week Lakota Summer Institute in Linguistics geared toward training new teachers of various levels of proficiency, on account that current instructors are on the verge of retirement after 2-3 decades of teaching. Since 2000, the number of Lakota speakers at Standing Rock has remained a constant 125 or [...]

Category: Lakota (Teton Sioux) | 1 Comment »
Tags: immersion, Lakota, Lakota Language Consortium, LLC, Pine Ridge, Rosebud, SIL, Standing Rock, Summer Institute of Linguistics

mathias | June 17, 2011

In an attempt to get Inuit graduation rates higher than 25%, following two years of research by aboriginal leaders like Mary Simon – head of Canada’s national Inuit group – are fighting for Inuit language immersion schools. She points to a 2008 United Nations panel that early Native language instruction was the greatest prediction of [...]

Category: Inuit languages | No Comments »
Tags: immersion, Inuit, Mary Simon, Thomas Berger, United Nations

mathias | June 8, 2011

This year, Beecher Bay (a.k.a. Scia’new) First Nation great grandmother Lee Charles started teaching Hul’qumi’num (a Coast Salish language) to 4th and 5th graders at Hans Helgesen Elementary School in British Columbia to non-Native and Native students alike (including her granddaughter, Danielle Charles-Horne). Charles was first asked to teach by Principal Julia Sahota. Though non-Native, [...]

Category: Choctaw, Coast Salish Languages, Gitxsanimaax, Hul'qumi'num, Lakota (Teton Sioux), Salish, Tsimshianic Languages | No Comments »
Tags: Beecher Bay, Choctaw, Coast Salish, Danielle Charles-Horn, Edmund Library, Fist Nations, French, Gitxsanimaax, Greg Rodgers, Hans Helgesen Elementary School, Hul'qumi'num, immersion, Julia Sahota, Lakota, Lee Charles, Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma, Salish, Scia'new, Sue Tonnesen, Tsimshianic

Richard Littauer | May 31, 2011

Several Hawaiian educators recently traveled to Washington to talk to the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Specifically, they were talking about the success and worth of immersion programs in native languages. “These languages are crucial to Native American literature, ceremonial life, spirituality, kinship practices, and overall indigenous identity,” said Namaka Rawlins, a liaison from [...]

Category: Hawaiian, Native Language Events | No Comments »
Tags: 'Aha Punana Leo, Hawaiian, immersion, Maui Now, Namaka Rawlins, Ni'ihau, UH Hilo College of Hawaiian Language

mathias | April 6, 2011

Bemidji, Minnesota, a town of 14,000 between the reservations of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and White Earth Band of Ojibwe, is labeling objects around town with Ojibwe terms (like Ininiwag (men) and Ikwewag (women) on bathroom signs), as in Hawaii where words like aloha (hello/goodbye/love) and mahalo (thank [...]

Category: Hawaiian, Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa) | 2 Comments »
Tags: Bemidji, Bemidji State University, Cabin Coffeehouse, Chippewa, Hawaiian, immersion, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Noemi Aylesworth, Ojibwa, Ojibwe, Red Lake Band of Chippewa, Shared Visions, White Earth Band of Ojibwe

mathias | March 26, 2011

In hope of preserving two Numic (Uto-Aztecan) languages of the Great Basin spoken by closely affiliated cultures: Shoshone and Bannock, Mark Gabrylczyk (Blackfoot) presented information on the benefits of immersion at the Blackfoot School District board meeting. Pedagogical tools and language classes are needed for success; the first step is to procure funding. The Shoshone-Bannock [...]

Category: Bannock, Shoshone | No Comments »
Tags: Bannock, Blackfoot, Blackfoot School District, Fort Hall Indian Reservation, immersion, Mark Gabrylczk, Numic, pedagogy, revitalization, Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, Uto-Aztecan