09-27-2018, 06:20 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018...-languages
Alaska has declared an emergency for Native American languages, aiming to promote and preserve all 20 recognized indigenous tongues in the state before they die out.
The order signed this week by the state governor, Bill Walker, directs the state education commissioner to work with partners to promote indigenous languages in public education, KTOO Public Media in Juneau reported.
It also directs the state to use traditional Alaska Native place names on public signs. The order instructs state commissioners to designate a tribal liaison tasked with producing a plan to boost collaboration with Alaska Native partners.
The governor’s order was prompted by a report this year by the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, warning that the languages could become extinct by the century’s end. The state legislature had passed a resolution in April urging the governor to make such a declaration.
“You know there’s not a lot of times I stand up in front of a microphone and thank the legislature, and I certainly do on this,” the independent governor said on Sunday while signing the order in Juneau with a gathering of language advocates from across the state.
Good to see: some of these languages really are endangered. There's more information here, but some of them only have about a dozen speakers, all of them elderly .
Sadly, some of them may be beyond saving at this stage, but I hope they're able to keep most of them alive.
Alaska has declared an emergency for Native American languages, aiming to promote and preserve all 20 recognized indigenous tongues in the state before they die out.
The order signed this week by the state governor, Bill Walker, directs the state education commissioner to work with partners to promote indigenous languages in public education, KTOO Public Media in Juneau reported.
It also directs the state to use traditional Alaska Native place names on public signs. The order instructs state commissioners to designate a tribal liaison tasked with producing a plan to boost collaboration with Alaska Native partners.
The governor’s order was prompted by a report this year by the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, warning that the languages could become extinct by the century’s end. The state legislature had passed a resolution in April urging the governor to make such a declaration.
“You know there’s not a lot of times I stand up in front of a microphone and thank the legislature, and I certainly do on this,” the independent governor said on Sunday while signing the order in Juneau with a gathering of language advocates from across the state.
Good to see: some of these languages really are endangered. There's more information here, but some of them only have about a dozen speakers, all of them elderly .
Sadly, some of them may be beyond saving at this stage, but I hope they're able to keep most of them alive.
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