Native American Revitalization: Free Internet Resources for Teachers of K-8 Students

"You can find all kinds of things, but the supermarkets do not stock deer meat or boiled corn bread. In no borough are regular Mohawk ceremonies held…And it's not easy trying to find someone I can talk Mohawk with."*

-- Lorraine Canoe, Mohawk (1932- )

All over the world, the languages spoken by indigenous and minority populations are in danger of extinction. The topic of this pathfinder is the indigenous language revitalization movement that works to combat the trend of extinction and bring native languages back into daily use. This pathfinder for pre-service K-8 teachers focuses primarily on Native American language revitalization and provides a broad overview of these efforts and the rationale behind them, directing users to the most prominent resources for information, resources and lesson plans.

Where can I locate information about the importance of indigenous language revitalization?

Reyhner, Jon, Center for Excellence in Education, Northern Arizona University. Teaching Indigenous Languages. <http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/TIL.html> (28 September 2001).
Terralingua. Terralingua: Partnerships for Linguistic and Biological Diversity. <http://www.terralingua.org> (29 September 2001).

Where can I find lists of resources about Native American language revitalization?

Indigenous Language Institute. Indigenous Language Institute. <http://www.ipola.org/> (29 September 2001).
Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas. "Welcome to SSILA.org." <http://ssila.org> (28 September 2001).
Native Americans @ Buffalo Trails. Native Americans @ Buffalo Trails. <http://www.native-americans.org> (1 October 2001).

Where can I listen to spoken Native American languages?

NativeWeb. NativeWeb.org: Resources for Indigenous Cultures around the World. <http://www.nativeweb.org> (28 September 2001).
Native Americans @ Buffalo Trails. Native Americans @ Buffalo Trails. <http://www.native-americans.org> (1 October 2001).

Where can I find ideas for meaningfully incorporating Native American languages into my classroom teaching?

Karkavelas, Will. American Indian Resources Index: A Library of Native American Literature, Culture, Education, History, Issues and Language. http://jupiter.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp/~krkvls/naindex.html (28 September 2001).
National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE) Home Page. <http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu> (29 September 2001).
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). <http://www.eric.ed.gov/> (28 September 2001).

What have been the experiences of the some successful indigenous language revitalization programs?

Norris-Tull, Delena, University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Education. "Our Language Our Souls: The Yup'ik bilingual curriculum of the Lower Kuskokwim School District: A continuing success story," Alaska Native Knowledge Network. <http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/delena> (1 October 2001).
Ignace, Marianne B. Handbook for Aboriginal Language Program Planning in British Columbia: A Report Prepared for the First Nations Education Steering Committee, Aboriginal Language Sub-Committee. <http://www.schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/fnesc/index-e.html> (1 October 2001).

* American Indian Quotations, Howard J. Langer, ed. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996), p. 154.

A Parting Note:

The nature of the internet is that webpages come and go. Unlike books, which have a physical reality, if a webpage "goes out of print" for whatever reason (the page is deleted, no one fixes a broken link, etc.), there is very little a web surfer can do. At the same time, new webpages are added every day. This makes it especially important to go to an internet search engine like Google, http://www.google.com, and re-run your search periodically.

To continue your own searching, some terms you may want to use are: "Native American language," "indigenous language revitalization."

Good luck with your searching!
If you need further assistance, please contact a reference librarian.
Our job is to help you!

Questions or comments about this pathfinder? Feel free to email me at: akerman@gslis.utexas.edu.
The address of this pathfinder is: http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~vlibrary/edres/pathfinders/akerman2

Prepared by Aimee Akerman, MLIS candidate
at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin