Languages more similar to English - like Spanish, Swedish and French - would take fewer hours of study to reach the same proficiency level. Many Native American languages have a high degree of difficulty for English speakers to learn, according to state academic standards.Ĭherokee, for instance, is a Class IV language, indicating it would take a similar number of hours to gain proficiency as it would to learn Greek, Hebrew or Russian. Fifteen adults are taking Choctaw as a full-time job through the tribal nation’s apprenticeship program. The Choctaw Nation, for example, has its language taught in the greatest number of high schools in Oklahoma, as well as at colleges, early childhood centers, community classes and online. Tribal nations are now working to rebuild their ranks of fluent speakers. The boarding schools existed to culturally assimilate Native American children, and Oklahoma had more of these schools than any other state, the report found. Generations of Indigenous children were discouraged or forbidden from speaking their tribal languages at federally run boarding schools across the country for 150 years, according to a 2022 report from the U.S. Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Potawatomi and other tribal languages found in Oklahoma also are designated as endangered. UNESCO labels Cherokee as a language in danger of extinction. The Cherokee language has 2,000 first-language speakers and thousands more at a beginner or proficient level. “We just need to have more of them, given what we’re up against.” “We know we’ve got people on the way to fluency in what is a very difficult language to learn,” Hoskin said. The tribal nation has pledged to spend at least $18 million a year on various language-preservation initiatives. The investment would expand the capacity of its existing immersion middle school that teaches in the Cherokee tongue. ![]() The Cherokee Nation aims to grow its numbers with plans for a $30 million language immersion middle school. The right to take an Indigenous language for high school credit was encoded in state law in 2014.Ĭhoctaw and Cherokee classes had the most participating students and were offered in the greatest number of schools, according to the state Education Department. Last year’s total includes about 1,600 elementary and middle school students who participated in Indigenous language programs.Īnother 1,700 students earned high school world language credits by taking Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Comanche, Mvskoke, Osage, Pawnee, Potawatomi, the Otoe-Missouria language of Jiwere-Nat’Chi, and other courses. That’s over 1,000 more students than the previous school year and 2,500 more than in 2020-21, according to state data. State data shows an increasing number of students are seizing the chance.Įnrollment in Native American language programs is growing in Oklahoma public schools, according to information from the state Department of Education.Īt least 3,314 students, from elementary through high school, participated in an Indigenous language program at their public school in the 2022-23 school year. Today’s generation of children has more possibilities, he said. ![]() ![]() “It would have meant the opportunity to learn the Cherokee language as a child.” “It would have meant a great deal to me,” Hoskin said. He said those opportunities simply didn’t exist at the time. never had the chance to learn his tribal language in school. OKLAHOMA CITY - Like many Cherokee Nation citizens of his generation, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |