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The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act funds programs that work "to preserve Native American languages." It is named for Esther Martinez, a teacher and storyteller who lived to be 94 years old, and was nationally known for her dedication to preserving the
Tewa language Tewa is a Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo people, mostly in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico north of Santa Fe, and in Arizona. It is also known as Tano, or (archaic) Tée-wah. Dialects and usage The 1980 census counted 1,298 speakers, ...
. "She was killed in a car accident on September 18, 006 just days after receiving a
National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's ...
award for her efforts to preserve the Tewa language." The
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...
featured a four-part series in September 2012 "on keeping traditions alive", reporting:
"United States Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico wrote the bill to help stop American Indian languages from disappearing. She says languages are an important part of American heritage and, once lost, will never be recovered.

The purpose of the law is to help keep Native American languages alive through
language immersion Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction ...
programs. In immersion programs, the native language is used most of the time to teach different subjects and to communicate with students.
The Esther Martinez Native Languages Programs Reauthorization Act passed in the House of Representatives on December 9, 2019, and awaits signing.


History

In December 2006, US H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act, was signed into law by President George W. Bush, becoming Public Law No: 109-394. It authorized funding for new programs for tribes to prevent the loss of heritage and culture. A CRS summary describes the types of instruction funded by the act:
Amends the Native American Programs Act of 1974 to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as part of the Native American languages grant program, to make three-year grants for educational Native American
language nest A language nest is an immersion-based approach to language revitalization in early-childhood education. Language nests originated in New Zealand in the 1980s, as a part of the Māori-language revival in that country. The term "language nest" is ...
s, survival schools, and restoration programs.

Requires that Native American language nests: (1) provide instruction and child care through the use of a Native American language for at least 10 children under the age of seven for an average of at least 500 hours per year per student; (2) provide classes in such language for the parents of such students; and (3) use such language as the dominant medium of instruction in the nest.

Requires that Native American language survival schools: (1) provide an average of at least 500 hours of instruction per year per student through the use of at least one Native American language for at least 15 students for whom the school is their principal school; (2) develop instructional courses and materials that service the goal of making all students fluent in such a language and proficient in mathematics, reading, and science; (3) provide teacher training; and (4) be located in areas having high concentrations of Native American students. Requires applicants for language survival school funding to have at least three years of experience in running such a school, a Native American language nest, or any other educational program in which instruction is conducted in a Native American language.

Requires that Native American language restoration programs: (1) operate at least one Native American language program for the community they serve; (2) train teachers of such languages; and (3) develop Native American language instructional materials.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012.


2012 legislative update

As of Sept. 15, 2012, members of the New Mexico congressional delegation have introduced legislation to extend the program for another five years. "Senator
Tom Udall Thomas Stewart Udall ( ; born May 18, 1948) is an American diplomat, lawyer and politician serving as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator fro ...
of New Mexico is among the sponsors of S 3546; and New Mexico Representatives Martin Heinrich,
Ben Ray Lujan Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he ...
, and Steve Pearce, are the sponsors of HR 6399." S 3546, a bill reauthorizing Native American Language programs, was reported out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on September 20. An identical bill, HR 6399, was introduced in the House on September 13. "Since 2000, 390 grants have been awarded under the program for a total of nearly $50 million to help preserve Native languages through language immersion programs." According to Willard Gilbert, president of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), "There were 175 Native American languages still spoken in 1996. However only twenty of these languages will still be spoken by the year 2050 without urgent help to keep them alive."


See also

*
Language nest A language nest is an immersion-based approach to language revitalization in early-childhood education. Language nests originated in New Zealand in the 1980s, as a part of the Māori-language revival in that country. The term "language nest" is ...
*
Language immersion Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction ...
*
Language education in the United States Language education in the United States has historically involved teaching American English to immigrants; and Spanish, French, Latin, Italian or German to native English speakers. Bilingual education was sponsored in some districts, often conte ...
*
Less Commonly Taught Languages Less Commonly Taught Languages (or LCTLs) is a designation used in the United States for languages ''other than'' the most commonly taught foreign languages in US public schools. The term covers a wide array of world languages (other than English) ...
*
Indigenous languages of the Americas Over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large nu ...
* Native American Languages Act of 1990 *
Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act The Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act, S. 1948 was introduced on Jan 16, 2014. Its sponsor is Sen. Jon Tester -MT Cosponsors were Max Baucus -MT Mark Begich -AK Tim Johnson -SD Brian Schatz -HI Tom Udall -NM and Lisa Murkowsk ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006
as enacted in the
US Statutes at Large The ''United States Statutes at Large'', commonly referred to as the ''Statutes at Large'' and abbreviated Stat., are an official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress. Each act and resolutio ...

Native American Programs Act of 1974PDFdetails
as amended in the GPObr>Statute Compilations collection



Bills Reauthorizing Language Programs Advance
2012-09-27
National Indian Education Association Resolution 2012-12 supporting Reauthorization of the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act
Indigenous languages of the Americas Native American culture Native American schools Language education in the United States Language legislation United States federal education legislation Acts of the 109th United States Congress Native American language revitalization United States federal Native American legislation