This brief provides an overview of three federal laws that address native-language education and illustrates how these federal laws produce different results when coupled with state laws and other regional circumstances. For the purposes of this brief, native-language education refers to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and uses Puerto Rico as a point of comparison. This policy brief: (1) discusses which federal laws make provisions for native-language education; (2) illustrates how local laws and special circumstances affect the type of language instruction used in different areas; and (3) provides questions for policymakers as they consider native-language education in their region. (Contains 2 footnotes.)