Federal law defines eligibility for English learner (EL) classification differently for Indigenous students compared with non-Indigenous students. To be EL-eligible, non-Indigenous students are required to have a non-English primary language. Indigenous students, by contrast, can be English-dominant or English monolingual. A critical question,…

The Dena'ina language is a well-documented Northern Dene Alaska Native language in south-central Alaska. The Dena'ina language is on the brink of going to sleep. The Dena'ina community strongly desires for the Dena'ina language to once again thrive in the community. Language-use within the community is a contributing factor to the health of the…

Indigenous methodologies for guiding, advising, and educating children have been in place since time immemorial. Those well-honed approaches to education were built to support whole and healthy individual development while also establishing a lifelong awareness and reverence for community, connection, kinship, and reciprocity. In Western cultures,…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page PDF sheets, by topic, with graphics, plus key contacts. The topics for this report on profiles of Native American and/or Alaska Native English Learners (ELs) include: (1) Largest Percentage of ELs Who Were Native American and/or…

Culturally Responsive Education has been widely proposed as a mechanism to improve the academic achievement of minority and Indigenous populations. Instruction in heritage languages has been shown to produce desirable outcomes both on linguistic and academic measures. However, culturally responsive and immersion instruction faces a number of…

This paper explores the complexities of institutional involvement in Native language programming by looking at a program in Kenai, Alaska. The work contrasts learner goals with stated grant goals in order to investigate the tensions between institutional (university, funding agency) and individual learner goals in a language revitalization effort.…

The growing distance between heritage languages and youth has become a constant point of discourse between Elders in Indigenous communities and those who could listen. Since Western contact, the pursuit for a "better life" through formal schooling has institutionalized Indigenous youth, separating them from their homelands and broadening…

This article traces the history of policy development in Native American education from the second term of President William J. Clinton and his signing of Executive Order 13096 of August 6, 1998 on American Indian/Alaska Native education, through the passage and implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and initial consideration of its…

This annotated bibliography lists over 400 books on Alaska recommended for consideration for Alaskana collections in public libraries. The core list is arranged in the following broad subject categories: (1) reference; (2) biography, memoirs, travel; (3) fiction; (4) history; (5) native culture/history; (6) native language dictionaries; and (7)…

Recommended for use in classrooms (no specific grade level is assigned) throughout Alaska, this base E sized wall map (4 feet by 3 feet) is color coded (number coded for the ERIC system) to reflect the 20 Alaska Native languages. Designating language dialect areas and boundaries, this map details the language relationships of the four Eskimo…

This primary level reader is part of a series of materials developed for beginning reading instruction in Barrow Inupiaq. Each page consists of a drawing and brief text. It is a revision of an earlier version of the same title. (AMH)

This elementary reader in Dena'ina Athapascan is intended for use in a bilingual education setting. Each page of text is illustrated in pen-and-ink drawings. (AMH)

This elementary reader in Central Kayukan Athapascan is intended for use in a bilingual education setting. Each page of text is illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings. (AMH)

This primer in White Mountain Inupiat is intended for use in a bilingual education setting. Each page of text is illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings. (AMH)

A cross section of Athabascan life as related by eight inhabitants of Lime Village, Alaska, is given in this document. The short narratives are printed in English and in Dena'ina. Illustrations accompany the text. The stories tell of making eagle feather robes, birchbark or mooseskin boats, a raincoat from black bear intestines, and boots from…