In collaboration with native speakers, linguists at Mary College in 1973 established the North Dakota Indian Language Studies Program, which has provided native language instruction in three reservation elementary schools, prepared teaching and learning materials, and trained teachers in native language pedagogy. The program was initiated to maintain as much integrity as possible to the cultures of the Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan tribes on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Educational materials included teachers' guides, booklets of traditional tales of the respective tribes, and visual aids. Two of the schools included kindergarten through sixth grades in the language instruction, one served grades K-8. Classes were conducted 15 minutes a day two, four, and five days a week, depending on the school. Some 160 elementary students and 33 college students received language instruction in the program. To evaluate the educational materials and language instruction, interviews were conducted with 50 people, including teachers, school administrators, parents, and students. All five native language teachers found the teaching materials effective, as did the four administrators and 11 of the 12 non-program teachers. All but one of the total respondents indicated they would like to see the native language classes continued; 32 of the 36 teachers, administrators, and parents queried considered the program to be successful. Most of the school personnel believed the classes promoted a postive self-image for the students. Program evaluators found a "tremendous feeling of pride" among the people of the communities that their children were learning the native language. (DS)