ANA Awards $13.8 million in Language and Culture Preservation Grants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2012
Contact: Kenneth J. Wolfe
(202) 401-9215

ANA awards $13.8 million in language and culture preservation grants
 

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is awarding approximately $13.8 million in grants to preserve Native American language and culture.  The recipients include 13 projects ($2.8 million) funded through the Preservation and Maintenance program, which provides grants for curriculum development, teacher training, and technology used to disseminate and preserve Native American languages.  Another five grants ($1.1 million) will be awarded through the Esther Martinez Initiative, which provides funds for immersion-based language training, survival schools, and restoration programs.  In addition to these 18 new language grants, more than $9.8 million will be awarded to 42 previously approved grantees to continue multi-year projects.

“Language revitalization and continuation should be two of the first steps taken in preserving a community’s culture and strengthening a sense of community,” said ANA Commissioner Lillian Sparks.  “We believe the use of native language builds identity and helps communities achieve social cohesion and self-sufficiency.” ANA encourages applicants to involve elders and other community members in determining language preservation goals and implementing project activities.

These grants focus on preserving and enhancing Native language and culture.  Preservation projects like these help promote cultural awareness by developing language curricula, training and certifying language instructors, and offering intergenerational mentoring activities between youth and elders.

ANA was established by the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA) and provides discretionary and competitive grant funding to assist in the planning, development, and implementation of short-term community-based projects (averaging one to three years) that result in social and economic benefits supporting healthy children, families and communities.

Of the 245 indigenous languages in the United States, 65 are already extinct and 75 are near extinction.  In response to this dramatic decrease, Congress reauthorized the Native American Languages Act in 2006 and included the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act (Public Law 109-394).  The law amends the previous Act to provide for the revitalization of Native American languages through language immersion and restoration programs.

In accordance with NAPA, ANA is required to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of ANA funding in native communities and to produce an annual report to Congress.  In 2010, ANA visited 24 language projects.  The projects resulted in 9,893 surveys completed, 52 language teachers trained, and 1,238 youth and 208 adults increasing their native language abilities.

Below are the new language grants.   For further details and descriptions of ANA’s language grants, please visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ana/.

For more information on ANA, please visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ana/about/what-we-do.

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