Language

Native Languages

ANA believes language is essential to preserving and strengthening Indigenous culture, identity, and social unity. Language also is a critical expression of sovereignty and underpins self-governance.

ANA’s investments and technical support provide opportunities for Indigenous communities to assess, plan, and implement community-driven projects to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of their native languages.

We encourage language applicants to involve their elders, first-language speakers, language teachers, and community members in determining their language goals and implementing project activities.

ANA provides funding for Native languages in two program areas: Native Language Preservation & Maintenance (P&M) and the Esther Martinez Immersion program (EMI). 

Native Language Initiative

Hau mitakuyepi, čhaŋtéwašte nápečiyuzapi ~ Hello my relatives, I greet you with a warm heart and handshake.

During this Native American Heritage month, the Administration for Native Americans (ANA)  launches a new Native Language Initiative , which will remind us throughout the year that Native languages are vital for preserving cultural identity, passing down traditional knowledge, understanding unique worldviews, and maintaining a connection to ancestral heritage.

Recently, the U.S. Department of the Interior released its final report on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report  (PDF). This report illuminates how the federal government’s past assimilationist policies not only separated young Native children from their families, but also directly dismantled their cultural and language connections, with multigenerational impacts still felt today. Indeed, the Report illustrates the direct connection between historical trauma and the current disparities Native people experience across legal, social, and economic systems.  

Central to ANA’s mission under the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA) is the advancement of the social and economic health and well-being of Native people and communities.  ANA grant funding serves American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Indigenous people through community-designed and driven projects.

Language revitalization and preservation is a key mandate under NAPA, under the Native American Languages Act of 1992. In 2024 ANA made a historic investment of $17.2 million in Native language projects across the country. 

Through the Native Language Initiative, ANA aims to: 

• Highlight the importance of Native languages in preserving and strengthening Indigenous culture, identity, and social unity. 
  • Language is a critical expression of sovereignty and underpins the essential work of self-determination. 
  • Learning Native languages, especially as a child, supports brain development along with long term social, educational, and economic benefits.
  • Reclaiming and revitalizing Native languages builds resiliency and is a pivotal part of the healing process. 
• Strengthen ANA’s investments in Native languages and on-going technical supports to Community Partners. 
• Provide opportunities for Native communities to assess, plan, and implement community-driven projects to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of their Native languages.  
• Elevate ANA’s contributions to the Federal 10-Year Plan on Native Language Revitalization and the Durbin Feeling Native Languages Act of 2023 and the national survey of Native languages, and especially the successes of our Community Partners who are diligently preserving and teaching their languages to the next generation.

Please join us on this journey of exploring the different facets of Native language revitalization via webinars, blogs, and community conversations.

Pilamaya ye ~ thank you,

Patrice H. Kunesh

Descendant of the Hunkpapa Band of Lakota and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native Americans