by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
A congressional hearing on the loss, recovery and preservation of American-Indian languages was held at the Native American Pueblo Cultural Center on Thursday.
The hearing was hosted by three members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Rep. Heather Wilson.
The committee reviewed the Native American Languages Preservation Act, a bill introduced by Wilson in February that would provide support for American-Indian language immersion schools.
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It is estimated that only 20 indigenous languages will be spoken by the year 2050, said Rep. Howard McKeon, a California Republican and chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Education.
The preservation act would prevent that figure from becoming a reality, because immersion schools would revive American-Indian culture and language, McKeon said.
American-Indian elders are often the only tribal members fluent in their language, said Rep. Tom Udall, a committee member. That poses a problem, he said.
"If we do not act soon, we will face a situation where the languages begin to die with the elders," he said. "If we truly hope to prevent the loss of these languages, then we must find a solution."
The congressional hearing gave six prominent American-Indian community members an opportunity to share their thoughts on the preservation act.
For some native languages, it's too late, said Amadeo Shije, chairman for the All Indian Pueblo Council.
A lot of indigenous languages depend on verbal communication because they are not written, Shije said. History is at stake if the languages are forgotten, he said.
"To lose our language is to lose everything pueblo people stand for," he said.
Shije said he supports the bill introduced by Wilson because it would provide training for people teaching the language.
Ryan Wilson, president of the National Indian Education Association, said he blames the government for the decline in native languages.
"These sacred languages were put on trial - they were judged. They were convicted, and they were jailed," Wilson said. "We were told to never express our First Amendment rights, to never use our languages and to actually have it outlawed."
Heather Wilson said the bill could benefit UNM because the University could serve as a training center for American-Indian teachers.
The congresswoman said she expects the bill to be introduced in the House by September.
