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12/7/2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | | | | Wilson-Authored Legislation to Preserve Native Languages Passed by Senate & Sent to President
| Life of Tewa Storyteller Esther Martinez Remembered in Bill Designation
Washington — The U.S. Senate late Wednesday passed and sent to the President the Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Act, written and sponsored by Congresswoman Heather Wilson to help prevent the loss of this part of New Mexico’s heritage.
Wilson’s bill was passed by the House in September. In February, Wilson introduced the legislation and began working to raise awareness in Congress that Native American languages are rapidly disappearing.
The bill was renamed in honor of Esther Martinez of New Mexico, following her death in September. On September 14, Esther Martinez of Ohkay Owingeh was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in Washington, DC. She died at 94 years of age in Espanola en route home after attending a ceremony at the National Endowment for the Arts.
“The native languages were precious to Esther Martinez, and this bill is designed to help preserve them. It is a fitting tribute to her life’s work,” Wilson said.
Sadly, only an estimated 20 of more than 300 pre-colonial indigenous languages will remain by the year 2050. In 1996, 175 of these languages remained, but now we’re losing them at a rate of 12 languages every 3 years.
Wilson hosted a hearing of the House Education and Workforce Committee in August in Albuquerque to discuss the legislation. “These languages will be preserved with attention and effort. Once lost, they will never be recovered,” Wilson said.
“When we discuss Native American language preservation, we are not simply talking about a method of communication within tribes,” noted Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Chairman of the U.S. House Education & the Workforce Committee, upon House passage in September. “This issue is far deeper than that. It represents the preservation of an important part of our nation’s history, culture, and legacy. I commend Representative Wilson for taking the lead on this issue – and for doing so in a fiscally-responsible way, within the confines of existing programs.”
New Mexico is home to 19 different pueblos and 3 tribes. Among the tribes and pueblos, we have six major languages, plus varying dialects. Language is a key element of each community’s identity.
A recent survey of Native languages found that among the Lipan Apache on the Mescalero reservation in southern New Mexico there are just ten speakers of the native language remaining. At the Sandia Pueblo, north of Albuquerque, most of their Native speakers are middle aged or older. Even Navajo, spoken more than any other Native Language in the U.S., is spoken fluently by less than half of the Navajo children entering kindergarten.
The bill authorizes competitive grants through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish Native American language “nests” for students under the age of seven and their families. It supports Native American language survival schools. It will help to preserve all the indigenous languages that are still being spoken, and increase the support for Native American language immersion programs to create fluent speakers, and allow tribes and pueblos to develop their own immersion programs.
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