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| Wilson Welcomes Funding for Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Effort |
June 12, 2007 |
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Washington, DC – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today welcomed $3 million in funding for the Native Languages preservation effort. The funding, requested by Wilson earlier this year, is part of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Act that will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee.
In December, President Bush signed into law the Wilson-sponsored Esther Martinez Native Languages Preservation Act, and today Wilson welcomed news of funding to implement the effort. Named to honor the life and memory of Tewa storyteller, Esther Martinez of New Mexico, the new law helps prevent the loss of the Native American languages that are rapidly disappearing.
“We’re working to preserve the native languages that were precious to Esther Martinez, and I welcome this funding,” Wilson said. “These languages will be preserved with attention and effort. Once lost, they will never be recovered.”
The bill was designated following her death last year. On September 14, 2006, Esther Martinez of Ohkay Owingeh was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in Washington, DC, through the National Endowment for the Arts. She died at 94 years of age in Espanola en route home after attending a ceremony at the National Endowment for the Arts.
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. New Mexico is home to 19 different pueblos and 3 tribes. Among the tribes and pueblos, there are 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 new law 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.
The Act was written and introduced by Congresswoman Heather Wilson in February 2006, then was passed by the House in September followed by the Senate with the support of the entire New Mexico delegation.
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