Revitalizing Indigenous languages, cultures, and histories in Montana, across the United States and around the globe

Abstract

Many educators have sung the praises of Indian Education for All, Montana’s constitutional mandate, and heard the successes of Montana’s Indigenous language revitalization efforts which reverberate around the globe. Teaching Indigenous languages is especially, challenging since there are limited numbers of fluent speakers and scarce resources resulting from harsh education and language policies imposed by the US federal government throughout the nineteenth- and twentieth centuries. Tribal members in Montana spearheaded a unique licensure process for Indigenous language instructors to revitalize and maintain their languages. Language revitalization as a culturally responsive pedagogy strategy is enacted through Class 7 certification, as it is known. It took years of work to assure that the authority rests with the tribal nations, where it should be, to decide who should be a language/culture teacher. By embracing culturally responsive pedagogy, a dramatic change to education in Montana to truly promote the espoused democratic ideals of justice and equity has resulted. This multi-pronged approach has absorbed the revitalization of Indigenous languages; all 11 Indigenous languages in Montana, are critically endangered. One of the most successful efforts at Indigenous language/cultural revitalization has resulted from the establishment of Indigenous language immersion schools. The creation of immersion programs within public schools in Montana has resulted in a critical need to provide much needed professional development to Indigenous language instructors.

Keywords:

• Indigenous language
• language revitalization
• immersion programs
• Indian education for All
• Indigenous language and culture specialist licensure

Public Interest Statement

The first inhabitants in Montana were American Indians and today, 12 tribal nations call Montana home. Approximately 92 percent of all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students across the U. S. and in Montana attend regular public schools. These students are often unsuccessful in our education system, and experience low attendance, high dropout rates, and an ever-expanding achievement gap. Identity is a key factor in student achievement. The implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy focuses on efforts to support American Indians’ cultural identity by preserving their heritage languages. These ideals are embraced in immersion programs in place in Montana, where Indigenous students’ first languages are used in formal instruction. Providing ongoing and comprehensive professional development for the Indigenous language instructors is needed to support language preservation.

Acknowledgments

The Immersion Programs Conference which was held in Bozeman in July 2015 and this Cogent Education special issue on Indigenous language revitalization were made possible through a Spencer Foundation Grant which was awarded to Drs. Jioanna Carjuzaa and William Ruff. Conference sponsors included the MSU Center for Bilingual and Multicultural Education Advisory Board members, educators at the Montana Tribal Colleges, Mike Jetty, Indian Education Specialist, and others from the Indian Education division of the Office of Public Instruction who were instrumental in the planning and organizing of this professional development opportunity. A special thanks to the invited experts/scholars, and the Class 7 and other language instructors who were in attendance at the conference and to the contributors to this special issue, who were mentioned in the introduction. I would also like to thank Burt Medicine Bull, Cheyenne Language Professor at Chief Dull Knife College for sharing his experiences and Jonathan Ruff who was instrumental in moving the editorial process forward.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. The author received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Jioanna Carjuzaa

Jioanna Carjuzaa is the executive director of the Center for Bilingual and Multicultural Education (CBME) at Montana State University (MSU). The CBME supports the MSU community and tribal nations across Montana by generating multiple funding streams and creating awareness in the following areas: revitalization of Indigenous languages, facilitation of culturally responsive pedagogy, the professional development of teachers and school administrators for the improvement of schools serving American Indian communities, as well as a variety of projects designed to promote social justice by increasing cultural sensitivity. At MSU she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Education and Native American Studies and serves as the facilitator for Indian Education for All (IEFA) professional development opportunities. She also serves as the co-advisor to American Indian Council, and as the faculty advisor for the Society of Indigenous Educators, a cohort for Native students pursuing teaching careers. She is co-author of Teaching in the Middle and Secondary Schools, which is now in its 11th edition.