Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 3, 2008 14:58:20 GMT -5
School board faces Native language issue
December 27, 2007
www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/news/show/1049
<http://www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/news/show/1049>
Next year may see the return of instruction in Unangam Tunuu – the
Native language spoken by the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands
– in the Unalaska City School District.
That's the hope of Katherine McGlashan, an Unangan/Aleut herself, and an
active group of Unalaska residents, including educators, former
teachers, parents, the Museum of the Aleutians and Ounalashka Corp., the
representative Alaska Native corporation.
"We as indigenous people would like the opportunity to be able to pass
on traditions, values and the Unangan culture and language," wrote
McGlashan in a September letter to Superintendent John Conwell.
McGlashan, an Unalaska City Council member, said that the district's
school board has indicated it will revisit the issue during its January
meeting.
That commitment, which came during the board's November meeting, may
include the creation of a committee on the return of the Alaska Native
language to the district's curriculum, according to McGlashan, who has
been spearheading the effort.
"We are proud to say we are indigenous peoples," continued McGlashan's
letter to Conwell. "And we are also very lucky to be a part of this
history in the Aleutians."
The school district offers other languages, including Russian, Spanish
and German, according to McGlashan, who speaks Unangam Tunuu.
"Please hear our voices and keep our culture alive and educate our
children and community on this important and precious part of our life,"
McGlashan said in her letter.
At the November meeting, community residents – including McGlashan
– spoke to the school board members on behalf of those supporting
the return of the Unangan Culture/Language curriculum, which was
eliminated two years ago because of budget restrictions.
McGlashan said that while the group awaits the mid-January meeting, the
Museum of the Aleutians has stepped forward to express interest in
developing an after-school Unangam education program.
Zoya Johnson, museum director, and McGlashan have discussed that
possibility.
"We are moving in a positive direction," said McGlashan, who explained
that last summer during a fly-in session attended by state legislators,
she was asked by a senator whether the island school district had a
"culture class."
"I said 'No,'" she said. "And that's when it all sparked."
Since the summer, the support has mounted, according to McGlashan.
Among those joining in the effort was Johnson, who submitted a letter of
support to the school board.
"We have to act before it is too late and the last Unangam speakers are
gone and the language is forgotten," wrote Johnson in her Nov. 13
letter.
"It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of this program
for our students and our community, since a comprehensive cultural
education program is the key element to maintaining and preserving the
Unangan culture," Johnson's letter continued.
Johnson, who acknowledged the financial challenges faced by the district
in reinstating the language and culture curriculum, saluted the
community's tradition bearers and educators for such efforts as Camp
Qungaayux, an Unangan culture camp.
"I truly believe that it is imperative that all of our children are
given the opportunity to learn the history, culture and language of the
people who have inhabited these islands for millennia," she wrote.
Additional letters of support to reinstatement of the language and
culture program came from District 37 state Rep. Bryce Edgmon,
D-Dillingham, and former teachers Ray Hudson and R.J. Lacourse,
according to McGlashan.
"I feel that this district, in the heart of the Aleutians, has an
obligation to do more than give lip service to the traditional culture
of its Unangan students," wrote Hudson in a September letter to
Superintendent Conwell.
Hudson, who now lives in Vermont, praised the school district and said
that its achievements in education "can only be enhanced by the vigorous
re-establishment" of the Unangan language/culture program.
Other community members offering support during the board's November
meeting included Lynda Lybeck Robinson, an Unalaska parent, and Frank
Kelty, former mayor and commercial fisherman.
December 27, 2007
www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/news/show/1049
<http://www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/news/show/1049>
Next year may see the return of instruction in Unangam Tunuu – the
Native language spoken by the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands
– in the Unalaska City School District.
That's the hope of Katherine McGlashan, an Unangan/Aleut herself, and an
active group of Unalaska residents, including educators, former
teachers, parents, the Museum of the Aleutians and Ounalashka Corp., the
representative Alaska Native corporation.
"We as indigenous people would like the opportunity to be able to pass
on traditions, values and the Unangan culture and language," wrote
McGlashan in a September letter to Superintendent John Conwell.
McGlashan, an Unalaska City Council member, said that the district's
school board has indicated it will revisit the issue during its January
meeting.
That commitment, which came during the board's November meeting, may
include the creation of a committee on the return of the Alaska Native
language to the district's curriculum, according to McGlashan, who has
been spearheading the effort.
"We are proud to say we are indigenous peoples," continued McGlashan's
letter to Conwell. "And we are also very lucky to be a part of this
history in the Aleutians."
The school district offers other languages, including Russian, Spanish
and German, according to McGlashan, who speaks Unangam Tunuu.
"Please hear our voices and keep our culture alive and educate our
children and community on this important and precious part of our life,"
McGlashan said in her letter.
At the November meeting, community residents – including McGlashan
– spoke to the school board members on behalf of those supporting
the return of the Unangan Culture/Language curriculum, which was
eliminated two years ago because of budget restrictions.
McGlashan said that while the group awaits the mid-January meeting, the
Museum of the Aleutians has stepped forward to express interest in
developing an after-school Unangam education program.
Zoya Johnson, museum director, and McGlashan have discussed that
possibility.
"We are moving in a positive direction," said McGlashan, who explained
that last summer during a fly-in session attended by state legislators,
she was asked by a senator whether the island school district had a
"culture class."
"I said 'No,'" she said. "And that's when it all sparked."
Since the summer, the support has mounted, according to McGlashan.
Among those joining in the effort was Johnson, who submitted a letter of
support to the school board.
"We have to act before it is too late and the last Unangam speakers are
gone and the language is forgotten," wrote Johnson in her Nov. 13
letter.
"It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of this program
for our students and our community, since a comprehensive cultural
education program is the key element to maintaining and preserving the
Unangan culture," Johnson's letter continued.
Johnson, who acknowledged the financial challenges faced by the district
in reinstating the language and culture curriculum, saluted the
community's tradition bearers and educators for such efforts as Camp
Qungaayux, an Unangan culture camp.
"I truly believe that it is imperative that all of our children are
given the opportunity to learn the history, culture and language of the
people who have inhabited these islands for millennia," she wrote.
Additional letters of support to reinstatement of the language and
culture program came from District 37 state Rep. Bryce Edgmon,
D-Dillingham, and former teachers Ray Hudson and R.J. Lacourse,
according to McGlashan.
"I feel that this district, in the heart of the Aleutians, has an
obligation to do more than give lip service to the traditional culture
of its Unangan students," wrote Hudson in a September letter to
Superintendent Conwell.
Hudson, who now lives in Vermont, praised the school district and said
that its achievements in education "can only be enhanced by the vigorous
re-establishment" of the Unangan language/culture program.
Other community members offering support during the board's November
meeting included Lynda Lybeck Robinson, an Unalaska parent, and Frank
Kelty, former mayor and commercial fisherman.