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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - On April 20th, a public hearing will be held to discuss the survival and revitalization of the Dakota and Ojibwe languages, languages that are native to this area, but are on the verge of extinction.

The impetus for this hearing comes from the work of the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance. With less than 30 fully fluent Dakota speakers living in Minnesota and few fully fluent speakers left on each of the seven Ojibwe Reservations in Minnesota – working together to revitalize their languages has become an imperative.

Jennifer Bendickson, coordinator for the American Indian Early Childhood Leaders Circle, which organized the Language Alliance, said, "If someone lost his or her German or Irish or Swedish language over the past generations, you can go back to Germany or Sweden and learn it. If we lose our Dakota or Ojibwe languages, there will be no place to learn this. This is the home of the Dakota and Ojibwe languages."

The Language Revitalization Alliance is a gathering of elders; fluent Dakota and Ojibwe speakers, early childhood and childcare providers, members from all eleven tribes in Minnesota, educators, school achievement, and education advocates, and community members. This Alliance has been meeting since June, 2003 to examine the existing barriers and opportunities to language revitalization, convening people who are concerned about the loss of language, supporting each others work, and building awareness at the state and local levels of language revitalization and immersion programs.

For Alliance members, language is important to fully understand the cultures, to connect the past, present, and future. Language is connected to the heart and it connects the young people to the elders. Because the Ojibwe and Dakota languages were forcefully and often violently taken away thorough the boarding schools, many people see language revitalization as an important step in reclaiming culture, educational achievement, and a positive image of one’s self. John Poupart, facilitator for the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance, said, "Connecting to our inner identity is a corner stone of where we must go, language is part of that cornerstone."

Minnesota has a dismal picture on the success of Native children in the public school system, which is catastrophic in a new information-based and global society. These statistics are especially painful in the Twin Cities where a large Native American community lives. The Minneapolis Public schools had a 15% graduation rate among American Indian students in the last school year, reflecting national trends in American Indian education.

There have been many strategies to increase the success of Native children – many designed by the mainstream culture that does not recognize the ways of thinking and being of the Native American community. Research is now showing that students in a language immersion experience have greater success in school and had consistent measurable improvement on local and national measures of achievements. (Bringing Thunder by Janine Pease Pretty on Top, Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education). Native Hawaiian children in immersion experience outperform the average for Native Hawaiian children. The Maori tribes in New Zealand went from a 5%-15% pass rate in school to a soaring 75% when students were involved in language immersion. Similar statistics are found at the Piegan Institute in Montana with Blackfeet language and other immersion schools around the United States.

Language immersion is shown to have a multiplier effect for young Native American children. Language Immersion with children has developed “intensive language acquisition” which benefits in communication. Learning one’s native language reveals and teaches tribal philosophies is a link between the past and future of Native American tribal nations. Darrell Kipp of the Piegan Institute has documented the precious bond created between the children and elders. “Knowledge of the Native language gives tribal members a unique tool for analyzing and synthesizing the world, and the incorporating the knowledge and values of the tribal nation into the world at large." (Crawford)

As Minnesota’s first languages, Dakota and Ojibwe are important assets to Minnesota and to the world’s linguistic resources. The complexity and unique aspects of Ojibwe and Dakota languages provide important worldviews and concepts that can enrich all Minnesotans.

"Native American languages represent some of the richest and most sophisticated languages on earth. There are over 200 Native American languages still spoken in the United States – many of them in grave danger. Language revitalization presents an outstanding opportunity of our young people to maintain heritage and increase education success", said Richard LaFortune.

The Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance will be sharing their stories, visions and dreams for a Minnesota where the Dakota and Ojibwe languages are revitalized, where members of the Dakota and Ojibwe communities hear their language every day, reclaim their positive self identity, and unlock their great potential for educational achievements.