For decades, the O'odham language has been in decline. But like many tribal nations, the Tohono O'odham are working to reclaim their language. Located on the campus of Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC), the center was founded in 2020 and is for all O'odham, including those from other O'odham speaking nations. Creating opportunities where the…

Preserving the Navajo language, or "Diné bizaad," is of profound importance for all Indigenous people in the United States, as Navajo is one of the more widely spoken Native languages yet is still facing the early stages of endangerment. Currently, the Navajo Nation, like other tribes, lacks a significant presence of community-based…

Agriculture is a significant part of the culture and heritage of indigenous people. This is especially true for Mvskoke people. Today, the issue of sustainable food sovereignty embodies the roots of the College of the Muscogee Nation's (CMN's) mission and goals as a tribal college and land grant institution. The college utilizes a community garden…

Students at Aaniiih Nakoda College (ANC) are determined to utilize their education to help combat the looming climate change crisis and the effects it will have on their Fort Belknap community. Children at ANC's White Clay Immersion School have built their own weather station and created an Aaniiin language book on climate change for elementary…

In North America, and worldwide, Indigenous languages are disappearing at an alarming rate. There are, however, models of success for language revitalization in immersion language programs, usually found in tribal colleges and universities. Whether the language learners are tribal college students greeting one another in their native language,…

Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang (let's speak Ojibwe to one another here on our Earth) is an Ojibwe language immersion program funded by Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC, Cloquet, MN) and with grants from the State of Minnesota. With a development team that included FDLTCC President Larry Anderson, among others, participants…

In the wild river region of northeastern Wisconsin, the Menominee people conserved a portion of their ancient homelands now known as the Menominee Indian Reservation. The Menominee are nationally known for their majestic forests. The Wolf River flows southward for more than 200 miles from its headwaters in Pine Lake to Lake Poygan near the city of…

Why would anyone want to spend thousands of hours away from home and pay hundreds of dollars in tuition to acquire one of the world's most difficult languages? For Anishinaabe people, that is an easy question to answer. The Ojibwe language is the thread that ties communities together and unites all Anishinaabe as one people sharing a common…

Across Indian Country, people can hear voices speaking ancient words, in a Cochiti extended family in New Mexico, a Navajo community school on the Arizona desert, a Native Hawaiian kindergarten, a Salish/Kootenai summertime ceremony, on the North Dakota plains, and in a Blackfeet math classroom in Montana. Unlike other language instruction…

The article discusses how Sinte Gleska University (SGU), South Dakota, has been promoting Lakota language since its inception. SGU is the first tribal-based university in the U.S. White Hat, a teacher from SGU, has been promoting Lakota language through his impressive style of teaching. The university requires every SGU student to opt for Lakota…

Focuses on the Sisseton Wahpeton Community College, a "tribal college" of the Dakota Indians in Sisseton, South Dakota. Comments from college president William Harjo LoneFight regarding the philosophy of the institution and its integration of the Dakota language and tribal cultural values. Looks at various programs and institutions that…