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Press Release
Sept. 3, 2003
SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE TO OFFER IMMERSION RETREAT
Sealaska Heritage Institute is offering a Tlingit immersion retreat in Glacier Bay this month in an effort to revitalize the endangered language.
Language students will leave Juneau for Glacier Bay Lodge on Monday, Sept. 8 on a chartered boat. Participants will take an oath to speak only Tlingit during the 10-day retreat. The goal of the program is to accelerate the pace at which students are learning Tlingit by using language immersion, a technique that has proven successful elsewhere.
The Glacier Bay trip marks the second language immersion retreat sponsored by the institute this year under a federal grant received in 2002. The grant from the Administration for Native Americans funds two language immersion retreats per year in 2003, 2004 and 2005 in Sitka and Glacier Bay. The 2003 Sitka retreat was held June 2-13.
Native language revitalization is a priority for Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Native nonprofit founded by Sealaska Corp. to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures. The institute administers Sealaska’s cultural and educational programs.
(The institute has room on the boat for reporters who want to cover the first and/or last day of the retreat. The boat is scheduled to leave Juneau on Sept. 8 and return later that day. Reporters should contact Roy Mitchell at 586-9272 to reserve space for the 1-day trip.)
CONTACT: Roy Mitchell, SHI sociolinguist, 907-586-9272