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Press Release
Sept. 16, 2002
SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE AWARDED LANGUAGE GRANT
The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) has awarded a grant to Sealaska Heritage Institute for Native language immersion programs in Southeast Alaska. The funding bodes a major step forward for SHI’s Tlingit language program, said SHI President Rosita Worl.
“This is a significant step toward perpetuating Native languages – a priority for the institute,” Worl said.
SHI will use the three-year grant to help fund Tlingit language immersion camps tailored to Native language students in Juneau, Hoonah and Sitka. SHI will hold two 10-day camps annually in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The Juneau-Hoonah camp will be held at Glacier Bay Lodge in Glacier Bay National Park and the Sitka camp at Dog Point Fish Camp in Sitka. The $606,948 grant includes $446,058 in federal funds plus $160,890 in donations from Southeast Alaska Native organizations.
The purpose of the camps is to increase Tlingit language fluency in students and to train aspiring Native language teachers to operate immersion programs. The project is an outgrowth of SHI’s Sealaska Kusteeyí Program, an annual Native languages workshop led by SHI Sociolinguist Roy Mitchell.
“This grant will allow us to create an intensive Tlingit habitat where people can learn the language and teach the language most effectively,” said Iutzi-Mitchell, who organized SHI’s first Tlingit language immersion retreat in Juneau last month.
“Most importantly, we will be training Native people from throughout Southeast to replicate this outstanding model of immersion language learning in their communities,” he added.
SHI applied for the grant in partnership with Goldbelt, Inc., which operates Glacier Bay Lodge and has committed in-kind donations to help fund the project. SHI also partnered with North American Traditional Indian Values Enrichment, Inc. (N.A.T.I.V.E., Inc.), a nonprofit group and operator of Dog Point Fish Camp near Sitka. The proposal was supported by Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Hoonah Indian Association and Tlingit & Haida Community Council of Juneau.
For more information, contact Roy Iutzi-Mitchell at 907-586-9272 or at roy.mitchell@sealaska.com.
News Article:
"Sealaska Heritage Institute wins $600,000 for language programs"