Alaska Senate Committee Hears Testimony on Native Languages Bill

From http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/17358409/article-Senate-committee-hears-testimony-on-Native-languages-bill

Senate committee hears testimony on Native languages bill
by Matt Buxton
January 31, 2012

During testimony for a measure that would establish the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council many experts and Native advocates told the Senate that Alaska Native languages — a bastion of Native culture and identity — are at risk of going extinct and need protection.

The measure, proposed by Democratic Nome Sen. Donny Olson, would create a council that would assess the state’s language policy and programs and look for ways to create new programs to protect and promote Native languages.

Many of the experts providing testimony said that after years of decline at the hands of modernization, unfriendly policies and social pressure, Native languages are at the brink of disappearing. The language council, they said, would not only preserve the language, but what the languages represent culturally.

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