2018 Native American Languages Summit; Honoring the Gift of Native American Languages

About the Event:

You are cordially invited to the 2018 Native American Languages Summit; Honoring the Gift of Native American Languages on August 28-29, 2018.

HOTEL INFORMATION: Sheraton Midwest City Hotel at the Reed Conference Center This block is at the government per diem rate of $95.00 + tax each night. You are responsible for your own hotel room and incidentals. Please use the information below to make your reservations:  

Group rate available until August 15, 2018.  Subject to availability. 

https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1806147538&key=22BE6ADB

For those who wish to call in directly and make your hotel reservations, please dial: 1-888-627-8566 and ask to speak with reservations and provide group code: NH27AA 

HOTEL BOOKING DEADLINE is August 13, 2018, 5:00 PM EST

Honoring the Gift of Native American Languages 

Native American Language is a gift of the creator. Native American Languages connect to a delicate and beautiful balance with belief systems, which in turn provide an inherent means of learning, knowing, and connecting to past, present, and future through Native American values that have been transferred since time immemorial. We seek to perpetuate and sustain the gift of language by seeking to provide foundational, revitalizing, and transformational knowledge that will inform and strengthen Native American Languages and the nations, pueblos, and tribes that hold them sacred. We seek to provide the gift of Native American Language for generations to come.

In November 2012, the Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Native Americans, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education and the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (WHIAIANE) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to collaborate on programming, resource development and policy across our agencies. The MOA encourages programs and projects supported by any of the MOA partners to include instruction in and preservation of Native American languages. The MOA partners have revised the MOA and will release the revised MOA at the 2018 Native American Languages summit in Oklahoma City, OK.

The partners formed a Native Language Workgroup and each of the partner agencies worked both internally and externally to identify barriers, levers, and promising practices that will help communities implement successful programs and projects that further the goal of language preservation and revitalization. In addition, the Native Language Workgroup identified areas of collaboration to share resources across agencies and partner communities. These relationships provide better dissemination of funding announcements, identification of resources, encourage cross promotion of events, and allow us to share information via webinars that benefit our shared audiences.

The Native Languages Summit has grown out of this partnership. Together our diverse stakeholder communities now have a venue to share the challenges and paths to success in teaching Native languages. Our goal is to identify ways to further support communities teaching their Native languages.