Windy Boy Native language preservation bill passes House

A bill that would allocate state funds to educational institutions that include Native languages courses in their curriculum passed the Montana House of Representatives Monday.

Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, is the creator and chief supporter of the bill. He said that he decided three years ago to make it for multiple reasons.

High secondary student expulsion rates, familial breakdowns and, ultimately, the loss of tribal languages were all influences in Windy Boy's decision.

"What's happening with these students here is schools have limited avenues of trying to capture these students," Windy Boy said this morning. " ... Long story short, there were some things that needed to be addressed for students who fall through the cracks. Rather than punish, there needs to be something that gives them some incentive to want to go to school."

The bill at its base allocates state funds that, should a secondary school district or post-secondary institution so choose to partake, would foot the bill for classes in which Native languages are taught.

The districts or schools must have at least a 10 percent Native American student body to be eligible for the funds.

This bill is evolved from one that Windy Boy created three years ago, which provided state funds to the tribes of Montana for them to use as they please in endeavors to preserve culture and language and then report back to the state. Each tribe was allowed around $280,000 for these initiatives.

"Language immersion is basically the next step of what we did in the last session," Windy Boy said.

In creating the bill, it was important to bring together many organizations and entities that oversee education in the state, all while avoiding the governmental dirty words - "charter school."

"It's too hostile for charter schools right now," Windy Boy said. " ... Rather than reinvent the wheel, let's try to see if we can't go through the public school structure."

This puts Montana ahead of the curve in language preservation in the United States. Windy Boy said Montana is the only state with language immersion in its state law.

It will likely take a couple years before people begin to see new classes and initiatives.

"It's going to take a while for everyone to catch on," Windy Boy said. People must find their roles in the programs, teachers must be certified and colleges and school boards must give the classes green lights.

Teachers would be certified by their tribe before being able to teach their languages.

There are 7,000 enrolled Chippewa Cree tribal members, Windy Boy said. Four thousand of them live on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. Of those thousands, there are 162 fluent Cree speakers and just one fluent Chippewa speaker, he said.

This follows a continentwide trend of waning numbers of fluent Native language speakers.

"That's why we need to preserve all this stuff," Windy Boy said, adding that doing so would not only preserve original cultures of Montana, but strengthen ties within the tribes and their families.