Next week on July 13 and 14, the National Alliance to Save Native Languages will hold the 4th annual National Native Language Revitalization Summit in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday morning at 8:45 a.m. summit attendees will convene in Room 138 of the U.S. Senate Dirksen Building.
Sponsored by the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian Education Association, the National Indian Gaming Association, the National Indian Health Board, the Navajo Nation National Office, and Cultural Survival, the event will include keynote addresses by William H. "Pila" Wilson, Professor and Division Chair of the College of Hawai'ian Language Education, University of Hawai'i, Hilo, and by newly appointed member of President Obama's Commission on U.S. Presidential Scholars, Colin Kippen. Kippen was recently named as the new executive director of the National Indian Education Assocation.
On Tuesday afternoon the summit will reconvene in the auditorium of the U.S. Department of Education's Lyndon Baines Johnson Building.
Wednesday morning's events will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Room 628 of the Senate Dirksen Building, followed by visits to key congressional appropriators to educate them on the immediate and critical need for more federal support for Native language immersion programs throughout Indian Country. Ranking members from both the Senate and House appropriations committees will be targeted in visits highlighting current language revitalization initiatives, and the urgent need for resources to rescue Native languages.
