Along with English, Alaska’s indigenous languages now official

October 25, 2014 02:06 am | Updated May 23, 2016 07:10 pm IST

Alaska’s governor signed a bill on Thursday to officially recognise the State’s 20 indigenous languages in a symbolic move that gives a nod to tribal efforts to save Native American tongues which are at risk of dying out.

The move would make Alaska only the second U.S. State, after Hawaii, to officially recognise indigenous languages, although English would remain the official language and the State would not be required to conduct business in any other tongue.

“Alaska native young adults and students throughout the State have demonstrated remarkable success in revitalising Alaska Native languages,” Republican Governor Sean Parnell said in a statement. “This bill reinforces that effort and recognises the vibrant, existing Alaska Native languages of the State of Alaska.”

Mr. Parnell signed the bill in Anchorage to help kick off the Alaska Federation of Natives conference, the State’s largest annual gathering of indigenous people.

In April, the Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill.

The law deliberately remains symbolic, featuring a provision that does not require the state or a municipal government to conduct business or government activities in languages other than English.

The number of people who can speak Alaska’s native languages has been shrinking rapidly, as generations of young Alaskans were discouraged and even punished for speaking them.

Few speakers left Some native languages have only a few dozen fluent speakers left, and others are down to a few hundred. In 2008, one of the State’s indigenous languages, Eyak, become extinct with the death of its last fluent speaker, Marie Smith.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.