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Professor X̱’unei Lance Twitchell walked in and suggested the specific verb for cooking
meat by boiling. He answered a few questions in English, then switched to Tlingít
as he started class. All his students switched languages, too. For the next hour,
conversation was almost exclusively in the original language spoken primarily from
the mouth of the Copper River to the southern edge of the Alexander Archipelago and
the foundation for Tlingít cultural identity.
The classroom is a microcosm of the change Twitchell and other members of the Alaska
Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council called for statewide: An Alaska
committed to increasing the number of Alaska Native language speakers and promoting
common use of the languages.
Members of the council have cautioned for years that swift state action is needed
to support language pedagogy and use, since many first-language speakers have died.
But as the Alaska Native language community loses its older generation, Twitchell
says he sees an exponential increase in the number of young people interested in learning.
By his count, there are about 100 active Tlingít learners that ask questions and use
the language.
Contact: Claire Stremple
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The five-year project will examine important marine foods like red seaweeds, kelp,
oysters, clams, mussels and salmon to see how they might be responding to the changing
environment. (UAS photo)
Archival image of KuC inaugural graduation featuring Robert Hiatt, Louis Andrew, Lewis
Haines,
